July 1, 2025 • 18 mins
Adam Barnard is joined by WWE Superstar Karrion Kross! Adam and Kross talk the "We Want Kross" movement, Sami Zayn, the response from fans, his upcoming book "Life is Fighting", and his message to fans who have supported him.
Pick up Kross' new book here!
Special thanks to 10th Ward Barbershop - Proudly serving the historic 10th Ward in Lawrenceville and surrounding areas, 10th Ward Barbershop is a full service barbershop offering quality haircuts, beard trims, and hot shaves. Schedule your appointment with Finn Balor and Corey Graves' favorite barbershop today.
Host/Executive Producer: Adam Barnard
Additional Production/Narration: Sam Krepps
Engineer: Carl Pannell
Intro Music: Carl Pannell
Outro Music/Musical Accompaniment: Enrichment
Instagram/X/Threads/Bluesky: @thisisgoober | @fndradiopod
A Butts Carlton Media production. Butts Carlton, Proprietor.
Pick up Kross' new book here!
Special thanks to 10th Ward Barbershop - Proudly serving the historic 10th Ward in Lawrenceville and surrounding areas, 10th Ward Barbershop is a full service barbershop offering quality haircuts, beard trims, and hot shaves. Schedule your appointment with Finn Balor and Corey Graves' favorite barbershop today.
Host/Executive Producer: Adam Barnard
Additional Production/Narration: Sam Krepps
Engineer: Carl Pannell
Intro Music: Carl Pannell
Outro Music/Musical Accompaniment: Enrichment
Instagram/X/Threads/Bluesky: @thisisgoober | @fndradiopod
A Butts Carlton Media production. Butts Carlton, Proprietor.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Foundation Radio is now an exclusive brand partner with WWE
shop dot com. Pick up all your favorite new merchandise
from Roman Reigns, Knowlledge, Coby Rhodes, I have to finish
the story La Night Rub, It's After and more using
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(00:24):
WWE shop dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Foundation Radio is brought to you by tenth Ward Barbershop,
a full service barbershop offering high quality haircuts, beard trims
and hot shaves. Tenth Ward Barbershop proudly serves the historic Lawrenceville,
tenth Ward and surrounding Pittsburgh areas. Adam Frequent's tenth Ward
Barbershop when he swings through the area and loves Ryan
kainsley'ser sharp precision on both his hair and beard needs,
(00:48):
but you don't.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Have to take his word for it.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
WWE superstars Finn Balor and Corey Graves frequent tenth Ward
Barbershop for their hair and beard needs. The team at
tenth Ward excepts walk in, but schedules fill up quickly.
The best way to see them is to make an
appointment at Tentwardbarbershop. Dot com. That's one zero th Ward
Barbershop dot com. Make sure to grab some silk pan
(01:10):
or hair products in shop or online while you're there.
Schedule your appointment today to see Kan Jordan and the
rest of the team at tenth Ward Barbershop today, and
we thank them for sponsoring the program.
Speaker 5 (01:24):
Ladies and gentlemen, This is ww Superstar Carring Cross on
Monday night or on Netflix, and you are now watching
Foundation at Radio on TikTok.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
This is Foundation Radio. Here is your host, Adam Barnard.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Peace World, and welcome everybody to Foundation Radio. My name
is Adam Bernard. Thank you so much for joining me
again today. My guest is one of the most talked
about superstars in WWE today, fresh off his pl match
was past Saturday, carrying Cross.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
It is a pleasure to.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Have you, sir. Thank you very much for having it. Matt.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
This movement that's come up with this Wee Monk Cross,
It's been one of the most burgantic things I've seen
in wrestling in a long time, potentially since KOFE Mania.
When did you first become aware of the groundswell of
support behind you?
Speaker 5 (02:22):
I felt it coming after the match with AJ This year.
I felt it a way that people were receiving me.
You know, it was very different right when I have
to say, I was working actually with Kofe and Woods
and Miz and Truth at the time. I felt something changed,
something you know, was landing very differently. But it really
(02:44):
began to spark after that match with AJ And there
was a promo that I did online and it was
right after the match with AJ, and something resonated with people.
Something began to click right there. That's where it started.
And then I felt it. In Las Vegas with the
Andre the Job Battle Royal, I got dumped out by
Dragonly and the crowd boot was that was it started
(03:06):
to go up. I started to feel it right and
then obviously the Sam Roberts podcast how people reacted to that,
and then we were off to the races and.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
I was blown away, man.
