Karrion Kross vents on WWE frustrations, viral WrestleMania promo: 'I'm still pretty pissed'
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Karrion Kross has gotten the professional wrestling world to say his name.
April's WrestleMania 41 showcase had extra meaning for the former NXT Champion, since it took place in his hometown of Las Vegas. Despite that, Kross was left without a match for the two-night marathon.
As a result of Kross' frustrations, he appeared on WWE's official WrestleMania 41 recap podcast after the festivities were over and cut the most-talked about promo of the weekend. Speaking Wednesday during an in-studio appearance on "The Ariel Helwani Show," Kross explained why he went off the way he did.
"The biggest misconception anyone can take from what I said on WrestleMania was that I'm disgruntled," Kross said. "I'm not. I'm just really, really, really hungry, man. I'm really hungry.
"All of this is coming from a place of passion. It's all about the grand scheme of things. People are paying to come watch the greatest show in the world. I want to be a reason on the show where they felt like they got every single cent worth of that. I want to be more than just an Easter egg. I want to be more than just a guy in the back, ruining peoples' lives."
Kross, 39, watched as his airtime dipped to begin 2025, after his program as the leader of his stable The Final Testament wrapped up opposite The Wyatt Sicks in December. Alongside Kross and his wife Scarlett Bordeaux were his now-former partners, the Authors of Pain's (AOP) Akam and Rezar, with manager Paul Ellering, all of whom have since been released from the company. As a result, Kross has been mostly limited to a backstage role on "WWE Raw," antagonizing the likes of AJ Styles and Sami Zayn.
In his now-infamous shoot-like promo, Kross punctuated his statements with a fiery line about the status of his contract (reportedly set to expire this summer) leaking to the media. Unlike the rest of the targets within his promo, such as celebrity wrestlers like Logan Paul, Kross admitted that he was genuinely upset that his personal contract information is now public.
"That put me over the edge because that was also happening shortly after AOP and Ellering were gone," Kross said. "It was just like kind of one thing after another. I'm still pretty pissed about that.
"I don't know who did it, it's impossible to say. I have no idea, but I was kind of out of my mind at that moment. It's just privacy. Who the hell is supposed to know about that? Stuff gets leaked all the time."
Although Kross has gained significant steam throughout the wrestling community since WrestleMania, he's still yet to be showcased in a bigger capacity. And ultimately, seeds were still planted at the "Show of Shows," when he appeared toward the end of Styles' match against Paul on WrestleMania Night 2.
Kross' on-screen persona has clearly taken issue with the YouTuber-turned-wrestler Paul — and while it was a focal point of his promo, Kross believes some clarity is needed on what exactly he meant.
"I don't have a problem with Logan Paul," Kross said. "I think he's an amazing athlete, and I think he's doing really good work. And a lot of people will be pissed that I'm saying that, but it's true. I don't want to B.S. around that.
"What I have a problem with is this idea within the system to reward the mainstream archetype, like Logan, with certain types of liberties and privileges that could be delegated to the people that have pretty much dedicated their entire lives and are here full-time. I struggle with that, and I'm not the only one. I think it just needs to be said."
Kross added that Paul never said anything to him after the promo, and they've each gone about their business. This weekend at Saturday Night's Main Event, Paul will challenge World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso for the WWE title, with Kross cheering on the champion.
In the meantime, Kross hopes he can work his way into the upcoming Money In the Bank ladder match, which would give him the opportunity to cash in on a future world title match of his own.
"I have no problem as a professional wrestler with anyone coming in on our show and doing anything," Kross said. "Just as long as I get to hit them with a steel chair as they walk in. If I can hit them with the chair, they can come in and do whatever they want. After that, it's fine. But in all seriousness, we, the collective, the talent, the wrestlers, the performers, we can go viral too.
"I don't want there to be this idea, this dependency that other people from other lanes are the only people that can do that. We can too. That's why I say it didn't come from a disgruntled place. It came from a place of passion. I want to show people what they want to see. I know what they want to see, and I proved that. That was the whole point."
