He was expertly built up to be an unbeatable monster by Triple H, and then, after just nine matches on Raw – plus a few more that were either dark, on live events, or on Main Event – his time in WWE was over; he was released from his contract on November 4th, 2021, and, after having to ditch his partner Scarlett and assume the role of a glorified gladiator, Killer Kross was back.
And yet, unlike oh so many of his fellow former WWE employees, Kross wasn't immediately snatched up by AEW, NJPW, or Impact – assuming they would even want their former champion back. No, once Kross' non-compete clause elapsed, he began a journey around the indie circuit in an attempt to recapture his former mystique as an unbeatable monster and potentially find a new home where he's given the respect Hunter Hearst Helmsley once showed him.
Karrion Kross has taken the long road away from WWE.
Killer Kross made his return to independent wrestling in February of 2022, almost two years to the date after his final indie match pre-WWE, which, if you're wondering, was a DQ win over Tom Lawlor in MLW.
Though he was rumored to debut in AEW about a half dozen times, including on February 9th, when Tony Khan's mystery arrival eventually turned out to be Keith Lee, Kross actually returned to the ring on February 4th, where he won the vacant FSW Mecca Title at FSW Mecca VII: Doomsday by beating Jacob Fatu by referee’s decision.
From there, he defeated one-time Elite member Flip Gordon in WrestlePro and then “The American Wolf” Davey Richards in PPW, before returning to MLW in a more formal capacity, earning a win over Budd Heavy in the leadup of being announced as a participant in the upcoming Battle Riot IV.
Since his return to MLW, Kross has continued to build up his mystique alone with notable wins, including Jake Something at Warrior Wrestling, Richard Holliday at NEW, Rickey Shane Page at Circle 6, and Vincent in a presumably bizarre match at the bizarre Control Your Narrative promotion. Though he did suffer a single loss to Minoru Suzuki at NJPW Strong Lonestar Shootout, few are going to hold that against him, as many of the best wrestlers in the world today would happily take an L to “The King” if afforded an opportunity to share the ring with him, especially if it gets a foot in the door in NJPW.
Interestingly enough, Kross actually was afforded an opportunity to wrestle in AEW as part of the Wardlow-MJF feud in the role eventually filled by W. Morrissey, but the former NXT World Champion backed out of the job because he did not want to debut on such a large stage without Scarlett only to lose a quick match in a similar way to how his main roster run began on RAW.
Since not debuting in AEW on May 4th, Kross has taken out Janela for WrestlePro, defeated Yuya Uemura in his first match on NJPW Strong, and even reunited with Scarlett Bordeaux in a mixed tag match versus Joey Avalon and Sierra as he continues to push for the sort of presentation he wants in this the next stage of his professional wrestling career.
Will it work? Will Killer Kross put Karrion behind him and become a big-time, main event performer for another promotion either in the United States or otherwise? Only time will tell, but it's nice to see the former NXT star turned WWE disaster take his career back into his own hands in the hopes of finding a long-term home.
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