Speaker 5 (03:16):
And because it wasn't something that I was necessarily you know,
you can't create something like that. That's not something that
you can create. It's something that happens. But for me,
every single day that it went in, I was just
trying to do the best job that I could like
any day, but I just began to approach things a
little bit differently. I started to kind of change gears,
so to speak. For a really long time, I wanted
(03:37):
that quiet, dark and stoic guy, and I really strongly
feel like the dark, quiet, you know, stoic guy that
works when you're kind of running everybody over, and we haven't.
We haven't done that probably since twenty twenty or twenty
twenty one. You know, there's nothing there's nothing scary about
Michael Myers. If you can walk up to him and
(03:57):
kick him in the nuts, you know, we only follow
you for so long until every single kid in the
neighborhood is kicking me in the nuts.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
You're like, well, that's just the guy in a mass.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
So you know, I just changed my cadence and I
adjusted to, you know, a little bit more of an entertaining,
an entertaining presentation rather than the creepy guy.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Now, you had your first singles match on a pl
since twenty twenty two. Like we said, this past Saturday
in Saudi Arabia. I was in Las Vegas, and I'll
be honest with you, I was one of the people
that booed.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
I'm sorry. I have to admit I wanted you to
win the battle Royal.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
I booed very loudly, but the crowd was electric for
you in Saudi Arabia. Tell me about that moment, being
in the ring, even at the press conference before with Sammy,
and the feelings that you had going into the match.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
It felt incredible.
Speaker 5 (04:42):
And you know, I've got on record to say I've
been to Saudi Arabia five times. I've only competed once,
but every single time I've gone there, I was received
and Scarlett as well, very very warmly by the audience.
I've gone for media and such. I just didn't I
wasn't entirely positive that it was going to be that
big like that, especially against Sammy. You know, they've taken
(05:05):
him on as one of their own, and it was
just incredible and I felt really good. And something I've
done this year is I've learned how to track different
types of types of metrics online regionally, and I can see,
even just based on metrics that I have a huge
fan base in the Middle East, and I just thought,
I wonder, you know, online doesn't always necessarily track to
(05:26):
live and I just thought to myself, I wonder what
that's going to be like. And sure enough, we all
saw it, and I was just I was very honored.
That's the best way I could put it.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
The cross effect is one of my favorite things in
wrestling right now. You've mastered this method of anarchy in
some aspects, you pull out the realities of their personas
and you must force them to change, but on their own.
Because you've said too, I've watched a couple of interviews
you were like, Oh, that's not my fault, right, I
didn't do anything to change these people. That's completely on them.
You're in world in this process right now with Sammy's Ain.
What makes you so frustrated about Samy's Ain not being
(05:58):
true to himself as you have put it, well.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
Because he's a rotten human being. He's not a good person.
He's a giant bagiscum.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
He is one of the best professional wrestlers in the
world of the last three generations, and it was an
absolute privilege to be in the ring with him. I
will say that, I sincerely do believe that. But he's
not a good guy. And I really resent the fact
that people are able to tread through the business, through
this industry and get all these amazing opportunities, and because
of fan support and they're not actually being their authentic selves,
and I find it really vile.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
I know someone else that's kind of vile right now,
is that rotten rep aster John Cena. I know he's
a retirement tour. But one thing I don't think that
gets talked about enough. There's a video of you. I
can't remember if it was last year, the year before.
Johnsene is in the ring. He's doing this thing, the hustle, loyalty, respect,
and there's you staring out of the corner backstage watching him.
It's almost like you foretold this entire thing to happen,
(06:48):
and with this heel turn that's happened. What did you
see in John Cena that maybe people didn't see before?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
In what's one thing you'd like to tell him?
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Now?
Speaker 5 (06:56):
Everything that people are watching now I saw coming. And
it's so funny that you pointed that video out. I
saw this coming miles away. That's what people really like.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
You know.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
We can see people, we can see what they're actually
like when the cameras are off. And I'm just glad
that Johnsena is being his true self. That's all I
can really say. I don't necessarily have anything directly to
say to him. I'm just glad that he actually has
the honesty on like Sammy's ain to just be who
he actually is.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
There's been some I guess you can call it ridiculous
discourse on the wrestlings here on Twitter these days about
this idea that you're not taking any back bumps.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Yeah my back man, It's yeah, it's final, it's final.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I've heard it's very spinal.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
I've literally watched you do this like one hundred times
on television, as have many others who've come to your devents.
