Karrion Kross Wants To Face Roman Reigns, Compares Him To Bruno Sammartino

[Liz]

Karrion Kross wants to face Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.

Kross had a brief run on the main roster in 2021. He debuted in July, but after a few inconsistent months, the company released the two-time NXT Champion on November 4 in a wave of budget cuts. His time on WWE Raw was criticaly panned because his gimmick was stripped down and he was presented without Scarlett Bordeaux, a vital part of his act in NXT. Shortly after Triple H took over as the head of creative on July 25, Kross re-debuted on the August 5 episode of SmackDown, where he attacked Drew McIntyre while the latter confronted Reigns.

Speaking with The Ringer Wrestling Show after WWE Extreme Rules, where he defeated McIntyre in a Strap Match, Kross was asked to name who he wants to face. In response, he emphasized that he has his sights set on Reigns. He compared Reigns to Bruno Sammartino, who holds the record for a longest world title reign in WWE history (2,803 days). Reigns has been the reigning Universal Champion for over 770 days; he unified the world titles by beating Brock Lesnar at WWE WrestleMania 38.

"I feel like everyone should want to be in the ring with Roman Reigns. For me, I hope nobody minds that I'm comparing him but to me, he's our modern-day Bruno. What he's doing right now, in my opinion, is historic for our company's history. This art of storytelling, it's an amazing thing, and it's going very, very well. People are having fun, they're enjoying what they're watching. It's something different every week, but like, I could go on and on. That is the guy that I'd want to be in the ring with," Kross said.

Otherwise, the former NXT Champion stated that he's open to doing the matches that people want to see. Kross described how he enjoys the big fight feel, and he aims to give that to the fans.

"Aside from that, I mean, I'm a people pleaser. So whoever people really want to see me in the ring with me personally, that's the direction I'm going to lean in. I like the big fight feel. I like those freak show fights. Those Superman versus Batman, 'This shouldn't happen, we wish it would happen. But there's no way it can happen.' Then it does happen and happens in WWE, and that's why people come to see the show to cultivate that energy in a building. I wake up every day for that, I train for that, I'm aiming for that, you know?" Kross said.

In the same interview, Kross noted that fans laughed at him during his previous run on the main roster, but he was thrilled with the positive response he got at WWE Extreme Rules.