Booker T Does Not Understand Fan Backlash To Karrion Kross' WWE RAW Loss
Many fans who watched this week's episode of Monday Night RAW were surprised to see the end of NXT Champion Karrion Kross' WWE undefeated streak at the hands of Jeff Hardy in his debut match on RAW.
Kross came to the ring with his NXT Championship, not accompanied by manager Scarlett Bordeaux, and dominated the veteran Hardy for most of the match but came up short in the end after Hardy rolled him up with his feet on the ropes. Having NXT's most dominant star lose his first main roster match to Hardy, who has only won five matches in 2021, reportedly led to a "shocked and frustrated" NXT locker room.
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T discussed Kross' defeat on RAW during the latest episode of The Hall of Fame Podcast. Booker questioned why everyone is so upset over the match, noting that the story hasn't been told yet.
"What was the internet set ablaze for?" Booker said. "What do they have to do with the show? Guys, it's not about the match most of the time, it's about the story. Karrion Kross is a guy who's the NXT Champion and undefeated down in NXT. One thing you have to realize is that it's still NXT. Losing to Jeff Hardy in a match that everybody in the world thought Karrion Kross making his debut is a match that he's supposed to win but Jeff Hardy is still a veteran to the game. Jeff Hardy didn't go out there and beat him with the whisper in the wind either, Jeff Hardy stole a match from Karrion Kross.
"When [WWE are] doing this, [they're] doing it for a reason. When they did that, it was all for a reason. You gotta understand what the reason is opposed to just trying to analyze it and think you know exactly the way it should have gone because you didn't get what you thought you should've got at that moment."
Scarlett reacted to Kross' first loss with WWE, saying it was only the beginning for the NXT Champion. Booker talked about Bordeaux being missing from the package on Monday Night RAW.
"The thing is, we don't know if we're not going to go that route," Booker said. "We don't know that. We just know that Karrion Kross showed up on Monday Night RAW and lost and went back to NXT and got into an angle with Samoa Joe. We don't know if Karrion Kross is going to be back next week, and probably not, and when he does come back we don't know he's going to be with Scarlett or not.
"I think people jump the gun so much because it's like instant coffee. They want it right now, they want instant gratification. I just don't think you can book the wrestling business around what the fans want on any given night. It would be booking yourself into a corner every week, you just can't do it."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Hall of Fame Podcast with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.