What do you make of some of this madness and
what if any, has been your favorite backbump that you've
taken since you've been back in WWA.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
It's hilarious, It's hilarious.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
This story has not stood out to me as much
as other stories that were fabricator about me over the years,
Like there's been far more crazier things. Some surprise, this
one of all things, actually got any traction. I don't
know what's my favorite bump. Nothing comes to mind, but
maybe some of the ones that people hyper focused on
and thought that something was wrong. I don't know, maybe
(08:15):
one of those would have been maybe my favorite one.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
It was it was funny. Some of us were joking
in the back.
Speaker 5 (08:21):
They're like, dude, you should go out there and bump
like Sean Michaels versus All Cocan.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
And then some of the guys are like, maybe you
should just take absolutely no bumps, you know, just don't
take any at all.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
But don't sell it a thing. Not a single cell
had to be done in that match. Nothing.
Speaker 5 (08:35):
Yeah, right, But honestly, at the end of the day, like,
I can't do either of those because people are paying
good money and spending very valuable time watching the show.
I can't turn the show into a joke for like
a strange subculture of people. I can't do that, right,
So obviously as a professional, I would have never done that,
but you know, we we were howling about it.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
What so far in this process that you've experienced with
the swell of support has been the most meaningful or
the most impactful for you?
Speaker 5 (09:04):
Well, I could say the support online has been the
most impactful, But honestly, the support online translated to live
audiences sometimes you can't see it because I mean, let
me rephrase that, you can't see it the way I
see it because the segments are so short and where
(09:24):
they are in the program, came before it and what
comes after it. Sometimes it gets cut off, but a
lot of times the chance and the reactions are going
long past where you're seeing my segment end. So being
there lives a different experience. And I always encourage people
to watch wrestling live. If you've never done it, if
you're just a television watcher, go to the show's.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Live and you'll see.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
But I guess I have to say the live audience
has been the most impactful and meaningful to feel that
they're actually there.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
You know.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
There was a quiet criticism that it was just something
that exists online and it was going to go away,
and I was like, you guys are out of your mind,
you know, like the sore in the T shirt sales
for cross that was coming from the fans online. You
cannot diminish and generalize that all fans online are.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
Just these critics.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
Obviously, no one is going to write and book for
negative criticism, but they will write and book for, you know,
positive support.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
And that's exactly what I've been saying.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
And like I say, I just I encourage people to
keep it positive because that will track.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
You know. I've always said that that will track positively
for business.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Now I know two things I want to talk about.
You have some cool projects coming up. Life is fighting
your book that comes out on August fifth, which, thank you.
It's a great birthday present. That's my birthday, so thank
you very much. Thank you already pre ordered with the signature,
so thank you very much. What was it tell me
about the book and what can people expect from it?
Speaker 4 (10:53):
People can expect authenticity.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
So I've gone through multiple panic attacks thinking about this
book becoming available to the pub book because I did
write it in a very vulnerable place. I've gone on
to say I kind of felt like I wrote the
book naked. But they're writing a book about all of
your triumphs and you know, putting yourself over in a
book and making it sound, you know, like how great
(11:15):
you are, and making it sound like you you've achieved
these unattainable things Like I was a kid that grew
up with a lot of unidentified issues like most people,
and I didn't talk about them for a very long time.
So I felt like I was an isolated situation like
most people. And what I'm hoping people will do is
when they read this book, aside from having a good laugh,
(11:35):
because there's there's quite a lot of dark humor in it.
That's that's rooted in my soul. I have a very
dark sense of humor, and I feel like that will
resonate with people. I want, like a kid like me
who didn't have a book like this when I was young,
to pick this up and be like, oh, like, I'm not.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
That different from him.
Speaker 5 (11:55):
And perhaps with the issues that I have that I'm
learning to identify like I did, I'll be able to
achieve this thing that I want to do, whatever that
may be.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
It might not be becoming a pro wrestler.
Speaker 5 (12:06):
It might be getting a job in a particular field,
or going to school, or learning a trade, or just
learning how to have better relationships with people. The more
you know about yourself, the more you will learn about
the rest of the world. And I feel like if
you're able to process your own stuff and put it
out there on the paper, people can read about it,
they go, oh, my god, not all this is.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Me, but that one thing in there is me.
Speaker 5 (12:28):
And if you can connect those puzzle pieces, that's how
you grow pressure and misery in a very weird way.
