Killer Kross sets the record straight.
On May 14 it was reported by PWInsider that Killer Kross had requested his release from IMPACT Wrestling after the two parties failed to restructure his current contract. IMPACT Wrestling reportedly would not agree to grant the release. Kross would later state that there were "inaccuracies" in the report of his release request but did not provide further detail.
Appearing on The Wrestling Perspective on Fightful.com, Kross cleared up any inaccuracies and told his side of the story.
"[The release request] was 100% true," admitted Kross. "None of the information came from me. [When I saw the report], I threw a Killer Kross-esque tantrum in public, for real. I was still in the process of trying to find common ground with [IMPACT]. I was chatting with Scott [D'Amore] and other people in the company. No one outside of my immediate family had that much detail regarding the information that [was put online]. And my employers. I was thinking someone I was speaking to in confidence was gossiping to the wrong person. I don't think it was malicious, but I was fucking furious."
Kross finished the statement by adding, "I'm still very happy at Impact. I have nothing disparaging to say about the company. But there are things that I am attempting to find common ground with."
Kross reportedly signed a multi-year deal with IMPACT last year, though terms were not given and, when asked, declined to reveal how much time was left on his contract.
It was reported that Kross was seeking a six-figure deal with guaranteed money from IMPACT, but the deal was turned down and countered with a three-year deal worth below his asking price. While Kross didn't use exact numbers, he did confirm he was seeking more guaranteed money, but that IMPACT didn't see the same value in him.
"I had an idea of what I would like to be and where my value was [when signing with IMPACT]. They had another idea. I decided to humbly pay my dues and showcase what I believed and what I was certain that I knew I would be worth," said Kross. "When we got to that point, we had different opinions of what that was. I will humbly say that I barely existed in the pro wrestling world prior to IMPACT. I never asked for anything that I didn't think that I didn't deserve and never asked for anything that I didn't think I couldn't contribute back. I was led to believe that it was not available. If you get to a job and are told that something you're looking for is not available and then you find out six months later that it's not true, that it is available and other people have it, that's upsetting."
Kross continued, "When were we trying to figure out where we were landing on things, it just wasn't working. What was being offered was not going to work. I wasn't angry or upset about that. I understand that. What was counter offered to me wasn't something where I could stabilize my personal situation."
Under his deal with IMPACT, Kross is allowed to take Independent bookings as a way to boost his income and profile. When asked if he thought about taking more Independent bookings, Kross revealed that he didn't see it as a sustainable option.
"If you don't have guarantees and you're not clearing enough, hypothetically, to pay for health insurance, there's a lot of pitfalls in pro wrestling. Nowadays, there's a certain level of compliance...a certain level of 'this is an opportunity, and you should take it because it's all you got right now' that's promoted. And people aren't thinking about what could happen if it goes wrong. I could do the Indy stuff, but I think that's a short-term solution and it could go up in flames," he stated. "It's the phobia of [my career] being over faster than I anticipated and having nothing to show for it when you have to take care of people. I personally don't really need much. But when you have people to take care of, circumstances change. Getting told to get another job, by your job, that's fucked up. You're struggling to make ends meet, and the job you have is telling you to take another job, so you can keep that job. It's like working at a corporation being told to go work at McDonald's."
As of now, Kross and IMPACT remain at an impasse but the two sides have remained professional. Kross was recently used at the June 6 IMPACT television tapings in New York and he stated he would continue to go about his business with IMPACT while "hoping for a miracle."
You can listen to The Wrestling Perspective podcast right here on Fightful at this link.
