NXT talent and staff didn't seem happy aout the booking of their champion on the main roster.
On the July 19 episode of WWE Raw, Karrion Kross made his debut, losing to Jeff Hardy in about 90 seconds in a shocking decision. Fightful Select reported the following after the match:
If you were baffled by the booking of Karrion Kross on WWE Raw on July 19, you weren't alone. Several NXT talent and staff spoke with Fightful about their shock and frustration around the NXT Champion losing to Jeff Hardy.
One talent told Fightful that it felt like a message was being sent, though they didn't elaborate on what they thought that message was. There was significant frustration from those we spoke to about how Finn Balor, Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano, Santos Escobar, Oney Lorcan and others had worked hard to help make Kross as dominant as possible.
We heard that Kross appeared to be in good spirits backstage after the match, though one talent present did note that Kross was put in an unfavorable position considering his spot as a protected talent on one brand, and a new talent on another.
Hardy would be sidelined by the following Monday, and Kross won a match against Keith Lee. He's currently embroiled in a feud with Samoa Joe on NXT.
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