Nikki Cross pulled off quite the unique counter when she battled Scarlett during a recent eight-person tag-team match. At WWE’s Boxing Day live event in Madison Square Garden, Cross and the Wyatt Sicks answered the open challenge made by the Final Testament. When Scarlett sought to add insult to injury by delivering a stinkface, Cross bit back, literally, by sinking her teeth on the buttocks of the ‘Smokeshow.’
This match was certainly one to remember for Scarlett, who currently boasts a 5-7 record in WWE matches. Despite her team’s loss, the event held personal significance for her, as it coincided with the 15th anniversary of her debut in pro wrestling.
As we close out the day after wrestling a WWE Event at MSG, I wanted to share a story. Dec 26th is a very special day for me because 15 years ago at the Berwyn Eagles Club in Chicago, IL I made my wrestling debut at AAW. I wasn’t allowed to watch wrestling my entire life and went… pic.twitter.com/GVUhvW7bQT
Scarlett and her allies are deep into their feud with the Wyatt Sicks, and it was the Final Testament who handed Uncle Howdy’s group their first loss ever on the December 9 Raw. While Scarlett has yet to go one-on-one with Nikki Cross on TV, fans won’t be surprised if Scarlett wears some extra padding going forward, lest Cross decides to take another bite out of her posterior.
Stay tuned to SEScoops for the latest on Scarlett and the ongoing battle for supremacy between the Wyatt Sicks and the Final Testament.
The WWE Universe could be in store for a Philadelphia Street Fight in a matter of days at WWE WrestleMania 40, it has been claimed.
WrestleMania 40 will be the promotion’s fifth two-night WrestleMania, a tradition that began in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The show will take place on April 6 and April 7 from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA.
WrestleMania Card Schedule
As of writing, 12 matches have been confirmed for WWE WrestleMania 40. Dave Melzer of F4W Online reports that 13 matches will take place at WrestleMania. This will be divided over the two nights with seven matches on WrestleMania 40: Saturday and six matches taking place on WrestleMania 40: Sunday.
A Philadelphia Street Fight
Meltzer adds that the Street Profits & Bobby Lashley vs. Karrion Kross & Authors of Pain was made “obvious” during the March 29, episode of WWE SmackDown but has yet to be announced. It’s also noted that as of last week, it was booked within WWE to be a ‘Philadelphia Street Fight.’
On SmackDown, the Profits faced Grayson Waller & Austin Theory in a tag-team ladder match qualifier. Karrion Kross and Scarlett attacked Lashley and B-Fab backstage with the distraction costing the Profits the match.
WWE WrestleMania 40
Here is the card as it stands for WWE WrestleMania 40:
WrestleMania 40: Saturday
The Bloodline (The Rock and Roman Reigns) vs. Cody Rhodes and Seth “Freakin” Rollins
WrestleMania 40: Sunday
Seth “Freakin” Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre (WWE World Heavyweight Championship)
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes (Undisputed WWE Universal Championship)
Night TBA
Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bayley (WWE Women’s Championship)
Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch (WWE Women’s World Championship)
Gunther (c) vs. Sami Zayn (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor and Damian Priest) (c) vs. #DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) vs. The Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth) vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) vs. A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller) vs. New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate) (Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder match, Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships)
LA Knight vs. AJ Styles
Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso
Logan Paul (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens (WWE United States Championship)
Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Naomi vs. Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai, Asuka, and Kairi Sane)
Latino World Order (Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee) vs. Santos Escobar and “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio
Before this week’s SmackDown, it was reported that The Pride was the expected name of Lashley’s faction. On Twitter, Lashley confirmed this new name for the group, as he stated in his Twitter bio that he was the leader of The Pride. Interestingly though, Lashley would change his bio shortly after to remove all references to The Pride. His bio currently reads as:
#SmackDown’s All-Mighty | Former WWE Champion. MMA Fighter | Professional Wrestler | Business Professional | Nutrabolics Athlete
Karrion Kross’ New Faction
Lashley’s faction didn’t confirm its new name on this week’s SmackDown, but Karrion Kross’ group did. On last week’s Smackdown, Kross and the returning AOP attacked Lashley, while Scarlett and Paul Ellering watched on.
During this week’s show, Lashley called out AOP and Kross but only received Ellering. The legendary manager pointed to the titantron where a video promo from Kross played. In it, the two-time former WWE NXT Champion confirmed his group’s name as The Final Testament.
Things didn’t go exactly according to plan during this week’s SmackDown…
WWE brought New Year’s Revolution for fans on SmackDown on January 5th. The show also marked the return of a pair of former Tag Team Champions.
AOP Returns To WWE
During WWE SmackDown this week, Akam and Rezar made their long-awaited return to WWE television. This went down in Vancouver, and fans were very excited to witness WWE history first-hand.
