Kross\u2019s refuted the reports<\/a> during an interview on The Angle podcast. By the weekend, Kross and Scarlett had been moved to the alumni section of WWE.com and his theme music was removed from streaming services, all but confirming their departure.<\/p>\n\u201cProfoundly Disappointing\u201d Contract Talks<\/p>\n
In his video, Kross explained that he had made his intentions to stay with the company clear at the very beginning of the year, but those intentions were met with months of silence. \u201cI expressed interest to renegotiate in early January with WWE,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s like, preposterous that anyone would think that I wouldn\u2019t want to be here\u2026 I\u2019m fully committed, I\u2019m here.\u201d He added, \u201cSo many, many months have gone by and I never had a single conversation about it until recently.\u201d<\/p>\n
He described that recent, brief conversation with a company representative as not being a serious negotiation, which left him feeling angry and let down. \u201cI don\u2019t even feel like the conversation I had recently was like an actual serious one,\u201d he stated. \u201cThe conversation was done, and there wasn\u2019t really anything that was discussed, of real substance, and that\u2026 just really profoundly disappointed me.\u201d Kross explained his disappointment stemmed from a feeling that the physical sacrifice of the performers was not being properly appreciated in the discussion.<\/p>\n
Creative Frustrations<\/p>\n
Kross then detailed his creative frustrations, using a sports analogy to describe the feeling of being held back even when he saw an opportunity to succeed for the team. \u201cIt\u2019s probably the hardest part of the gig when you know you can give more, and they tell you, \u2018Hey, don\u2019t home run that. Hit that to the outfield and run to second and make sure you stop on second,’\u201d he explained. \u201cYou\u2019re on the court playing basketball. They tell you to pass the ball, but you\u2019ve got a three point shot right there. We\u2019re all on the same team\u2026 You shoot, you get the three points. They\u2019re mad at you. Why are they mad at you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Popularity as a \u201cProblem\u201d<\/p>\n
This feeling was amplified, he explained, when his organic connection with the audience began to grow. He questioned why this was seemingly perceived as a negative by some within the company. \u201cMe building a relationship and having a relationship with the audience, sometimes by certain people, to me, it feels like they\u2019re treating it as I\u2019m being rebellious, or I\u2019m like it\u2019s treated almost like it\u2019s a problem, that this has happened,\u201d he stated. \u201cAnd that should not feel that way\u2026 it makes it feel like you know you, you outperformed or you, you got ahead of something that they didn\u2019t think you were going to get ahead of, and they don\u2019t like that you\u2019ve gotten ahead of it is the way it feels, and that\u2019s not a good feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Merchandise Story<\/p>\n
This frustration was compounded when his merchandise became a top seller on the WWE Shop, a fact he said he only learned about from fans online. When he asked his \u201cpoints of contact in the company\u201d if the sales numbers were true, he said their response was \u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d Kross stated, \u201cThe character, Karrion Kross\u2026 we became a top seller through through fan engagement, which is amazing.\u201d He argued that the company shouldn\u2019t trivialize the online community, as their support translates to real-world engagement and sales.<\/p>\n
Support from His Peers<\/p>\n
Amidst the professional uncertainty, Kross said he felt an outpouring of support from the locker room. \u201cI feel really supported. I definitely feel supported by the boys. A lot of the ladies talk to Scarlett about everything. We feel really supported,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Advice from R-Truth<\/p>\n
He then shared a particularly powerful piece of advice he received from veteran superstar R-Truth during a flight back from Saudi Arabia. The advice gave him a new perspective on his value beyond championship titles. \u201cHe said to me, \u2018you know, you haven\u2019t won any titles on main roster, but the one title that you have right now, that you will have for the rest of your life as a moment in time is the title that the people gave you when they chose you,’\u201d Kross shared. \u201cAnd that\u2019s f*cking real.\u201d<\/p>\n
An Emotional Fan Letter<\/p>\n
The video concluded with Kross reading an emotional letter from a fan who credited him and Scarlett with saving her from her \u201cdarkest moments\u201d and helping her get through three miscarriages last year. The letter served as a powerful, real-world example of the fan connection he had been speaking about throughout the video. Despite the frustrations, Kross stated his desire to remain with the company: \u201cWhat I would like to happen, I would love to stay with WWE, and I\u2019d love, ideally, to finish my career there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Karrion Kross and Scarlett are now officially free agents after their contracts expired on August 10. The full video is available on his official YouTube channel. Click below.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a lengthy and candid video posted to his YouTube account, Karrion Kross broke his silence on his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[49,48,75,60,30283],"class_list":{"0":"post-60459","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-featured","12":"tag-karrion-kross"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}