Why Karrion Kross in AEW feels like a shrug
The rumor mill is grinding again because Karrion Kross, fresh off his latest WWE departure, decided to drop the heavy hint that the door to Tony Khan’s house has always been unlocked. Ringside News covered the comments, and suddenly, the internet is vibrating with hypothetical matchups. We have been down this road before, haven’t we? It’s the classic post-release interview circuit where everyone pretends that a fresh start is all they need to reinvent themselves.
Is the door open? Sure, I guess. But AEW has a roster that feels like a crowded subway car at rush hour already. Tony Khan is already struggling to find minutes for guys like Malakai Black or even established stars on collision courses that don’t involve the main title picture. Dragging Kross in now feels like adding a fifth condiment to a burger that is already falling apart on your plate.
The Forbidden Door obsession is masking the real issues
Speaking of crowded, we are barreling toward AEW Forbidden Door 2026, which is slated for June 28. Everyone is looking for the big surprise, the monumental debut, or the shocking jump, as WrestleTalk recently analyzed. We love the spectacle of NJPW talent mixing it up, but the structure of these cards is starting to feel like a high-budget video game collection where the characters don’t actually have a story.
We are going to see the Owen Hart Foundation tournaments again, which is lovely for nostalgia, but let’s be honest about the booking. It often serves as a massive time-sink that halts momentum for whoever is holding a belt while everyone else fights for a trophy that hasn’t felt prestigious in years. You can put on 30 matches with amazing technical work and still end up with a show that leaves the crowd sitting on their hands.
The reality of the jump
Kross mentioned in his recent F4WOnline appearance that he isn’t rushing into anything. That is probably the only sensible thing he has said all year. The reality is that jumping to Jacksonville requires a very specific brand of charisma to cut through the noise, and if you haven’t nailed that in your last two stops, a change of scenery isn’t going to magically fix your character arc.
AEW needs stars who can elevate the guys they already have, not guys looking for a soft place to land. If you bring in someone, they better be ready to work a 20-minute clinic without needing fancy entrance production to hide a lack of ring connection. Right now, the company feels like it is playing a game of fantasy general manager instead of focusing on building long-term, coherent rivalries that people actually care about.
If the plan is just to trot out former WWE talent to generate a short-term pop, you might as well just hand the belt to someone from the independent scene who is legitimately hungry. I want to see the best wrestlers in the world, not the most available ones. Let’s see if the June 28 card can actually justify the hype instead of just leaning on the 'Forbidden Door' sign to do all the heavy lifting.
