Karrion Kross and Scarlett Open Up About WWE Departure, Viral Promo, and Creative Freedom – Karrion Kross and Scarlett recently sat down with Chris Van Vliet on Insight with Chris Van Vliet to discuss their WWE exit, the viral post-WrestleMania promo that caught attention backstage, and what lies ahead for them in wrestling and beyond. The duo opened up about their final months in WWE, revealing details about contract negotiations, communication breakdowns, and how they’re embracing life after leaving the company.
On the day their WWE contracts expired:
Scarlett revealed that they had seen their departure coming for months. “I’d say we knew for months what was happening, what was going to happen,” she said. “I hope it’s okay for me to say this, but I’m kind of his Game of Thrones Red Woman. I have been for a long time when it comes to astrology and looking things up… I did see that we were going to have some sort of contract dispute, but it was going to take a while. And I did feel in my gut like we’re going to step away since like, February.”
Kross confirmed, “I mean, we’ve told very few people about that, but yeah.”
On trying to make things work:
“Always trying to make things work, always trying to make the best of anything and everything, right?” Kross said, while Scarlett added that Kross had approached Triple H in January to express their desire to stay. “You approached Hunter back in January, actually letting him know that you want to stay,” she noted. Kross replied, “And you. I said we would both like to stay.”
On Scarlett’s contract negotiations:
Scarlett detailed a frustrating experience in dealing with talent relations. “One of the last questions before the 24-hour notice was given, Kevin asked where I stood in all these contract negotiations. And they said, ‘We’ll get to her once we’re done with you,’ which I took as them using me as leverage against him,” she said. “It did come off a bit misogynistic, because originally I was hired before you, and the idea that I have no value without him… that came off as very misogynistic to me.”
Kross recalled a similar issue from their first main roster run: “When I signed to go from NXT to Raw, somebody said the exact same thing to me over the phone… I signed it, being told we’ll get to her after we get to you. I go up to Raw, then we go into like Mad Max and the ThunderDome, and she’s at home. So I was like, well, I’m not gonna do that again.”
Scarlett added, “I was clear to manage, but not wrestle. So at any point, I could have come up and done exactly what we did on NXT, but they said they wanted to separate us… But then I was cleared, and it was a few days later that they actually fired both of us.”
On his viral promo after WrestleMania:
Kross explained how the situation was misunderstood internally. “We do that. Everybody loved it. We leave. The next day was weird at Raw… I get a phone call from somebody in talent relations, and he says, ‘Creative is not happy. There’s heat. They’re pissed.’ I was like, Well, I apologize about that… I go across the hall. I speak to some of the writers, explain everything. They’re like, ‘We have no idea what you’re talking about.’”
Kross continued, “Eventually I did speak with Hunter and cleared the air with him… He was super cool about it once we spoke to him, he understood where I was coming from and what I was trying to do. It wasn’t like a live thing. It was on YouTube. But just weird.”
On what’s next:
Kross said they’re enjoying their newfound freedom. “Having the freedom to assess the audience… and being able to bring that to life and hear the reactions and feel that. I mean, I love being in WWE, but being able to actually perform my artistry in the way that I know people want to see it… nothing beats that.”
He added that they’re enjoying meeting fans at conventions and events tied to their book tour: “Being able to meet people, especially in the New England area… people driving from all over the northeast to meet us.”
Scarlett added with a laugh, “People naming their babies after us… people have come up saying, Hey, this is ‘Scarlett Karrion.’”
Kross concluded, “Just being able to show up anywhere, at any time and do anything, and creating an air of unpredictability at these shows, I think also serves something very interesting to fans as well.”
Karrion Kross and Scarlett Open Up About WWE Departure, Viral Promo, and Creative Freedom
