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Karrion Kross made his RAW debut on last week's episode and surprisingly suffered his first-ever pinfall loss in the WWE at the hands of Jeff Hardy.
Long-time followers of the reigning NXT Champion were unhappy to see Karrion Kross without Scarlett on RAW, and the defeat to Jeff Hardy only added to the shock.
WWE has naturally come under heavy criticism over the booking of Karrion Kross' RAW debut, but is it too soon to hit the panic button?
Eric Bischoff spoke about Karrion Kross' first RAW appearance on the most recent episode of his 'For The Heat' radio show. The WWE Hall of Famer agreed with co-host Conrad Thompson that fans should wait for the entire storyline to unfold before passing a verdict on Karrion Kross' main roster prospects.
Bischoff speculated that WWE booking Kross to lose could be Vince McMahon's way of testing the 2-time NXT Champion. The former WCW booker explained that McMahon might want to assess whether or not Karrion Kross was a professional and could take losses:
"I'm with you," Bischoff began, "You've got to let these things play out. And I don't know what the rationale or psychology is before having a guy lose, especially someone coming out of NXT and being his first shot at the roster and coming out and losing. There may be a reason for it. It may be Vince's way of testing. He may want to see how a talent reacts in that situation. Is he a pro? Is she a pro? You get boo-boo faces, as they say. You know, you get to see a lot in someone when you look them in the eye when they come through that curtain after they've had their first match, and it was a loss. Maybe that's it. But I'm with you, man. Let the story play out. Let's see where it goes."
Heroes become heroes: Erich Bischoff provides an example to explain Karrion Kross' WWE status
Eric Bischoff even brought up an analogy to explain Karrion Kross' situation and why it's too soon to lose hope for the former IMPACT star. Bischoff said heroes never have strong introductions in movies as they are gradually built up as formidable characters through engaging storytelling.
Bischoff urged fans to be patient and wait for the feud between Jeff Hardy and Karrion Kross to play out on Monday Night RAW. The former SmackDown executive was confident of Karrion Kross' fortunes in the WWE as he called him a great performer:
"When was the last time you went to a movie and saw the hero of the movie be a hero in the opening act? You don't. Heroes become heroes. They don't show up as a hero because if they show up as a hero, if they show up as a strong character if they show up looking like they can take everybody out, there is nowhere for them to go. At least not in the sense that you're following them and engaging them in that story, and you're hoping that they are going to become the hero you want them to be. That's why people watch this stuff, whether it's movies or television series, whatever it is, wrestling. Hell, even I think in professional sports. So, yeah, let it play out. Give it some time. Karrion will be a great performer, provided he keeps his head out straight, doesn't have any issues, signing his name over for licensing purposes, but I think he will be just fine," Bischoff added.
Karrion Kross' program with Jeff Hardy is expected to be delayed due to the Charismatic Enigma testing positive for COVID-19. Kross is still in the early days of his main roster run, and NXT fans will be hoping for WWE to back him up with good creative decisions.
Please credit 'For The Heat' and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
