July 30, 2025 • 7 mins
Karrion Cross from the WWE called in to the studio today and we talked all about wrestling, his book, and the changes that were made during his time in the WWE
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We are going to be joined shortly by WWE superstar
Carrion Cross. Now, if you're not familiar with his work,
he is a very interesting dude. He's written a book
and so I'm gonna talk to him about that. But
carrying Cross is it got kind of an interesting career
(00:20):
trajectory where you know, he kind of started off in NXT,
which is sort of like the beginning. I wouldn't say
it's minor leagues, but it's kind of like the miners,
and then you get brought up into either raw or SmackDown.
And it didn't go well once he got brought up,
and in fact, he lost his job, and then they
brought him back. And it's been a wild ride so far.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yeah. No, And Summer Slam is this weekend too.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Well, SummerSlam is going to be awesome because it is
a two night event for the first time ever. Like
russell Mania has gone to two nights for the past
few years, and now SummerSlam they're.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Making like all their big ones two nights.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Seems like yeah, well yeah, this has kind of been
the latest thing. And of course, as we know, Survivor
Series is said is coming here in San Diego this year.
Which is very exciting. So here we go. We're being
joined right now by WWE Superstar Carrying Cross. How's it going, Carrion?
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Very good? What's going on with that?
Speaker 1 (01:19):
We're good, man. We're just talking about how Survivor series
is coming here to San Diego at Petco Park. We
are very excited about that, especially being big wrestling fans.
And of course we've got SummerSlam right around the corner.
This is a huge, huge time for the WWE.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Oh yes, big time. It's gonna be very good, very
good time in the business. Right now, we're on Netflix,
reaching more homes than ever, SummerSlam coming up on pumps.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Yeah, So tell me about your book, because this is
why you're on and this is always cool when when
wrestlers write books. Thor and I are are massive wrestling fans.
We've always loved it, and so whenever we get a
book from a wrestler, it's really interesting stuff. What is
your book all about? It's called called Life is Fighting.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Yes, I would describe my book as a bit of
a memoir actually, And I know a lot of wrestlers
do books about wrestling. Yeah, of course there's wrestling in
my book, but I've had a very unique life in
the sense that it hasn't been exactly a Brady Bunch
television show. I've had a lot of different things to overcome,
and I've just come to find in my own self
discovery that you can't really be vulnerable with people and
(02:26):
have like an open discussion until you've gotten through things
and you've processed them and you can kind of calmly
talk through your losses and how you recovered. And that's
especially what the book is about. It's about recovering from
different situations in life and not being afraid to go
for something when you don't have a perfect hand to play.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Did you have a tough upgringing up upbringing or in
childhood stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
I don't necessarily know if it was tough, but I
grew up in New York before Giuliani cleaned up the city,
and I can just tell you that if you've ever
seen the movie Escape from New York, yeah, like once
then went down back in like the late eighties, early nineties,
like everyone was running everywhere, no one was walking. I
thought that was really weird as a kid. Yeah, no
one was walking, you were running. And I think it
(03:10):
was because they really didn't want to be outside where
I lived.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
That's pretty crazy. So you know, you've talked about your struggles,
and I got to be honest, watching your career in
the WWE, it hasn't been easy either for you. You know,
you went through these different, you know times where you
know your job has been on the line and things
have been happening and all these things. Talk about a
little bit, how you see your WWE tenure so far.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
You know, I wouldn't change any of it the way
it's played out, because it's actually led me to having
a very unique and strong relationship with the audience. I'm
just going to state the obvious here, and it's kind
of the elephant in the room. You know, when like
an entertainment corporation tries to shove anybody down the audience's stroke,
whether it's wrestling, music, movies, TVs. You can feel it. Yeah,
(04:00):
And I definitely have not been somebody that they've done
that with. And I think that oftentimes having an organic
relationship with the audience and a connection comes from being
a person who the audience can see is persevering against
a lot of different invisible hands, so to speak. So
I wouldn't change any of it. It hasn't been perfect.
It's been very challenging, and it's actually led me to
(04:21):
hear and this isn't something that you can recreate with anybody.
I've got something special here with the crowd, and I
feel so honored, sincerely and so privileged to have that.
It's a real thing. And it's even going on like
when people aren't even seeing it, Like everywhere I'm going
in life, I've got people coming up to me and
telling me their life stories and talking about how they've
been fans of mine for years and people are finally
seeing it. Everyone's got like some sort of story of
(04:43):
where they were and what was going on when they
saw me doing something, and it hasn't always been that way,
and that feels really amazing.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Well, Karrion, you know, to be honest with you, as
a wrestling fan, we see talent and we see you.
You are, you know, have a phenomenal look, you have
a phenomen character, all these things, and we're always wondering,
like why why aren't we getting more of them? And
when we don't get that what we want as fans,
it is frustrating. And so the fans are voicing their
(05:11):
opinion and saying give us more, Carrion, give us more.