It's kind of like a privilege. It doesn't feel like
it is when you're in the think of it. It feels terrible.
It feels like there's no light at the end of
the tunnel. But if you can keep walking and you
can figure out how to get out of that tunnel,
when you look back at it, now there's something to
(12:50):
take from it. And I feel like all of that
type of stuff it prepares you to be a bigger
person in life. And that's really what the book is about.
It's a memoir about all this stuff that I had
to figure out and what I got out of it
on the tail end of it.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
I'm very excited to read it. That sounds like it's
right up my alley.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
I too struggle with a lot of that stuff in
my own life, and I feel like I'm going to
connect with it really well. So go and make sure
you pre order the book right now. Life is Fighting.
I'll drop a link in the show notes for you
as well. But Blue Evening, I'm very excited about this film.
What was it that drew you to the character and
how excited are you to see it released?
Speaker 5 (13:21):
The character was troubled when I read the script. You know,
the character that I'm portraying in that is a figure
who can help, but he.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
Has his own He has his own issue.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
That he's trying to get through, which will be alluded
to in the film. He kind of has to get
over the perception of someone else in order to help
him and figure out his own perception in the process
of that. I thought it was really interesting and one
of the things that drew me to it was it
was a drama. Like everyone's been telling me I should
be doing action films, and I was like, guys, I'm
open to it, but I've been doing action for about
(13:55):
eleven years now. At wrestling they could see me do
action on Mondays, and I thought it was an excellent
opportunity to wonstrate some sort of range of motion and
even for me creatively, there's a lot of different strokes
on the canvas, so to speak, that I won't be
able to paint with with Carrying Cross, and I love
playing that character or Killer Cross, depending on you know,
donm I'm going to have another vibral moment. But you know,
(14:18):
it's that That's what drew me to it. And right now,
just so people understand, because it's an independent short film,
what we do is we put this through festivals and
like it's independent festivals. The first one we did was
Pasadena and we were nominated for three awards. We got
one award out of that, which was for our lead actor.
(14:39):
He absolutely killed it. And now we've actually been accepted
to the Burbank Festival, which is huge. It's another official selection.
The date as to when Burbank is going to release
that to the public is going to be coming very soon,
so I'll keep people, you know, up to date on that.
But I what I what I got to do the
first time in the Burbank screening. I got to sit
(15:00):
in the audience and yeah, we got you know, we
got an award and we got nominated for awards. But
the real reward we're seeing how people reacted to the
film in the audience. People were crying, people were laughing,
people were cheering, and they were like several films that
were screened and nobody did that for any of the
films except for ours, And we felt, just like we men,
(15:21):
it touched our heart like that the film people were
affected that much by the film.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
Again, just like I do in Wrestling.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
With this film, I want to make a connection with
the audience and they feel very firmly that that's going
to happen, and once it goes through all of its
major city independent.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
Festival screenings, eventually I will release it to the public.
Speaker 5 (15:39):
But there will be a chance to see it in
Burbank and I'll be dropping that date really soon.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
I'm very much looking forward to it.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I love the dramatic turn also with someone in recovery
as well, who does work in recovery. I love the
story with it as well. So I just wanted to
say thank you on that once. One thing that you
want the fans to know about their support and this
work that they're doing with the wii Wan Cross movement.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
It's being heard by me, it's being heard by everybody,
and it's not falling on deaf years. And I know
that it's just the nature of people. They want to
be heard, they want to be felt, they want to
be seen. We all do.
Speaker 5 (16:15):
It won't happen overnight, and if you feel really strongly
about it, just stay loud because it makes a difference.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
It absolutely makes a difference.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
That people fans all over the world are the reason
why I was on Night of Champions. This was this
was something I was told about last minute. This is
not something that was in the work, so I want
people to know that they made that happen. They gave
me the time that I really really have wanted for
years now to be able to go out there, tell
a story on television and then blow the match off
(16:44):
in a plea with something, you know, like a with
a unique psychology.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Nothing else was like that on the card.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
I got to approach that completely differently with Sammy, and
that's that's completely you know, that happened from them and
that will continue to happen if they stay loud.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
So you know it's all for something. I'll tell you
that right now.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Karen Cross, I want to thank you for your time, sir.
