Karrion Kross holds a special place in his heart for Saudi Arabia.
He’s back in Riyadh for WWE’s weekend events, including SmackDown and Night of Champions, where he’ll go head-to-head with Sami Zayn. The match marks his first singles bout on a premium live event since his steel cage loss to Drew McIntyre at Crown Jewel in November 2022, which also took place in the Saudi capital.
Although it’s been a while, Kross (real name Kevin Kesar) is grateful for the chance to compete in a place where he’s always felt welcomed.
“I’ve wrestled once, I believe, out of the five times I’ve been here, and it was against Drew McIntyre inside of a steel cage,” Kross tells The National. “The other times I’ve been here, I have been received so overwhelmingly warm and enthusiastic by the fans.
“I was surprised because I’m not a hyper-featured character in comparison to other characters in the show. You’d think that they would go 10 times crazier for them, as opposed to me – just speaking with humility. But I’ve always been received really well by the fans here.”
The support hasn’t been limited to the Middle East. Over the past few months, Kross has been gaining momentum as more fans rally behind him for more TV time. But did he ever doubt himself?
“I knew we would get here because I had a career before WWE. Obviously, the peak of my successes is WWE – it’s the biggest and best company in the world – because I believe in my ability to connect with the audience.”
Kross admits it’s not always easy to explain this without sounding critical. After all, WWE is a produced television show – “you’re not just showing up and doing or saying whatever you want,” he says – and that means working within the boundaries of the storylines provided.
When he was with NXT, he says he played a version of Karrion Kross that the company was high on: a cryptic figure. But in his view, that kind of character works best when it’s tied to dominance in the ring.
“If you’re quiet and stoic and you’re staring up at the lights a lot, there’s a disconnect for the audience,” he explains. Although it’s taken some time, he made adjustments and created other versions of the character – ones that could still engage viewers without relying on the exact formula used during his NXT run.
It’s all about entertaining people and putting a smile on their face
Karrion Kross
He also points to another personal trait that helped him evolve: a dark sense of humour. “My whole family has it,” he says. “It’s how we deal with stress, loss and grief.” That same sensibility has eventually found its way into his on-screen persona. He felt that adding a layer of dark humour to the otherwise ominous and manipulative character would help audiences relate more – and so far, he’s been right.
“It’s all about entertaining people and putting a smile on their face,” he says. That connection, he adds, is also thanks to the people he shares the ring with. “It takes two to tango,” and having the right opponents – and enough time on television – has made a difference.
With success comes scrutiny. As Kross’s popularity grows, so do the rumours and theories about why his rise has taken time. One of the latest to circulate online is the claim that he doesn’t take “flat back bumps” – the wrestling move where a performer lands flat on their back after being hit.
“I thought out of all the crazy articles that are fabricated about me every week, that was the weakest,” he says, laughing. “There was another wild one I saw last week that was even funnier. It said something like, ‘Karrion Kross is going to come to Monday Night Raw and he’s going to quit and do a shoot promo live, and then walk out.’ I thought that was a good one.
“But I don’t really respond to any of them. There’s a crazy one about me every week or two. You just kind of have to laugh.”
Although he can’t predict exactly where his career will go next, Kross says he’s grateful for everything that’s happened so far and has a heartfelt message for his fans in the Middle East.
“I love you guys. You’ve all been so kind to me and my wife. Every time I’ve come here, we look forward to coming here every single time. We look forward to new experiences, meeting people and entertaining people, and being able to provide that little bit of relief – for escapism, for fun – when we have the opportunity to perform in front of all of you.
“Thank you for being with me. I’m learning how to track metrics online with videos and stuff like that, and about regions. I learnt this year how many fans that I’m able to track are here. And I’m very honoured and grateful and humbled by all of the fan support and I can’t wait to fight Sami live. I can’t wait to come back again after that.”
SmackDown airs at 9pm on Friday; Night of Champions airs at 9pm on Saturday; on Netflix
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Champions League Last 16
Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) v Bayern Munich (GER)
Sporting Lisbon (POR) v Manchester City (ENG)
Benfica (POR) v Ajax (NED)
Chelsea (ENG) v Lille (FRA)
Atletico Madrid (ESP) v Manchester United (ENG)
Villarreal (ESP) v Juventus (ITA)
Inter Milan (ITA) v Liverpool (ENG)
Paris Saint-Germain v Real Madrid (ESP)
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
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The Byblos iftar in numbers
29 or 30 days – the number of iftar services held during the holy month
50 staff members required to prepare an iftar
200 to 350 the number of people served iftar nightly
160 litres of the traditional Ramadan drink, jalab, is served in total
500 litres of soup is served during the holy month
200 kilograms of meat is used for various dishes
350 kilograms of onion is used in dishes
5 minutes – the average time that staff have to eat
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village’s Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
Pharaoh’s curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
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Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.
Stat of the day – 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.
The verdict Three wickets down at lunch, on a featherbed wicket having won the toss, and Sri Lanka’s fragile confidence must have been waning. Then Karunaratne and Chandimal’s alliance of precisely 100 gave them a foothold in the match. Dickwella’s free-spirited strokeplay meant the Sri Lankans were handily placed at 227-4 at the close.
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