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With the recent set of talent releases, WWE's rosters for both RAW and SmackDown are looking fairly slim. With that in mind, there's every chance that Superstars from NXT like Karrion Kross might transition from the yellow brand to the red or the blue brand.
While I had fun speculating on five NXT Superstars who could make the move, one of the names I didn't mention was current NXT Champion Karrion Kross. I didn't pick him because as the current champ I didn't see him leaving NXT for a while, but with a Fatal Five-way match coming up for him at TakeOver there's every chance he loses the title and is fast-tracked to RAW or SmackDown.
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If it is indeed Pete Dunne, Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano or Kyle O'Reilly that emerges from NXT TakeOver: In Your House with the gold and Kross does move to RAW or SmackDown, he'll have a whole new host of WWE Superstars to face.
So, let's take a look at 5 RAW or SmackDown Superstars who could be Karrion Kross' first feud outside of NXT
#5 WWE RAW Superstar The Fiend Bray Wyatt
Karrion Kross leans more towards the Bray Wyatt and 'Demon Prince' Finn Balor side of magical realism in WWE, so it stands to reason that The Fiend is a potential opponent for him if he were to go to RAW.
Obviously The Fiend is currently absent from WWE after losing to Randy Orton at WrestleMania and seemingly transferring his weirdness into Alexa Bliss, but Kross is definitely someone that you could bring The Fiend back for.
With Scarlett alongside him as well, it sets up a potential inter-gender feud between Kross, Scarlett and The Fiend Bray Wyatt, and Alexa Bliss, which could be a decent rivalry to have on television for a while.
Kross also seems to have the same invulnerability that The Fiend had to begin with, with the current NXT Champion appearing to be unfazed by a lot of his opponent's offensives. So a match between the two could be quite the supernatural spectacle.
Only problem is that the WWE Universe may be running out of suspension of disbelief when it comes to the more supernatural elements in storylines.
#4 WWE Universal Champion and SmackDown Superstar Roman Reigns
The Head Of The Table has consistently been the best thing on SmackDown for a number of weeks now and things don't look like slowing down for Roman Reigns' current WWE Universal Title run.
The only problem is that Reigns is quickly burning through the SmackDown roster at a rate of knots, having defeated Jey Uso, Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre in a Champion vs Champion match, Kevin Owens, Daniel Bryan and then Daniel Bryan and Edge at the same time.
Someone like Karrion Kross would present Reigns with a legitimate contender to defend his title against and a unique opponent that is different to the people he's faced over the last few months. Plus the addition of Scarlett as Kross' valet also adds an interesting wrinkle to things.
Now, if Reigns is beating the likes of Strowman and Bray Wyatt then it's likely that he might be able to overcome Karrion Kross as well, but at least he'll be a new face for the WWE's Tribal Chief to take on.
#3 WWE Champion and RAW Superstar Bobby Lashley
Bobby Lashley is in a similar position to Roman Reigns in that he's quickly running out of credible title challengers to face on Monday Night RAW, with WWE being forced to use Drew McIntyre as Lashley's opponent for the third time at the upcoming Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.
Sure, Kofi Kingston could move back into the main event but if he's not going to be the one to dethrone Lashley then what will be next for champ from The Hurt Business?
Well, how about the former NXT Champion and all-around scary dude Karrion Kross. Whilst there's every chance that Lashley might make Kross look physically small in comparison, Kross is still a biggish dude and seeing the two clash might be very exciting indeed.
And, as a record-tying two-time NXT Champion, Kross should really be pushed in the main event slots of either RAW or SmackDown, so going after the champs makes sense for him.
#2 Rated R Superstar and WWE SmackDown member Edge
SmackDown star Edge may be taking some time off from wrestling at the moment following his failure to win the WWE Universal Title at WrestleMania, but there's every chance that he could be a fantastic first feud for Karrion Kross.
Especially as the two already have a history together. It all stems from Edge's Royal Rumble win earlier in 2021. The Rated R Superstar visited NXT to tease a potential match against the NXT Champion at the time, which was Finn Balor. However, Kross confronted Edge to let him know that he'd be NXT Champion by the time 'Mania rolled around so Edge would be unwisely choosing to face him.
As we can see from Edge saying he might be 'motivated to come back here [NXT]' there's clearly some unresolved bad blood between the two following this confrontation, so it would certainly give WWE a lifting off point for a feud between the two on SmackDown.
The only issue I might have with it is that we're still hoping to see so many dream matches with Edge whilst he's currently wrestling and I'm not sure how high up the list Kross should be really? Especially as we don't know how long we're going to be treated to Edge as an active wrestler for.
#1 WWE RAW Superstar John Morrison
It's unlikely, given that John Morrison is currently a tag-team wrestler aligned with Miz doing light-hearted comedy segments on RAW, but there's every chance that with The Miz's injury that WWE might want Morrison to step out on his own.
If that does happen then they have a perfect feud already half developed between Morrison and Karrion Kross as the pair have an extensive history together from their time at Impact Wrestling.
Kross, known as Killer Kross at the time, was attempting to win the Impact World Championship from Morrison, then known as Johnny Impact. During their feud, Kross even went so far as to attack Morrison's wife Taya Valkyrie, which added a lot of bad blood between the two.
To make the deal even sweeter, Valkyrie is now in WWE as Franky Monet and she could eventually reunite with her husband to create a Kross and Scarlett Vs Morrison and Monet couples feud.
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