Don't forget in the show notes you can find the
link for Life is Fighting coming out August fifth, arguably
the best day of the year. Blue Evening will be
out as well very soon, and don't forget to check
out Cross on Monday Night Raw on Netflix. Check your
local listings for start times. Kring Cross, thank you so
much for your time, sir. I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Thank you very much. Book towards coming early August. I'll
keep you posted, please.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Do, sir, love to come out and see it.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
This episode of Foundation Radio is hosted, recorded, and produced
by Adam Barnard. Additional narration and production is provided by
the Executive Voice, Sam Crabs. Our mixing and engineering, as
well as our intro music is by carl Our. Outro
music and additional musical accompaniment are produced by Enrichment. Follow
Adam on X or Twitter or whatever and Instagram at
(18:08):
This is Goober, and follow the show on X and
Instagram at FND Radio Pod. Find our entire show archive
at Foundation Radio dot net. This has been a Buttz
Carlton Media production. Butts Carlton proprietor
Foundation Radio is now an exclusive brand partner with WWE
shop dot com. Pick up all your favorite new merchandise
from Roman Reigns, Knowlledge, Coby Rhodes, I have to finish
the story La Night Rub, It's After and more using
our exclusive link in the show notes. Click below and
show your support today for your favorite WWE superstar at
(00:24):
WWE shop dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Foundation Radio is brought to you by tenth Ward Barbershop,
a full service barbershop offering high quality haircuts, beard trims
and hot shaves. Tenth Ward Barbershop proudly serves the historic Lawrenceville,
tenth Ward and surrounding Pittsburgh areas. Adam Frequent's tenth Ward
Barbershop when he swings through the area and loves Ryan
kainsley'ser sharp precision on both his hair and beard needs,
(00:48):
but you don't.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
Have to take his word for it.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
WWE superstars Finn Balor and Corey Graves frequent tenth Ward
Barbershop for their hair and beard needs. The team at
tenth Ward excepts walk in, but schedules fill up quickly.
The best way to see them is to make an
appointment at Tentwardbarbershop. Dot com. That's one zero th Ward
Barbershop dot com. Make sure to grab some silk pan
(01:10):
or hair products in shop or online while you're there.
Schedule your appointment today to see Kan Jordan and the
rest of the team at tenth Ward Barbershop today, and
we thank them for sponsoring the program.
Speaker 5 (01:24):
Ladies and gentlemen, This is ww Superstar Carring Cross on
Monday night or on Netflix, and you are now watching
Foundation at Radio on TikTok.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
This is Foundation Radio. Here is your host, Adam Barnard.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Peace World, and welcome everybody to Foundation Radio. My name
is Adam Bernard. Thank you so much for joining me
again today. My guest is one of the most talked
about superstars in WWE today, fresh off his pl match
was past Saturday, carrying Cross.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
It is a pleasure to.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Have you, sir. Thank you very much for having it. Matt.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
This movement that's come up with this Wee Monk Cross,
It's been one of the most burgantic things I've seen
in wrestling in a long time, potentially since KOFE Mania.
When did you first become aware of the groundswell of
support behind you?
Speaker 5 (02:22):
I felt it coming after the match with AJ This year.
I felt it a way that people were receiving me.
You know, it was very different right when I have
to say, I was working actually with Kofe and Woods
and Miz and Truth at the time. I felt something changed,
something you know, was landing very differently. But it really
(02:44):
began to spark after that match with AJ And there
was a promo that I did online and it was
right after the match with AJ, and something resonated with people.
Something began to click right there. That's where it started.
And then I felt it. In Las Vegas with the
Andre the Job Battle Royal, I got dumped out by
Dragonly and the crowd boot was that was it started
(03:06):
to go up. I started to feel it right and
then obviously the Sam Roberts podcast how people reacted to that,
and then we were off to the races and.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
I was blown away, man.
Speaker 5 (03:16):
And because it wasn't something that I was necessarily you know,
you can't create something like that. That's not something that
you can create. It's something that happens. But for me,
every single day that it went in, I was just
trying to do the best job that I could like
any day, but I just began to approach things a
little bit differently. I started to kind of change gears,
so to speak. For a really long time, I wanted
(03:37):
that quiet, dark and stoic guy, and I really strongly
feel like the dark, quiet, you know, stoic guy that
works when you're kind of running everybody over, and we haven't.
