Killer Kross On Why He Thought WWE Gave Him Gladiator Gimmick

Killer Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux recently spoke with Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman on The Wrestling Inc. Daily about the main roster "Gladiator" gimmick he was given.

Even though it didn't work out for him, Kross feels like it could have worked for someone else.

"That would have been a great character for somebody else that didn't have a character that was already previously carved out," he said. "So, when I looked at it, and assessed it, I thought, 'maybe they want to make Halloween costumes.' Going back to monetizing stuff, 'they're just overlooking, they want to put a fresh coat of paint on it because it's going up.' I entertained it as best I could, and then when October rolled around, and there's no Halloween costume, I said, 'okay, well this could be problematic.'"

Scarlett Bordeaux then spoke about the timing of her and Killer Kross' WWE run, which she thinks they were lucky with. That's because she wasn't financially set for a pandemic while being on the indies previously.

"We are very proud of everything we did," she said. "It's funny that you say we were a product of bad timing because the entire time we were there during COVID. We were looking at each other saying how lucky we were with the timing of us getting signed. The fact that the pandemic hit, because if we had been on the independents, we would have been screwed.

"Because I was still working as a server in the nightclubs to supplement my income on the indies. I wasn't completely financially set, so the nightclubs shut down. There wouldn't have been independent shows, I don't know what we would have done, honestly."

Recently Killer Kross has had the chance to compete for New Japan Pro Wrestling, which is different for him. The character work is stripped back there, which is something he was well aware of going into it.

"I am enjoying what I am doing with New Japan, although it's not the sort of television presentation with the theatricality that you might see in Western programming. I know that if I am going and doing anything with New Japan, this is going to be very strictly pro wrestling based," he said. "So, the presentation of the character is going to be dialed back and is going to be more of what is going on in the ring. What I am doing there I am very well aware I would not be doing presentation-wise in Western programming.

If you use any quotes from this article please credit The Wrestling Inc. Daily, with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.