The Authors of Pain were paired up with Karrion Kross and Scarlett. They will battle Bobby Lashley and the Street Profit’s new trio to start things out for themselves in the WWE landscape once again.
AOP made their return during SmackDown, as they interrupted a promo from Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits. After revealing Paul Ellering on the entrance ramp, Akam and Rezar laid waste to Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits. Karrion Kross then joined them in the ring to finish Lashley off.
The segment concluded with Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits laid out in the middle of the ring. Karrion Kross and the newly returned AOP stood tall.
Authors of Pain achieved the WWE NXT Tag Team Championship once, and also secured the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship on one occasion. Additionally, they clinched the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in 2016.
AOP’s return is a long time coming, as rumors of their comeback have been going around for a while. Now they are back on WWE television, so Triple H can book them in his vision.
WWE Superstars Karrion Kross and Scarlett were planning to start a family last year until a fateful call from Chief Content Officer Triple H put that on hold.
It might have surprised fans when WWE decided to release Kross and Scarlett on Nov. 4, 2021. The couple had great success in NXT, with Kross winning the NXT Championship twice. However, WWE had different creative plans for them on the main roster by separating them and changing Kross’s character. Ultimately, Kross’s first run with the company didn’t work out, and both talents found themselves as free agents last year.
(via WWE)
While in free agency, Kross and Scarlett could work together and compete for different independent wrestling promotions. In their time away from WWE, the couple decided they wanted to start a family. However, when Triple H called Kross about himself and Scarlett returning to the company, he and his wife halted their plans.
In an interview with My San Antonio, Kross spoke about the call from Triple H to return. MY San Antonio’s Nick Talbot transcribed the following quotes.
“He called us up and he said, ‘Do you want to come home?” And I responded, “Well, like, yeah.’ And then he was like, ‘All right. Here is my next question. Can you be here in a day and a half?’ And we’re like, ‘That’s pretty fast.’ You know, we had all these different bookings and different things going on.”
We had our lives planned out. I mean, and people don’t even know this, we’re thinking about maybe even having a kid, you know, or thinking about starting a family. And we looked at each other – and her and I have always been telepathic, even before we were married or dating — so, we just kind of gave each other a look and we knew what page we’re on. And we’re like, ‘Yeah, we can do that.
– Karrion Kross
WWE.com
Karrion Kross Plans for Royal Rumble 2023
Kross will compete in his first Royal Rumble event this weekend. He is looking forward to his first Royal Rumble appearance and hopes to have an impressive performance. “In a perfect world, I’d like to set some sort of record. I’d really like to do it,” said Kross(h/t Nick Talbot). He also shared in the interview that he hopes he could enter at number one.
“You know what, if I could, I would come out number one. I would love to do that. To be able to go out there and demonstrate your grit and how much fight you actually have. I need to have the opportunity to get in front of that many people and fight them all at once. I live for stuff like that,” said Kross(h/t Nick Talbot).
Before competing at the Royal Rumble, he will have to compete against Rey Mysterio on the Jan. 27 episode of Friday Night Smackdown. Since his return on Aug. 5, 2022, Kross has only lost one match to former WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. A decisive win by Kross this Friday could indicate how WWE will utilize him in the Royal Rumble match.
WWE Superstar Scarlett was close to having her first match in over a year for the company this week, before being pulled from the SmackDown post-show dark match.
Scarlett was released from WWE in November 2021 along with her husband Karrion Kross but both returned in August of this year.
Since then, Kross has been prominently featured on TV but Scarlett is yet to have a televised match in a WWE ring.
Dark Match
After this week’s SmackDown went off the air, Braun Strowman, Madcap Moss, Matt Riddle, and Liv Morgan defeated Joaquin Wilde, Cruz del Toro, Damian Priest, and Zelina Vega.
Sources who spoke to 411 Mania have said that the original plan was for a six-person tag, pitting Riddle, Strowman, and Morgan against Priest, Kross, and Scarlett.
Plans for Kross and Scarlett were set “long before Friday’s taping” but the Smokeshow was never told about her match.
A source said that if Scarlett was told about the match at the taping, it would have been “news to her.”
It is believed that there was an internal error or the match was just pitched and shot down before Friday’s taping.
Scarlett in the Ring
Despite being a trained wrestler in her own right, Scarlett has had just a handful of matches in WWE.
During the Boxing Day 2016 episode of Raw, Bordeaux was used as enhancement talent and was quickly squashed by Nia Jax.
Last year, Scarlett, now with her own character, competed in a dark match for the June 25, 2021, SmackDown taping, in a losing effort to Shotzi.
Damian Priest passed on the opportunity to be managed by Scarlett during both star’s tenures as part of the WWE NXT brand.
After making his name in Ring of Honor as Punishment Martinez, Priest joined WWE in 2018 and captured the NXT North American Championship in August 2020.