We haven't done that probably since twenty twenty or twenty
twenty one. You know, there's nothing there's nothing scary about
Michael Myers. If you can walk up to him and
(03:57):
kick him in the nuts, you know, we only follow
you for so long until every single kid in the
neighborhood is kicking me in the nuts.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
You're like, well, that's just the guy in a mass.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
So you know, I just changed my cadence and I
adjusted to, you know, a little bit more of an entertaining,
an entertaining presentation rather than the creepy guy.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Now, you had your first singles match on a pl
since twenty twenty two. Like we said, this past Saturday
in Saudi Arabia. I was in Las Vegas, and I'll
be honest with you, I was one of the people
that booed.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
I'm sorry. I have to admit I wanted you to
win the battle Royal.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
I booed very loudly, but the crowd was electric for
you in Saudi Arabia. Tell me about that moment, being
in the ring, even at the press conference before with Sammy,
and the feelings that you had going into the match.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
It felt incredible.
Speaker 5 (04:42):
And you know, I've got on record to say I've
been to Saudi Arabia five times. I've only competed once,
but every single time I've gone there, I was received
and Scarlett as well, very very warmly by the audience.
I've gone for media and such. I just didn't I
wasn't entirely positive that it was going to be that
big like that, especially against Sammy. You know, they've taken
(05:05):
him on as one of their own, and it was
just incredible and I felt really good. And something I've
done this year is I've learned how to track different
types of types of metrics online regionally, and I can see,
even just based on metrics that I have a huge
fan base in the Middle East, and I just thought,
I wonder, you know, online doesn't always necessarily track to
(05:26):
live and I just thought to myself, I wonder what
that's going to be like. And sure enough, we all
saw it, and I was just I was very honored.
That's the best way I could put it.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
The cross effect is one of my favorite things in
wrestling right now. You've mastered this method of anarchy in
some aspects, you pull out the realities of their personas
and you must force them to change, but on their own.
Because you've said too, I've watched a couple of interviews
you were like, Oh, that's not my fault, right, I
didn't do anything to change these people. That's completely on them.
You're in world in this process right now with Sammy's Ain.
What makes you so frustrated about Samy's Ain not being
(05:58):
true to himself as you have put it, well.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
Because he's a rotten human being. He's not a good person.
He's a giant bagiscum.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
He is one of the best professional wrestlers in the
world of the last three generations, and it was an
absolute privilege to be in the ring with him. I
will say that, I sincerely do believe that. But he's
not a good guy. And I really resent the fact
that people are able to tread through the business, through
this industry and get all these amazing opportunities, and because
of fan support and they're not actually being their authentic selves,
and I find it really vile.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
I know someone else that's kind of vile right now,
is that rotten rep aster John Cena. I know he's
a retirement tour. But one thing I don't think that
gets talked about enough. There's a video of you. I
can't remember if it was last year, the year before.
Johnsene is in the ring. He's doing this thing, the hustle, loyalty, respect,
and there's you staring out of the corner backstage watching him.
It's almost like you foretold this entire thing to happen,
(06:48):
and with this heel turn that's happened. What did you
see in John Cena that maybe people didn't see before?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
In what's one thing you'd like to tell him?
Speaker 4 (06:56):
Now?
Speaker 5 (06:56):
Everything that people are watching now I saw coming. And
it's so funny that you pointed that video out. I
saw this coming miles away. That's what people really like.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
You know.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
We can see people, we can see what they're actually
like when the cameras are off. And I'm just glad
that Johnsena is being his true self. That's all I
can really say. I don't necessarily have anything directly to
say to him. I'm just glad that he actually has
the honesty on like Sammy's ain to just be who
he actually is.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
There's been some I guess you can call it ridiculous
discourse on the wrestlings here on Twitter these days about
this idea that you're not taking any back bumps.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Yeah my back man, It's yeah, it's final, it's final.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I've heard it's very spinal.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
I've literally watched you do this like one hundred times
on television, as have many others who've come to your devents.
What do you make of some of this madness and
what if any, has been your favorite backbump that you've
taken since you've been back in WWA.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
It's hilarious, It's hilarious.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
This story has not stood out to me as much
as other stories that were fabricator about me over the years,
Like there's been far more crazier things. Some surprise, this
one of all things, actually got any traction. I don't
know what's my favorite bump. Nothing comes to mind, but
maybe some of the ones that people hyper focused on
and thought that something was wrong. I don't know, maybe
(08:15):
one of those would have been maybe my favorite one.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
It was it was funny. Some of us were joking
in the back.
Speaker 5 (08:21):
They're like, dude, you should go out there and bump
like Sean Michaels versus All Cocan.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
And then some of the guys are like, maybe you
should just take absolutely no bumps, you know, just don't
take any at all.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
But don't sell it a thing. Not a single cell
had to be done in that match. Nothing.
