Killer Kross had plenty to say about his WWE run, and he made it clear that one thing never disappeared during his time away from regular television: his confidence.
During his appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Kross was asked about the end of his WWE run and whether sitting on the sidelines damaged how he viewed himself. Helwani pointed out that Kross did not seem to lack confidence on television, but he also noted that Kross had only worked around 10 matches in 2025 before becoming much more active after his exit. Helwani asked Kross whether his confidence had to be rebuilt after everything that happened. Kross said that was never the issue.
“The confidence in my own abilities never took a hit. I was always starving for, you know, a particular opportunity. Like, there are opportunities afforded every single week, right? Whether they be in the ring, backstage, media, or, you know, just an opportunity to learn something new.”
Kross explained that WWE backstage was its own world, and he tried to use that time to learn everything he could, whether that meant studying television production or talking with writers who had spent years inside the company. He said the real thing he was looking for was not simply more appearances. It was depth.
“Backstage is a whole other environment aside from like what’s going on live. Like you and I have talked about it, you know, sitting in the truck and learning about television formatting or, you know, if a writer has time, like a lead writer who’s been in the company for 10 to 20 years, picking their brain, you know, what goes into, you know, getting here and how do you guys build it? But I was really very much I knew the opportunity that I needed was substance of character. That is really what pulls people in in pro wrestling.”
Kross then went deeper on why character matters so much in wrestling. In his view, fans may enjoy the moves and high spots, but long-term investment comes from having someone with a real character they can sink their teeth into.
“Once you’ve been once you’ve watched it for a long time, once you’ve gotten through the high spots and the acrobatics and all of that stuff, all the wonderful things that take place in the ring, people are looking for substance of character. And if you don’t have that, then you’re going to kind of pale in comparison to some of the other performances and, you know, the other things going on in the show.”
Kross admitted that part never really came together for him in WWE, even though he felt he gave his best effort.
“And that just that really was not coming together, you know, even with my best efforts.”
When Helwani asked why Kross thought it did not come together, Kross said WWE was simply focused on other names and other stories.
“I just think that they, you know, there was um when they were formatting the show, they just have other players they’re running with.”
He added that once WWE chooses the people and stories it wants to push, it usually sticks with that direction no matter what.
“And so I think they delegate a lot of the time and the creativity and the resources and they allocate all that to the certain players that they’re running with regardless of where you’re at. You know, they make a commitment to run and finish these stories and then somebody gets hurt and then somebody else comes in. It’s just a lot of moving parts.”
Kross closed that thought by saying wrestling companies often stay locked into their chosen direction, even if the audience is reacting to someone else.
“And so regardless of whether or not the audience is with you, a lot of times, and we’ve seen this for two or three decades in every single wrestling company, when they’ve got their mind set, 99% of the time, they’re going to run with that no matter what.”
Killer Kross may have left WWE without getting the character-driven opportunity he wanted, but he does not sound like someone who lost faith in himself. If anything, his comments make it clear that he believed the issue was never his talent — it was the lack of a true creative lane.
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