Karrion Kross Reflects On Failed First WWE Main Roster Call-Up

Killer Kross, formerly known as Karrion Kross, is one of a handful of former WWE names who have had two separate runs with the promotion that both ended in being released. Kross' second run, while it's been criticized for how he was utilized, was given far more praise than his first main roster run, which he reminisced about during an interview with D-Von Dudley.

Infamously, Kross' gear was overhauled for the main roster, forcing him to don a helmet that fans have since ridiculed. But, for Kross, it's funny to look back at the tenure.

"When I was still in 'NXT' and I was the champion, somebody who's no longer with the company, that a lot of people were not fond of, sends me an email," he recalled, jokingly suggesting that the person in question was John Laurinaitis. Kross claimed the email included a picture of the mask with gladiator-themed gear, with elements he wasn't fond of.

"I asked him, I go, 'what's the purpose of this?'" Kross recalled. "And he's like, 'Well, we can make Halloween costumes out of it, and you can get a percentage of that.'"

Kross said that he wasn't keen on his character being changed to turn a profit. As for where the idea came from, Kross claimed that Laurinaitis credited Vince McMahon for the direction.

"I go to [McMahon] and I say, 'Tell me everything you want me to bring to life out of this.' And he's like – the way he did it – he was like: 'I just want you to go out there and I just want you to f***ing kill these guys!'" Kross claimed.

Kross' wife and valet, former WWE star Scarlett, added that it seemed like Vince McMahon wanted Karrion Kross' character to take after Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey.

"He had all these crazy [ideas]," Kross recalled. "And I'm just like, the stuff he's giving me is not really telling me anything about the character."

Kross said that McMahon only focused on his in-ring presentation, calling Kross the "gladiator of misery."

"'You're going to conduct misery on these people! You're going to torture them!' I was like, okay?" Kross said.

Scarlett then claimed that McMahon graphically described quartering by horse as what he wanted Kross to do to his opponents.

"I said 'What the f*** is that?'" Kross exclaimed. "The writing team were like: 'We need to get you out of this s***, we don't know what this is, we're familiar with what you did on 'NXT,' we need to get you back to that.'"

Following this, Kross claimed the writing team tried to get the producers to gradually get him to ditch the mask, but McMahon suddenly pivoted and pretended as if he had never heard of the decision to put a mask on Kross before.

"They ask him again after the meeting: 'Hey can we lose the mask?' and he goes: 'I've never seen it before! Yeah! We don't want him him wearing the mask! They can't see his god***n face; he's a very emotive guy, he's got good facial expressions, why would he wear a f***ing mask?'" Kross recalled.

Following this interaction, Kross claims it wasn't long after that he and Bordeaux were first released from WWE. He also teased that he would one day reveal more of the story.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit D-Von Dudley and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.