Karrion Kross recently reached an impressive milestone in his Brazilian jiu-jitsu journey.
The former NXT Champion was recently promoted to the purple belt rank, which is considered the intermediate level for adult practitioners. In his tweet on the matter, Kross thanked his coaches, training partners, and wife Scarlett. The SmackDown star trains in the popular martial art at Daniel Gracie’s Orange County gym.
“Promoted! Very grateful for my training partners, coaches, my Wife who keeps me fed to kill and everyone at @DGBJJOC. We never stop learning,” Kross wrote.
Daniel Gracie received his black belt in BJJ all the way back in 1996. Along with submission grappling, including at prestigious tournaments such as the ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship, Gracie has fought in MMA and wrestled for New Japan in the past. Needless to say, Kross is in good hands when it comes to mastering ‘The Gentle Art’.
After a disastrous run on the main roster in 2021, Kross was brought back to WWE last year for a program with Drew McIntyre. Rumors swirled of a major push being in the wings for him and Scarlett as a double act initially.
While their characters and promos received some acclaim, the duo have noticeably slid down the card of late.
For Kross, much of the criticism has centred on his ring work, with the often slowed pace of his matches and his relatively conservative offensive arsenal drawing the ire of fans.
Kross recently ate a pinfall loss to Rey Mysterio on SmackDown and lasted less than five minutes at this year’s Royal Rumble. He was booted out quickly by old rival McIntyre and was just the second man eliminated in the bout. Kross certainly seems to’ve fallen from the upper midcard-main event-level slot initially rumored for him when he came back last year.
Do you think Karrion Kross can rise up the card?
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