And it's sort of the same thing happened when you know,
our truth got fired and like the fans are going
to voice their opinions those kind of things, and you
get like this almost movement behind you.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Yeah, and listen, they should. This is there's there's something
that's been happening for a long time in entertainment where
the art within the entertainment gets sterilized for you know,
the sake of monetization, and that that's got it. There's
got to be a common ground where that people can
still be heard and they can get what they're looking
for out of what they're watching, because that's what it's
(05:45):
all about. If the people want there, we wouldn't be
here right. So as things are changing and developing in entertainment,
we've got to find the middle ground. We can't just
do everything by numbers because that's not how art works.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Wow, now, Carrion, I'm a new you're a New Yorker.
You're performing at SummerSlam MetLife Stadium aka Giant Stadium. That's
going to be amazing. But let me take you back
to like twenty twenty twenty twenty one. You show up
on WWE, you have a match against Jeff Hardy. They
make you lose in like two minutes, and then Vince
comes at you and gives you a helmet and suspenders
(06:18):
and like completely changes you. What was your thought process
when Vince is telling you all these things and basically
changing your character? How tough was that to get through?
Speaker 3 (06:29):
I was thinking at the time that I had too
much momentum through NXT, and I thought that that threatened
a lot of people because I was given the opportunity
at that time to bat one hundred and some of
the best in the business, and h had created an
entity in NFT that was being perceived in the eyes
(06:53):
of equity in the audience at the same level as
mein roster, and I always felt like I was the
one who kind of stook like the hits to kind
of hurt that. That's the way I felt. Whether it
was really that way or not, I'll never know, but
all I can tell you is how I felt, and
that's what I thought was going on. I remember fans
online on the internet were booking me and Scarlett versus
(07:15):
Bobby Lashley and MVP versus Roman Reigns and Paul Hayman,
and at the time, no one was really fantasy booking
NFC champions against main roster people, but people felt like
I was going to land up at Maine roster and
we had that vibe, so I was honored.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, that is wild. Well, we're looking forward to the book.
We're going to check it out Life is Fighting and
of course we're going to check out SummerSlam with your
big match against against Sammy Zane and all that good stuff.
So congratulations on all of it. Carry and we're behind.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
You, man. Thank you so much, guys, and surely.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Absolutely there you go. Ww Sistar Carry and Cross. Fascinating story, man,
He's a really interesting dude.
We are going to be joined shortly by WWE superstar
Carrion Cross. Now, if you're not familiar with his work,
he is a very interesting dude. He's written a book
and so I'm gonna talk to him about that. But
carrying Cross is it got kind of an interesting career
(00:20):
trajectory where you know, he kind of started off in NXT,
which is sort of like the beginning. I wouldn't say
it's minor leagues, but it's kind of like the miners,
and then you get brought up into either raw or SmackDown.
And it didn't go well once he got brought up,
and in fact, he lost his job, and then they
brought him back. And it's been a wild ride so far.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yeah. No, And Summer Slam is this weekend too.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Well, SummerSlam is going to be awesome because it is
a two night event for the first time ever. Like
russell Mania has gone to two nights for the past
few years, and now SummerSlam they're.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Making like all their big ones two nights.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Seems like yeah, well yeah, this has kind of been
the latest thing. And of course, as we know, Survivor
Series is said is coming here in San Diego this year.
Which is very exciting. So here we go. We're being
joined right now by WWE Superstar Carrying Cross. How's it going, Carrion?
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Very good? What's going on with that?
Speaker 1 (01:19):
We're good, man. We're just talking about how Survivor series
is coming here to San Diego at Petco Park. We
are very excited about that, especially being big wrestling fans.
And of course we've got SummerSlam right around the corner.
This is a huge, huge time for the WWE.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Oh yes, big time. It's gonna be very good, very
good time in the business. Right now, we're on Netflix,
reaching more homes than ever, SummerSlam coming up on pumps.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Yeah, So tell me about your book, because this is
why you're on and this is always cool when when
wrestlers write books. Thor and I are are massive wrestling fans.
