When Karrion Kross was called up to the main roster, Vince McMahon decided to put him in a red gladiator outfit and took Scarlett Bordeaux away from him.
With that, he went from being one of NXT's most formidable Superstars to a glorified jobber who earned unfavourable comparisons to, well, a gimp. Ultimately, both he and Scarlett were released by WWE before being brought back into the fold by Triple H.
Their booking has been a little hit-and-miss since then, though Kross is still a solid mid-card talent now who is in the midst of a feud with AJ Styles.
Since returning to WWE, Kross has switched his look up and grown his hair out, a move many fans have argued makes him look less unique. Talking on The Undisputed Podcast With Bobby Fish, the SmackDown Superstar explained the change.
"I was so married to this character presentation," he explains. "I was very big into 'Bronson' at the time with Tom Hardy and I was drawing a lot of energy out of that as well."
"Once I got released, I actually got offered to do a film, which, unfortunately, because of just coming out of the economy under COVID and stuff like that, it kept getting put off, and off, and off," Kross added. "I had the lead role in something that looked like a sure thing. And they asked me, 'For the character, would you be able to grow your hair out for this?' I was like, 'You're paying me to grow my hair? Absolutely.'"
"I wound up keeping my hair because the goalpost for when we were going to do the film kept getting pushed back and I just let it grow."
It's unclear whether Kross still hopes to start in that project, though The Herald of Doomsday is likely going to have to keep waiting after the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have brought Hollywood to a complete standstill.
What are your thoughts on Kross' current appearance?