WWE's Karrion Kross Dismissed Very Different Vision For Final Testament

Throughout 2024, Karrion Kross has started picking up steam in WWE as the leader of The Final Testament. The faction carries an apocalyptic tone appropriate for their name, but speaking on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet," the wrestler revealed that the initial idea for The Final Testament was quite different.

"We meet at the Performance Center and we start shooting these cryptic vignettes," Kross explained. "It was almost like 'Iron Man 3' with The Mandarin, and he had all these TVs behind him — Ben Kingsley. ... These propaganda videos, you know? It was really cool. I loved the setup. Initially, the direction we were going in was almost like a militia occult group."

Kross had concerns, however, because he did not want his character to be a rehash of an already-existing archetype in pro wrestling. The performer wanted to offer something new to the audience, which he said he is doing through callbacks to his opponents' pasts.

In addition to the original idea for The Final Testament, Kross also revealed that there were previously discussions about shifting his character into a mixed martial artist. Kross was confident that he could make the character work, but only in a format that allowed for longer matches, which aren't realistic on WWE TV.

"All of us can do all of that stuff, but we thought leaning more into the character direction rather than that would be a better thing to do," Kross continued. "I wish we had 20 or 30 minutes. I would have walked down to Ken Shamrock's music. Give me the whole thing!"

Since becoming the leader of The Final Testament, Kross has been used sparingly in the ring. Instead, Kross has resorted to playing mind games while letting the other members of his faction do the heavy lifting.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.