Karrion Kross has explained why he saw being NXT Champion as a dress rehearsal for bigger things hopefully to come in his career.
Back in 2020 Karrion Kross fulfilled his goal on the NXT roster when he dethroned Keith Lee and became NXT Champion. However, an injury put paid to a lengthy title reign, and just four days after winning the gold, Kross had to vacate the championship.
Kross returned in the spring of 2021 to recapture the title at NXT Stand and Deliver from Finn Balor and this time Karrion Kross held the title for four months before losing to Samoa Joe and embarking on an ill-fated main roster run.
Karrion Kross was released from his WWE contract in November 2021 but after a change of management in WWE, he and his wife Scarlett were both brought back to the company in August 2022.
Speaking on WWE Espanol’s El Brunch de WWE, Karrion Kross reflected on his time as NXT Champion and says he saw it as a rehearsal for the day he holds the big title in WWE:
“It was very good. It’s the type of title reign that people will never, ever see in their entire careers, and for me, to be able to achieve that so early upon my arrival in WWE, I’ll never forget it. It was one of the best times in my career … I kind of thought of being champion of NXT as – every single day you show up to work, this is going to be a dress rehearsal for one day becoming WWE Champion. That’s the way I always looked at it.”