10 Wrestlers Even AEW Couldn’t Sign

2. Karrion Kross

Karrion Kross Drew McIntyre
WWE.com

A crazy one this, considering the existing problem with roster bloat, but AEW couldn’t use Karrion Kross because Karrion Kross politely declined the opportunity to be used.

That was the story emerging out of the usual backstage channels anyway - Kross was supposed to eat a loss to Wardlow during the ‘War Dog’s match to MJF via various foes, but the former NXT Champion elected to sit on his WWE release a little longer rather than eat a Dynamite defeat.

The move, evidently, proved quite shrewd. When Triple H rose to power, Kross’ main roster return was one of the first statement booking moments to reflect the change. Buried and buried under Vince McMahon, this was a redebut, relaunch and complete reset.

He decked drew McIntyre, eyeballed Roman Reigns and - as of writing at least - hasn’t yet lost. Such a rapid fire trajectory is barely offered to AEW regulars, let alone the one-and-dones hoping to turn an opportunity into something more.

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett