Karrion Kross has explained the importance of storylines in giving fans a reason to care about matches.
During an appearance on Konnan’s K100 podcast, the SmackDown star said it was “imperative” to have a reason for why bouts are happening, admitting that it was something he overlooked before joining WWE.
“I mean I’ve always tried to tell a story of what I’m doing to give people a reason to really care just behind having a winner or loser. How imperative it is to have like a real reason why these guys are in the ring.
“I overlooked that prior to getting into WWE because it wasn’t a necessity to have because a lot of the matches we could have on the independents were cold matches.
“You go in there. It’s the first day that you met the guy. If you’re smart and you’re a professional, you’ve watched his stuff so you can understand what he does, and you got your timing together with the time allotted out there live.”
Arguably the best story in wrestling in recent memory has been the ongoing Bloodline saga. One of the most recent chapters of the story saw The Usos turning on Roman Reigns, leading to a tag team match at Money In The Bank dubbed a ‘Civil War.’
According to Kross, that match – which featured Solo Sikoa as Reigns’ tag partner – is a prime example of how storytelling can elevate the in-ring action. As a result, it was one of the best matches he had seen “in his life.”
“Being in the machine now and seeing how important storytelling is — I can give you a prime example, that tag team match with The Bloodline, the Civil War.
“That was in my opinion, that was one of the best matches I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m not just putting it over because I’m in the company, I just mean I felt like I was watching a movie.”
There was concern in WWE about the length of recent Roman Reigns segment
The Civil War ended with Jey Uso shockingly defeated his former Tribal Chief, marking the first time in over three years that Reigns’ shoulders had been pinned to the mat.
On the following episode of SmackDown, The Usos put Reigns on trial in a Tribal Court. During the segment, Reigns teased giving it all up and walking away, even placing his lei on the shoulders of Jey.
However, he quickly attacked with a thunderous low blow, kicking off a brawl that also saw Solo Sikoa get involved and Jimmy Uso eventually leaving ringside on a stretcher.
Later in the night, Jey attacked Reigns an Sikoa before laying down a challenge to face the Head of the Table.
The aborted trial ended up running over 30 minutes and helped the show achieve huge ratings. While it more than paid off in the end, there was reportedly concern in the company that the length of the segment was “overkill.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the above transcription.