Karrion Kross made his wrestling debut in 2014 and quickly ascended on the independent scene before joining Lucha Underground at the end of 2015.
Given his size, stature, and demeanor, Kross has always looked the part of bring a professional wrestler. Because of his look, former WWE Senior Director of Talent Development Canyon Ceman didn't want to use him as an extra.
"I had a correspondence for a long time with a guy named Canyon Ceman. He was, for me, one of the best contacts I ever could have had because he was so blunt. Sometimes, that doesn’t work for people, but I’m from New York. Just tell it like it is. A bunch of times, he would tell me, ‘Stop coming in for extra work.’ ‘Did I do something wrong?’ ‘No. I see big dollar signs on you. I don’t want people to see you as an extra here. What needs to happen is, as time goes on, you’re going to get over and we’re going to be able to acquire you and put you into something meaningful. If I hire you right now, you’re going on the back end of this feeder line and who knows what happens. What I see for you, long term, is the whole world figures out and sees who you are, and I bring you in, and you just kill everybody. That would be the perfect scenario.’ Years later, it kind of happened that way. Every once in a while, I’d give him a ring, ‘Can I come in for a tryout?’ ‘No. Not doing any more tryouts. We know what you can do. There is no question here. What we need to do is find the right time,'" Kross recalled on Not Sam Wrestling with Sam Roberts.
Kross was eventually hired by WWE in 2020. Ceman was released by WWE in July 2021.
Elsewhere during the interview, Kross explained how Jon Moxley connected him with Triple H. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit and link to the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.
