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Since his arrival in WWE, Karrion Kross has consistently been one of the premier stars in NXT. More often than not, Kross is competing in the main event of NXT TakeOvers and he currently holds the most prestigious prize on the black and gold brand, the NXT Championship.
It was first officially announced on the February 4, 2020 episode of WWE Backstage that Karrion Kross had signed with WWE. He was soon booked into a feud with Tommaso Ciampa, whom Kross defeated at NXT TakeOver: In Your House in dominant fashion. Since then Kross has been the strongest force in NXT.
Speaking with Michael Morales of Lucha Libre Online, Karrion Kross discussed why he chose to sign with WWE:
"It was for a variety of reasons. I'll tell you the most important reason. To me was the fact that WWE was always the place that I wanted to be since I was a kid. I'll admit it, a lot of us from the independents, we hear stories. Whether they are true or not." Karrion Kross continued, "At different points in people's careers, sometimes they become discouraged on pursuing the ultimate goal, the ultimate dream. They convinced themselves to sell for less, and I was like, I'm not going to get caught up with that. I'm going to follow my heart, my soul and my intuition on this. I'm going to continue to stay the course for the WWE. You're not going to get caught up with that.
"So it was very important for me and for my soul to fulfill this. It's the only job I've ever wanted since I was a kid. So that was the first reason. The second reason and I've never said this before, but the second reason had a lot to do with the fact that so many people thought that I would be extremely successful very quickly elsewhere." Kross added, "I took that as a challenge. I know they meant it as a compliment. But to be honest, and I don’t want to start swearing, but it made me very mad. I was like, why would you think that I would find so much success so quickly?
"I sat in that and thought about it. I'm like no, you know what? Whether that was your intention or not, challenge accepted. Now I'm going to show you that I'm going to go to the top of the food chain in this industry, and I'm going to show you that I'm not going to get lost in the shuffle and I'm going to ascend to exactly where I know I could be. I'm going to put in everything you think that I can't, you know, all of everything that I am, I'm going to put it all in one direction and I'm going to manifest my success there, and that's the truth."
Karrion Kross' wrestling career before WWE
Prior to signing with WWE, Karrion Kross wrestled for various promotions under the name Killer Kross. His character contained the same aggression and fire that it does now and was one of the main reasons for his popularity.
Kross is known for wrestling in GFW, Lucha Underground, AAA, IMPACT Wrestling and Major League Wrestling. Kross has won various championships for these promotions and currently holds the NXT Championship in WWE.
