10 Things WWE Fans Need To Know About Killer Kross
4. When Kevin Became Killer
Before he took on his current epithet, the man known as Kevin Kesar used the gimmick name Kevin Kross. The idea was to go by a name that was easy to remember, simple to chant and easily marketable. Kevin Kross ticked all the boxes, although even the most ardent fan would struggle to argue that it is an exciting moniker.
A match with ECW icon Shane Douglas changed all that. Kross and Douglas did battle in an extreme rules match for the MVW Heavyweight Championship, an opportunity that must have been thrilling for the young Kross, and the the Colorado-native wasn’t about to let the side down. Utilising his love of cinema inside the ring, Kross looked to ‘No Country for Old Men’ for the finish.
In the 2007 film, Javier Bardem’s character famously chokes out a cop with his own handcuffs. In the 2017 match, Kross reprised this idea using his wrist tape, choking out Douglas and retaining the title in the process. The fans started chanting ‘Killer Kross’, and the chant began to follow him around the independents. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Kross decided to take the moniker as his official name. And thus, a Killer was born.