AEW's Attempt to Get a Former NXT Champion to Debut on a Recent AEW Dynamite Reportedly Fell Through

The May 4 episode of AEW Dynamite saw Wardlow beat Impact Wrestling's W. Morrissey in under six minutes as part of the big man's ongoing storyline with MJF. But, according to Fightful Select, that wasn't the original plan. Back at the ROH Supercard of Honor event during WrestleMania weekend, AEW president Tony Khan mentioned he was a big fan of what Karrion (Killer) Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux had done in NXT and WWE prior to their releases late last year. Sean Ross Sapp reported on Wednesday that Kross was approached by the company shortly after Khan's comments and was pitched the idea of having him compete in that aforementioned Dynamite match. 

Those plans apparently fell through as the show got closer, with Kross reportedly being apprehensive about the idea since Scarlett wouldn't be involved in his presentation. He felt, Sapp notes, that showing up with her and immediately losing would've been too similar to his infamous Monday Night Raw debut where he lost to Jeff Hardy in less than three minutes despite being the undefeated reigning NXT Champion. The door is still open for Kross to do business with AEW in the future. 

Kross has wrestled 15 times since his WWE departure, most notably for NJPW STRONG, Warrior Wrestling, WrestlePro, Control Your Narrative and NEW. The two-time NXT Champion addressed the potential for an AEW run in an interview with CBS earlier this year. 

"For me, I feel like the fit would be just as identically good before I signed with WWE as it would be now because I am always looking to integrate and create things that are not present within the programming," Kross said. "I don't say that in a derogatory way. I just mean that typically how I approach things is: I look at what's on the show, I look at how everyone is introducing ideas and concepts into the program, and I go, 'What's something that I can do that no one else is doing.' I think that's the best way to improve a show. Every single person that is part of a show should be attempting to contribute something from their individual standpoint to improve the entire show. So, there are things that haven't been done yet or haven't been done at all or I don't think will be done that I can do. On that front, it looks very good to me."