Speaker 5 (08:35):
Yeah, right, But honestly, at the end of the day, like,
I can't do either of those because people are paying
good money and spending very valuable time watching the show.
I can't turn the show into a joke for like
a strange subculture of people. I can't do that, right,
So obviously as a professional, I would have never done that,
but you know, we we were howling about it.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
What so far in this process that you've experienced with
the swell of support has been the most meaningful or
the most impactful for you?
Speaker 5 (09:04):
Well, I could say the support online has been the
most impactful, But honestly, the support online translated to live
audiences sometimes you can't see it because I mean, let
me rephrase that, you can't see it the way I
see it because the segments are so short and where
(09:24):
they are in the program, came before it and what
comes after it. Sometimes it gets cut off, but a
lot of times the chance and the reactions are going
long past where you're seeing my segment end. So being
there lives a different experience. And I always encourage people
to watch wrestling live. If you've never done it, if
you're just a television watcher, go to the show's.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Live and you'll see.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
But I guess I have to say the live audience
has been the most impactful and meaningful to feel that
they're actually there.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
You know.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
There was a quiet criticism that it was just something
that exists online and it was going to go away,
and I was like, you guys are out of your mind,
you know, like the sore in the T shirt sales
for cross that was coming from the fans online. You
cannot diminish and generalize that all fans online are.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
Just these critics.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
Obviously, no one is going to write and book for
negative criticism, but they will write and book for, you know,
positive support.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
And that's exactly what I've been saying.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
And like I say, I just I encourage people to
keep it positive because that will track.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
You know. I've always said that that will track positively
for business.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Now I know two things I want to talk about.
You have some cool projects coming up. Life is fighting
your book that comes out on August fifth, which, thank you.
It's a great birthday present. That's my birthday, so thank
you very much. Thank you already pre ordered with the signature,
so thank you very much. What was it tell me
about the book and what can people expect from it?
Speaker 4 (10:53):
People can expect authenticity.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
So I've gone through multiple panic attacks thinking about this
book becoming available to the pub book because I did
write it in a very vulnerable place. I've gone on
to say I kind of felt like I wrote the
book naked. But they're writing a book about all of
your triumphs and you know, putting yourself over in a
book and making it sound, you know, like how great
(11:15):
you are, and making it sound like you you've achieved
these unattainable things Like I was a kid that grew
up with a lot of unidentified issues like most people,
and I didn't talk about them for a very long time.
So I felt like I was an isolated situation like
most people. And what I'm hoping people will do is
when they read this book, aside from having a good laugh,
(11:35):
because there's there's quite a lot of dark humor in it.
That's that's rooted in my soul. I have a very
dark sense of humor, and I feel like that will
resonate with people. I want, like a kid like me
who didn't have a book like this when I was young,
to pick this up and be like, oh, like, I'm not.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
That different from him.
Speaker 5 (11:55):
And perhaps with the issues that I have that I'm
learning to identify like I did, I'll be able to
achieve this thing that I want to do, whatever that
may be.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
It might not be becoming a pro wrestler.
Speaker 5 (12:06):
It might be getting a job in a particular field,
or going to school, or learning a trade, or just
learning how to have better relationships with people. The more
you know about yourself, the more you will learn about
the rest of the world. And I feel like if
you're able to process your own stuff and put it
out there on the paper, people can read about it,
they go, oh, my god, not all this is.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
Me, but that one thing in there is me.
Speaker 5 (12:28):
And if you can connect those puzzle pieces, that's how
you grow pressure and misery in a very weird way.
It's kind of like a privilege. It doesn't feel like
it is when you're in the think of it. It feels terrible.
It feels like there's no light at the end of
the tunnel. But if you can keep walking and you
can figure out how to get out of that tunnel,
when you look back at it, now there's something to
(12:50):
take from it. And I feel like all of that
type of stuff it prepares you to be a bigger
person in life. And that's really what the book is about.
It's a memoir about all this stuff that I had
to figure out and what I got out of it
on the tail end of it.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
I'm very excited to read it. That sounds like it's
right up my alley.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
I too struggle with a lot of that stuff in
my own life, and I feel like I'm going to
connect with it really well. So go and make sure
you pre order the book right now. Life is Fighting.
I'll drop a link in the show notes for you
as well. But Blue Evening, I'm very excited about this film.