We've always loved it, and so whenever we get a
book from a wrestler, it's really interesting stuff. What is
your book all about? It's called called Life is Fighting.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Yes, I would describe my book as a bit of
a memoir actually, And I know a lot of wrestlers
do books about wrestling. Yeah, of course there's wrestling in
my book, but I've had a very unique life in
the sense that it hasn't been exactly a Brady Bunch
television show. I've had a lot of different things to overcome,
and I've just come to find in my own self
discovery that you can't really be vulnerable with people and
(02:26):
have like an open discussion until you've gotten through things
and you've processed them and you can kind of calmly
talk through your losses and how you recovered. And that's
especially what the book is about. It's about recovering from
different situations in life and not being afraid to go
for something when you don't have a perfect hand to play.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Did you have a tough upgringing up upbringing or in
childhood stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
I don't necessarily know if it was tough, but I
grew up in New York before Giuliani cleaned up the city,
and I can just tell you that if you've ever
seen the movie Escape from New York, yeah, like once
then went down back in like the late eighties, early nineties,
like everyone was running everywhere, no one was walking. I
thought that was really weird as a kid. Yeah, no
one was walking, you were running. And I think it
(03:10):
was because they really didn't want to be outside where
I lived.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
That's pretty crazy. So you know, you've talked about your struggles,
and I got to be honest, watching your career in
the WWE, it hasn't been easy either for you. You know,
you went through these different, you know times where you
know your job has been on the line and things
have been happening and all these things. Talk about a
little bit, how you see your WWE tenure so far.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
You know, I wouldn't change any of it the way
it's played out, because it's actually led me to having
a very unique and strong relationship with the audience. I'm
just going to state the obvious here, and it's kind
of the elephant in the room. You know, when like
an entertainment corporation tries to shove anybody down the audience's stroke,
whether it's wrestling, music, movies, TVs. You can feel it. Yeah,
(04:00):
And I definitely have not been somebody that they've done
that with. And I think that oftentimes having an organic
relationship with the audience and a connection comes from being
a person who the audience can see is persevering against
a lot of different invisible hands, so to speak. So
I wouldn't change any of it. It hasn't been perfect.
It's been very challenging, and it's actually led me to
(04:21):
hear and this isn't something that you can recreate with anybody.
I've got something special here with the crowd, and I
feel so honored, sincerely and so privileged to have that.
It's a real thing. And it's even going on like
when people aren't even seeing it, Like everywhere I'm going
in life, I've got people coming up to me and
telling me their life stories and talking about how they've
been fans of mine for years and people are finally
seeing it. Everyone's got like some sort of story of
(04:43):
where they were and what was going on when they
saw me doing something, and it hasn't always been that way,
and that feels really amazing.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Well, Karrion, you know, to be honest with you, as
a wrestling fan, we see talent and we see you.
You are, you know, have a phenomenal look, you have
a phenomen character, all these things, and we're always wondering,
like why why aren't we getting more of them? And
when we don't get that what we want as fans,
it is frustrating. And so the fans are voicing their
(05:11):
opinion and saying give us more, Carrion, give us more.
And it's sort of the same thing happened when you know,
our truth got fired and like the fans are going
to voice their opinions those kind of things, and you
get like this almost movement behind you.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Yeah, and listen, they should. This is there's there's something
that's been happening for a long time in entertainment where
the art within the entertainment gets sterilized for you know,
the sake of monetization, and that that's got it. There's
got to be a common ground where that people can
still be heard and they can get what they're looking
for out of what they're watching, because that's what it's
(05:45):
all about. If the people want there, we wouldn't be
here right. So as things are changing and developing in entertainment,
we've got to find the middle ground. We can't just
do everything by numbers because that's not how art works.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Wow, now, Carrion, I'm a new you're a New Yorker.
You're performing at SummerSlam MetLife Stadium aka Giant Stadium. That's
going to be amazing. But let me take you back
to like twenty twenty twenty twenty one. You show up
on WWE, you have a match against Jeff Hardy. They
make you lose in like two minutes, and then Vince
comes at you and gives you a helmet and suspenders
(06:18):
and like completely changes you. What was your thought process
when Vince is telling you all these things and basically
changing your character? How tough was that to get through?
Speaker 3 (06:29):
I was thinking at the time that I had too
much momentum through NXT, and I thought that that threatened
a lot of people because I was given the opportunity
at that time to bat one hundred and some of
the best in the business, and h had created an
entity in NFT that was being perceived in the eyes
(06:53):
of equity in the audience at the same level as
mein roster, and I always felt like I was the
one who kind of stook like the hits to kind
of hurt that. That's the way I felt. Whether it
was really that way or not, I'll never know, but
all I can tell you is how I felt, and
that's what I thought was going on. I remember fans
online on the internet were booking me and Scarlett versus
(07:15):
Bobby Lashley and MVP versus Roman Reigns and Paul Hayman,
and at the time, no one was really fantasy booking
NFC champions against main roster people, but people felt like
I was going to land up at Maine roster and
we had that vibe, so I was honored.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, that is wild. Well, we're looking forward to the book.
We're going to check it out Life is Fighting and
of course we're going to check out SummerSlam with your
big match against against Sammy Zane and all that good stuff.
So congratulations on all of it. Carry and we're behind.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
You, man. Thank you so much, guys, and surely.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Absolutely there you go. Ww Sistar Carry and Cross. Fascinating story, man,
He's a really interesting dude.
The Show Presents Full Show On Demand News
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.