Karrion Kross Will Never Forget People Laughing At His Mask During First WWE Run

Karrion Kross saw a lot of success in NXT, being a 2-time NXT Champion. He was then called up to the main roster, and that signalled his steep descent into mediocrity. After his release, Triple H brought him back with a clean slate, and Scarlett by his side.

Kross was released along with his wife Scarlett Bordeaux last year after being directionless for a long time. Following their release, they went back to the indie circuit and competed there for a while.

That entire time, he tried to forget the terrible masked gladiator gimmick Vince McMahon stuck him with. He returned to WWE a while ago and has been a force to be reckoned with since then.

While speaking with The Ringer Wrestling Show, Karrion Kross talked about his initial main roster run. He also recalled people laughing at his mask during his first run.

“Well, I don’t know if I’ve ever said this publicly, but the first time I came out with the mask, there were people laughing in the audience. They were laughing. I always remembered getting into this business and thinking to myself, ‘When this is all said and done, I want to leave this place a better place than it was before I came in.’ You want to make it better. You want to make people around you better. You want to make the product better, you want your performances to get better. For me, I’m always chasing the perfect match. That’s my wrestling philosophy. I’m chasing the perfect story and I just always wanted to contribute my best foot forward, artistically, and be work-driven.

“When I came out with that, and I heard people laughing, I was like, You know ‘What I’m doing right now,’ to me at the time, it felt like I was betraying everything that I wanted to contribute to what I was doing and [betraying the] fans, because the fan in me is still alive. That’s how I know how to read an audience. If you become too high up on your horse, and you disconnect from them, ‘I’ll tell them what they’re gonna like.’ That’s not that’s never gonna work. So the difference between then and now is tonight, I walked out and they were singing our theme music. The entire audience was singing our theme music. That was a moment we wanted to get to before the pandemic and I got that tonight in a packed house in Philadelphia. So that was incredible. So I would say that that is the major difference between last time and tonight.”

He was also relieved to have gotten his release last year. He also defeated Drew McIntyre at Extreme Rules. We’ll have to see what is next in store for him.

What’s your take on his mask? Sound off in the comments!