Karrion Kross recently looked back on a pivotal moment in his career during an interview with the Battleground podcast, recalling his first encounter with Jon Moxley in 2019, not long after Moxley had left WWE. At the time, Kross saw an opportunity to face someone who had already made his mark at the highest level.

Kross admitted he was unfamiliar with Moxley on a personal level but wanted to test himself against someone of his caliber. “Jon’s a former WWE Champion, he’s competed and performed with some of the best people in the world [like] Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, The Shield, you know,” Kross explained. “I didn’t know him, I put out a promo attempting to peak intrigue to see if that’s a match people wanted. They wanted it. He didn’t know me. I didn’t know him.”

Once the match took place, something clicked. Kross described the backstage atmosphere after their bout, revealing a moment of mutual respect between the two. “We worked and then as soon as we got backstage , I don’t want to … it feels weird talking about somebody else giving you compliments about your work. It is. But he was very complimentary, and that’s where that conversation began.”

While Moxley is currently one of AEW’s top stars, Kross made it clear he has not closed the door on a rematch , this time inside a WWE ring. “And not to stir the pot, but I want Jon to be happy wherever he is, [but] I do hope one day that he does come back to WWE because I think it would be insane. I would love to compete with him here so we can we can finish what we started.”

After Jon Moxley vs Killer Kross ended in a No Contest, they decided to beat up all the security. Good times at @fswvegas pic.twitter.com/qIN7JQd6UK

, Andreas Hale (@AndreasHale) July 6, 2019