Despite popular belief, Adam Cole didn’t shoot on Killer Kross in their face-t0-face promo on WWE NXT.
Killer Kross recently sat down with Shakiel Mahjouri of CBS Sports to discuss a variety of subjects. When the subject of his infamous promo with Cole was brought up, Kross revealed everything that was said in that promo was delegated by the writing team at NXT. Whereas some fans believed that Cole was burying Kross’ character with his harsh comments, the former NXT Champion stated that the content of the entire promo came from a script. He then praised Cole’s professionalism and complimented him as someone that was “awesome to work with.”
“The night before we had received a script,” said Kross. “Everything that he said and everything that I said was delegated to us by a writing team. He’s a total professional, he was awesome to work with and we literally just showed up and did our job that day like we would do any other day. He’s always been the fourth-wall promo guy. They thought that would be the best way to integrate him into the fatal five-way match, which is what we went into. If I recall, they were booking him with 50-50 booking after he dropped the title to Keith [Lee].
Part of the memorable promo can be seen here:
.@AdamColePro continues to stir the pot with @WWEKarrionKross! What impact will this have on #NXTTakeOver In Your House? #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/5sxwD3h76k
— WWE (@WWE) June 2, 2021
Kross then shared the way the creative team pitched the segment to him; he described how the story was meant to build him up so he could “go over and kill” his opponents. For Cole specifically, the writers wanted him to look strong in order to make Kross’ eventual triumph even more meaningful.
“How it was explained to me was they wanted me to go up to the main roster with clean kills on everybody,” said Kross. “Time just wouldn’t afford it, so they thought ‘how can we get the best guys in NXT in one match where Kross can go over and kill these guys?’ In this business, you can’t just run people over all month in promos and tag matches and stuff and then kill them clean at the pay-per-view. They get nothing.
“So I think the idea behind that was to let them get their licks in prior to the pay-per-view, and then they just get smashed and beat. That was basically the idea behind it. Cole needed to look strong in the promo and they’re playing on the fourth-wall stuff and that’s basically it.”
Kross’ success on NXT didn’t translate over onto the main roster, and the company released him due to “budget cuts” on November 4. “The Herald of Doomsday” is now a free agent, and he’s set to begin the next chapter of his career.
READ MORE: Killer Kross Teases His Future: ‘What You See Next May Disturb You’