The Archer of Infamy has had similar success on the main roster, becoming the WWE United States Champion at Summerslam 2021.
Manager
Priest can nowadays be seen alongside his fellow Judgment Day members but WWE once planned for him to be managed by Scarlett.
Fightful Select reports that when NXT jumped to the USA Network in late 2019, plans were made to introduce Scarlett to TV.
The plan for the ‘Smokeshow’ to manage Priest dated as far back as September that year, and sources said that some in WWE thought the act was going to make it to TV up until the week it was nixed.
Priest reportedly felt the idea was not a good fit for him and passed on the spot.
Had he gone ahead with the plan, Priest and Scarlett would have been on NXT as a unit within the first few weeks of NXT on the USA Network.
Scarlett and Kross
After Priest passed on the idea, Scarlett’s character was put on the back burner, as Kross had not signed with WWE at that time.
Once WWE knew for sure he would be signing, plans were put in place for the real-life couple to be paired on-screen.
Those that spoke to Fightful said that everything worked out better for all involved.
Kross and Scarlett were released in November 2021 but returned to WWE in July this year.
On the post-Summerslam 2022 edition of SmackDown, Karrion Kross and Scarlett returned to WWE.
The pair had been released in November 2021 as part of ‘budget cuts’ mere months after WWE had promoted the two-time former NXT Champion to the main roster.
Kross made an impact upon his return to WWE, attacking Drew McIntyre and facing off with Roman Reigns.
Making Appearances
Prior to his return to WWE, Kross (under the name Killer Kross) appeared for several promotions, including Chikara, CYN, MLW and NJPW Strong.
On Twitter, Kross confirmed that from now on, he will only be competing in WWE rings and on WWE TV.
However, the company is allowing both Kross and Scarlett to appear at independent events that had already been booked prior to the duo’s return to WWE.
Kross made it clear these appearances will be for meet-and-greets only and that fans should not expect either of them to wrestle.
The SmackDown Superstar added that he will only appear if the event does not overlap with his WWE schedule which takes precedence.
Hello Kross Cult,
Moving forward I will only be competing in ring for The WWE Universe. HOWEVER… Scar & I will fulfill the last couple dates for Meet & Greets •only• to see you all as long as it doesn’t conflict with our committed scheduling.
While Kross’ first stint on WWE’s main roster, his return has been an incredible sight to behold.
Upon returning, Kross has been thrust into the main event scene, involving himself in the storyline between WWE’s arguable two biggest stars (Reigns and McIntyre.)
It is believed that Kross and McIntyre will feud after WWE Clash at the Castle next month.
There have been reports that WWE is planning for Reigns to face Kross at Survivor Series 2022 this coming November.
We have some news to pass along regarding Karrion Kross and Scarlett returning to WWE.
PWInsider reports that, after Karrion Kross and Scarlett were released last year, they maintained regular communication with WWE. With that being said, the regime change worked out in their favor.
Also, Kross and Scarlett have been added to the WWE’s internal SmackDown roster. Kross is to be positioned as the number two heel on the program behind Roman Reigns. As for Scarlett, she’ll be managing Kross and isn’t expected to wrestle regularly.
Of course, that could always change down the road. It’s also believed that the pair will fulfill their remaining obligations on the independent circuit as much as possible. Kross and Scarlett made their returns on last week’s episode of SmackDown Live.
Kross attacked Drew McIntyre during a promo segment with Roman Reigns. His return, alongside Scarlett, closed out the show. Kross had initially signed with WWE in February of 2020.
Karrion Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux
During his run with the company, Kross was assigned to the NXT brand along with Scarlett, where he reigned as NXT Champion twice. They were later granted a release from their contracts in November of 2021.
Since, Kross has been competing on the independent circuit; as well as for various other promotions such as Major League Wrestling (MLW), New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), and others.
Now, it seems Kross has found himself a favorable position in WWE on the main roster.
Former WWE Superstars Killer Kross (Kevin Kesar) and Scarlett Bordeaux (Elizabeth Chihaia) are now married.
The couple recently took a helicopter ride to a glacier in Alaska for their “very private” ceremony. Kross posted a video online recapping their magical event.
He provided the following note:
“Hello Everyone, Elizabeth and I have recently eloped- we’re married!
We flew to Alaska, hopped on a helicopter and flew to a glacier for a very private ceremony (then wrestled the next day, naturally).
We initially weren’t going to share this footage but after further discussing it; we’d actually like to do so and say thank you so much for all the support we get from you all.
Whether you’re a fan, friend or family- you have all participated in brining joy into our lives.
Sincerely, Kevin & Elizabeth“
The couple wrestled for WrestlePro Alaska in Anchorage on April 9th, so it seems the wedding took place April 8th. They announced their engagement back in September.
SEScoops extends our congratulations to Killer Kross and Scarlett!
