When Karrion Kross takes the ring at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, it will mark three months to the day since Scarlett and “The Killer” arrived in WWE.
While that may not seem like a long time, and in a way it isn't, a lot has happened since that fateful day in August; the White Rabbit Project made way for the return of Bray Wyatt, about a dozen other performers returned to the promotion, including other NXT standouts like Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae, and Dexter Lumis, and… oh yeah, Seth “Freakin” Rollins won the United States Championship, which should lead to something even bigger down the line. Surely the “State of WWE” is strong at the moment, but one thing that hasn't changed since Kross debuted is his vehement hatred for Drew McIntyre, whom he has consistently brawled with on multiple occasions since outside of their sanctioned match at Extreme Rules.
Kross doesn't like that McIntyre is “The Chosen One,” that he gets such premier booking from Paul “Triple H” Levesque despite having a well-documented losing streak against Roman Reigns, and doesn't like that, despite everything he's been through, McIntyre remains a babyface who wants to do good by the WWE Universe. With Scarlett by his side – and oftentimes in the ring spraying fireballs and pepper spray – Kross has been able to have his way with the one-time Universal Champion, but at Crown Jewel, that advantage will go away.
Why? Well, because Kross is taking on McIntyre in a Steel Cage match, where it would be incredibly difficult for Scarlett to interfere.
Will Crown Jewel provide McIntyre with his first official WWE win over Kross on either television or a “Premium Live Event?” Or will Kross once again figure out a way to best his in-ring foe and force a third match in this series? Either way, if Kross is able to silence McIntyre once and for all, he has plans for a very entertaining Universal Title reign if he proves to be the man who finally dethrones Roman Reigns.
Karrion Kross has plans for the WWE Universal Championship.
The “Tribal Chief” has been the WWE Universal Champion for so long – 793 days and counting – that it's almost hard to remember what it was like before he secured the strap in a win over The Fiend at Payback 2020. Reigns has successfully defended the strap on 25 occasions, going 24-1 over that run thanks to a disqualification loss to Seth Rollins at the Royal Rumble 2022, and through it all, the prospect of a title swap hasn't been particularly close – no offense to McIntyre and company.
Article Continues BelowIf, however, Kross is somehow able to be the man who unseats the former member of The Shield, he has a pretty interesting plan for how he would hold court over SmackDown as the blue brand's champion, as detailed to Kostas Lianos of Daily Star, as passed along by Fightful.
“When we become WWE Undisputed Universal Champion together, I think you’re going to see a proper supervillain. It’s not going to be any sort of gray area, you’re gonna know that we are the bad guys,” Kross said.
Elsewhere in his interview, Kross was about how he made his previous main roster run work on RAW despite having to work under a gladiator helmet without Scarlett by his side.
“Not necessarily, I wasn’t overly fond of the concept they had pitched to me when I was coming up on the main roster the first time,” Kross said. “But it wasn’t anything personal. When you sign a contract with WWE this is what it is and I’m very much of the old school belief that whatever I’m given I’m gonna do my absolute best to get that over so it’s enjoyable towards the audience. It wasn’t my idea but that’s okay, we’re given other people’s ideas all the time – that’s part of the job – and we do our best to make it entertaining. While I wasn’t fond of it and it wasn’t my idea that didn’t really matter to me. There was no animosity towards anyone at all. It was just something that in the end didn’t work when we did our best to try and make it work.”
Fortunately for Kross, he no longer has to worry about the helmet, the solo entrance, or having to work matches without his valet by his side. No, now he can focus on winning matches, winning belts, and hopefully providing the WWE Universe with a supervillain tailor-made for young stars to test their mettle against in the pursuit of a legacy.