WWE
Former NXT Champion Karrion Kross has revealed that he treated his title reign as a ‘dress rehearsal’ for a potential WWE Championship run.
Kross won the NXT Championship twice during his time on the previously Black & Gold brand. In August 2020, Kross defeated Keith Lee for the gold at NXT TakeOver XXX, but was forced to relinquish the title after separating his shoulder during the title bout.
He defeated Finn Balor to win the championship for a second time at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver 2021 and held the gold for 136 days, before dropping the title to Samoa Joe at TakeOver 36.
Speaking on El Brunch de WWE, Kross stated that the second reign mentally prepared him for the future, noting:
“That’s the type of title reign that some people will never, ever see in their entire careers and for me to be able to achieve that so early in my arrival in WWE, I’ll never forget it.
“It was one of the best times of my career and it prepared me mentally for everything that had happened in the future. I felt very, very prepared moving forward with what sort of expectation was gonna be needed of me and the accountability of being a champion.
“I kind of thought of being champion in 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.”
Kross returned to WWE in August, following his November 2021 release. On the September 9 edition of SmackDown, Kross attacked Drew McIntyre, choking the former WWE Champion out in the closing moments of the show.
Roman Reigns currently holds the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, most recently defending the gold against McIntyre at Clash At The Castle.
Stay up to date with WWE win/loss records for 2022 using our tracker right here.
Transcription via POST Wrestling.
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2 years ago by Sanchez Taylor
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