After months of rumors and reports, Karrion Kross and Scarlett’s WWE contracts expired over the weekend. Kross told us that himself in a video posted on his personal YouTube channel after he and his wife’s profiles were moved to the alumni section of WWE.com.
For a number of reasons however, a lot of people thought everything that happened on Sunday was a storyline — a group of skeptics that allegedly including some within WWE. The belief that Kross & Scarlett already re-signed and are now biding
their time before a big return stems from a recent surge in Kross’ popularity online that was fueled by a viral worked-shoot promo he cut on a WWE-produced WrestleMania post-show. His television time increased over the same period, and it all resulted in most rumors about his contract status mentioning that he’d probably, eventually be inked to a new deal.
As the world apparently wasn’t convinced he’d told the whole truth in his “The Killer Part 2: My WWE Contract Ends Today” documentary, and because he still has to make a living, Kross sat down with Ariel Helwani on Helwani’s eponymous show today (Aug. 13).
Asked point blank if he was “working everyone”, Kross replied:
“No, I’m not answering questions today as a character.”
They then went into the details of his situation:
“…my contract was up last week. I never actually received an offer until last week…
“I got the offer, I wanted to know how they came to the valuation of that offer. Just wanted some information, some metrics, some analytics that supported, ‘Hey, this is how we got here.’ When I inquired about that, they were unwilling to provide that information and told me that I had 24 hours to agree to the offer or they were rescinding it. So the next day, we talk, I ask if they have the information, they don’t, and I said I can’t make an informed decision without the information, and I’d like to keep the dialogue open, and they rescinded the offer, and that’s actually where we are at.”
Kross said he was told on multiple occasions that his wife’s contract would he handled separately, and after his was done.
He also said that this week he’s had bookers and promoters tell him they don’t want to contact him out of fear his WWE situation is a work. But while they are free agents who can show up anywhere at the moment, Kross said his & Scarlett’s goal is still to return to WWE.
“I know how a lot of people feel when they make an exit, I can empathize with everybody’s experience, every experience exiting the company is different. This isn’t to disparage WWE, but because there is so many convoluted stories out there going on, and actually to even some degree effect our livelihood of what we’re supposed to be doing afterwards. People don’t want to reach out because they’re not sure if they’re tampering and stuff like that. The goal has always been to be with WWE. My wife and I still want to be with WWE. I’m at the table for conversations. I did not step out of the conversation. We still want to be there. We still want to work it out.”
Kross wouldn’t comment on whether WWE’s offer was lower than he expected, or how close he was to signing it:
“At the end of the day, when a valuation is being suggested, there has to be something where people can go to, information-wise, to say, ‘This is how we came to this. This is what we think makes sense.’ I asked to see that information. I still haven’t seen it. I want to see it. Let’s look at it together and decide whether this is appropriate or not. I don’t think that’s unreasonable…
“I explained to them, ‘There is no opportunity to make an informed decision without looking at the information together.’ You can’t do that. Your whole livelihood is based on this idea with no information to support it. I just wanted to get there and keep the dialogue open. I still do.”
He hasn’t spoken to either of his bosses — Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque or Nick Khan — about his contract. Kross said that his & Scarlett’s last deals were done over a phone call with Triple H. This time it was handled by other company representatives. Kross also said he wasn’t worried that his latest video upset anyone there, but he also wasn’t expecting the phone to ring after it went up either.
Kross admitted the situation hurt, and to being surprised by it. But his door remains open:
“It’s unexpected. I’m not sure I had a high level of expectation. Anytime I’ve ever gotten on board with a company hasn’t quite been like this in terms of communication. I feel like there is so much more to talk about. There is more to explore here. It’s just strange…
“I’m not trying to turn this into a game. It’s not a game for me, it’s my life. I’m very big on loyalty, but loyalty is a two-way street. I’m very interested in trying to recover what I think is easily recoverable, but it takes two people to come together and talk about it. I’m still here…”
Karrion Kross’ entire appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show can be watched here.
