When you look at the worst televised moments from WWE in 2021, the Monday Night RAW debut of the then NXT Champion Karrion Kross is at the top of the list for many. While being unstoppable down in NXT, Kross would show up on Monday Night RAW and lose to Jeff Hardy in just under 90 seconds. This was a major blow to the image of NXT, and one that was entirely WWE’s own fault. However, things were originally supposed to go a bit differently.
Karrion Kross Was Always Going To Lose To Jeff Hardy, But The Match Was Set To Be Much Longer
When it comes to this match, it was a sloppy and rushed affair, with Hardy winning with a roll up. Fans hoped it would lead to something, but even after being properly called up to Monday Night RAW, Kross did very little of note. However, this initial debut was planned to be a much longer match – as Kross has now revealed while speaking with Renee Paquette on her Oral Sessions podcast.
“”When I went up and they asked me to do the match with Jeff and put him over, I was like, ‘Sure, that’s fine.’ I grew up a fan of Jeff and getting to meet him and him being cool was an awesome experience, he’s literally one of the coolest people I’ve ever met. ‘That’s fine.’ One of the agents came to me and was like, ‘there’s a long-term plan for this so don’t sweat it and don’t worry.’ Okay, cool. I do my entrance and get out there.
The ref comes to me and goes, ‘Hey, your 10 minute match is down to 90 seconds.’ First time we’re working on television, we don’t really know each other in the ring, our rhythm, they come back from commercials and I’m trying not to laugh. If you go back and watch, I’m smiling, closed mouth, trying to hold it back. As soon as Jeff got in the ring, I snatched him and called what we needed to do and that was it.”
Didn’t Want To Come Off As Hard To Work With
Once he made his proper debut on the main roster, it came complete with his manager Scarlett being removed entirely, and a gladiator looking helmet for his entrances. Kross just accepted what was given to him, despite knowing that things aren’t working. From the same interview, he’d reveal why he accepted the poor ideas.
“Nobody wants a reputation of being difficult to work with. Nobody wants a reputation of being a mark for themselves or not wanting to do business. Here I am, I personally had the dream experience in NXT. I walked in there, my ideas were embraced, we collectively collaborated. I felt inclined as a professional to embrace the ideas given to me because that’s all I was getting in NXT. If I had an idea and I had something I wanted to say or had an idea to contribute something, it was always met with enthusiasm or if they thought the idea was not great, they would make it better. I thought to myself, ‘I owe it to them to engage with this.”
WWE in the end, failed Karrion Kross. They had a potential main event wrestler, but they botched him at every turn on the big stage, and would end up simply releasing him. Do you think WWE could have handled Kross better? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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