What was it that drew you to the character and
how excited are you to see it released?
Speaker 5 (13:21):
The character was troubled when I read the script. You know,
the character that I'm portraying in that is a figure
who can help, but he.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
Has his own He has his own issue.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
That he's trying to get through, which will be alluded
to in the film. He kind of has to get
over the perception of someone else in order to help
him and figure out his own perception in the process
of that. I thought it was really interesting and one
of the things that drew me to it was it
was a drama. Like everyone's been telling me I should
be doing action films, and I was like, guys, I'm
open to it, but I've been doing action for about
(13:55):
eleven years now. At wrestling they could see me do
action on Mondays, and I thought it was an excellent
opportunity to wonstrate some sort of range of motion and
even for me creatively, there's a lot of different strokes
on the canvas, so to speak, that I won't be
able to paint with with Carrying Cross, and I love
playing that character or Killer Cross, depending on you know,
donm I'm going to have another vibral moment. But you know,
(14:18):
it's that That's what drew me to it. And right now,
just so people understand, because it's an independent short film,
what we do is we put this through festivals and
like it's independent festivals. The first one we did was
Pasadena and we were nominated for three awards. We got
one award out of that, which was for our lead actor.
(14:39):
He absolutely killed it. And now we've actually been accepted
to the Burbank Festival, which is huge. It's another official selection.
The date as to when Burbank is going to release
that to the public is going to be coming very soon,
so I'll keep people, you know, up to date on that.
But I what I what I got to do the
first time in the Burbank screening. I got to sit
(15:00):
in the audience and yeah, we got you know, we
got an award and we got nominated for awards. But
the real reward we're seeing how people reacted to the
film in the audience. People were crying, people were laughing,
people were cheering, and they were like several films that
were screened and nobody did that for any of the
films except for ours, And we felt, just like we men,
(15:21):
it touched our heart like that the film people were
affected that much by the film.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
Again, just like I do in Wrestling.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
With this film, I want to make a connection with
the audience and they feel very firmly that that's going
to happen, and once it goes through all of its
major city independent.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
Festival screenings, eventually I will release it to the public.
Speaker 5 (15:39):
But there will be a chance to see it in
Burbank and I'll be dropping that date really soon.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
I'm very much looking forward to it.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I love the dramatic turn also with someone in recovery
as well, who does work in recovery. I love the
story with it as well. So I just wanted to
say thank you on that once. One thing that you
want the fans to know about their support and this
work that they're doing with the wii Wan Cross movement.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
It's being heard by me, it's being heard by everybody,
and it's not falling on deaf years. And I know
that it's just the nature of people. They want to
be heard, they want to be felt, they want to
be seen. We all do.
Speaker 5 (16:15):
It won't happen overnight, and if you feel really strongly
about it, just stay loud because it makes a difference.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
It absolutely makes a difference.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
That people fans all over the world are the reason
why I was on Night of Champions. This was this
was something I was told about last minute. This is
not something that was in the work, so I want
people to know that they made that happen. They gave
me the time that I really really have wanted for
years now to be able to go out there, tell
a story on television and then blow the match off
(16:44):
in a plea with something, you know, like a with
a unique psychology.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Nothing else was like that on the card.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
I got to approach that completely differently with Sammy, and
that's that's completely you know, that happened from them and
that will continue to happen if they stay loud.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
So you know it's all for something. I'll tell you
that right now.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Karen Cross, I want to thank you for your time, sir.
Don't forget in the show notes you can find the
link for Life is Fighting coming out August fifth, arguably
the best day of the year. Blue Evening will be
out as well very soon, and don't forget to check
out Cross on Monday Night Raw on Netflix. Check your
local listings for start times. Kring Cross, thank you so
much for your time, sir. I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Thank you very much. Book towards coming early August. I'll
keep you posted, please.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Do, sir, love to come out and see it.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
This episode of Foundation Radio is hosted, recorded, and produced
by Adam Barnard. Additional narration and production is provided by
the Executive Voice, Sam Crabs. Our mixing and engineering, as
well as our intro music is by carl Our. Outro
music and additional musical accompaniment are produced by Enrichment. Follow
Adam on X or Twitter or whatever and Instagram at
(18:08):
This is Goober, and follow the show on X and
Instagram at FND Radio Pod. Find our entire show archive
at Foundation Radio dot net. This has been a Buttz
Carlton Media production. Butts Carlton proprietor
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