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Kevin Robert Kesar (born July 19, 1985), is an American professional wrestler. He is performing on the independent circuit under the ring name Killer Kross. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Karrion Kross.
Prior to his tenure in WWE, Kesar performed for Impact Wrestling, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), and multiple promotions on the independent circuit under the ring names Kevin Kross and Killer Kross. In AAA, he was a member of the MAD and La FacciĂłn Ingobernable stables. He has also appeared on season four of AAA's American project Lucha Underground as The White Rabbit, the member of Paul London's Rabbit Tribe stable.
Kesar signed with WWE in February 2020 under the ring name Karrion Kross and began a winning streak on their NXT developmental brand that led him to winning the NXT Championship before having to relinquish it due to injury. Kross regained the title in April 2021 at . After making his main roster debut on the Raw brand that July, his winning streak was immediately broken, he lost the NXT Championship to Samoa Joe the following month, and his on-screen character was subsequently altered. WWE released Kesar in November 2021 and began making appearances in various independent promotions, as well as brief appearances in Major League Wrestling (MLW) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He returned to WWE in August 2022 and performed there until August 2025, after his contract expired.
Kesar spent parts of his early life in New York and Toronto, Canada. His father, Ted Concepcion, was a Puerto Rican amateur wrestler who later trained in jiujitsu and became friends with Ricco Rodriguez and Ricardo Pires.
On July 11, 2018, Kross returned with a new character called The White Rabbit, he gave his wooden scepter to Paul London and ordered him to murder Mascarita Sagrada in cold blood for leading the Rabbit Tribe to his secret lair.
On August 3, 2019 at TriplemanĂa XXVII, Kross teamed with Los Mercenarios (Texano Jr. and Black Taurus) to face Psycho Clown, Cody Rhodes, and the debuting Cain Velasquez; Kross' team was defeated. On December 14 at Guerra de Titanes, Kross joined Rush's new La FacciĂłn Ingobernable stable.
On the August 9 episode of Impact, Kross helped Austin Aries retain his Impact World Championship against Eddie Edwards, hitting the latter with a Suplex following a ref bump. Aries announced Kross as his "insurance policy" the following week. The duo were joined by Moose, who betrayed Edwards during a tag team match on August 30. At Bound for Glory on October 14, Kross and Moose were defeated by Edwards and Tommy Dreamer in an impromptu tag match. In the main event, Kross and Moose were in the corner of Aries as he lost the Impact World Championship to Johnny Impact.
After his alliance with Aries ended, Kross entered a storyline with Impact, in which Kross told Impact that he needed him to keep up Impact's title run much longer. At Homecoming on January 6, 2019, Kross attacked both Impact and his wife Taya Valkyrie after the main event. On the January 25 episode of Impact!, Kross challenged Impact for the World Championship, however, the match ended in a double disqualification. At Impact Wrestling: Uncaged, Kross lost a fatal four-way for the title that also featured Moose and Brian Cage. Kross then entered into a feud with Eddie Edwards in May after Kross destroyed a kendo stick that was gifted to Edwards by Tommy Dreamer. This resulted in them wrestling in hardcore matches such as a street fight and first blood match.
On May 13, it was reported that Kross asked for his release from Impact Wrestling following contract renegotiations. His issue stemmed from problems with his creative direction, as well as his current pay per appearance deal. He was not released at the time. At Slammiversary XVII on July 7, Kross lost a first blood match to Eddie Edwards, where he reportedly refused to do a blade job and they used fake blood instead. Reports indicated there was concern over "lack of blood testing and the absence of an on-site doctor." Following that match, he was not booked to appear at the July, August or September television tapings and the two sides continued to negotiate. It was reported that his contract was set to expire in December but that the company had the option to roll it over for another year. In December, Impact Wrestling released Kross from his contract.
On the February 4, 2020 episode of WWE Backstage, it was confirmed that Kross had signed with WWE. In the following weeks, mysterious video packages were shown that were later to be revealed about Kross, revealing his new look consisting of a shaved head and a goatee. On the April 8 episode of NXT, Kross and Scarlett (shortened from her former ring name Scarlett Bordeaux) were seen in a car watching Johnny Gargano following his match with Tommaso Ciampa. The following week, Kross debuted by attacking Ciampa. On the May 6 episode of NXT, under the new ring name Karrion Kross, he made his debut by defeating Leon Ruff in a squash match. At on June 7, Kross defeated Ciampa via technical submission. At on August 22, he defeated Keith Lee to win the NXT Championship for the first time. However, the following day, WWE announced that Kross had suffered a separated shoulder during the match, and on the August 26 episode of NXT, he vacated the title; this ended his reign at only 4 days, making it the shortest in the title's history.
On the December 9 episode of NXT, Kross returned and attacked Damian Priest. At on January 6, Kross defeated Priest. At the second night of on April 8, he defeated Finn Balor to win the NXT Championship for the second time. On the May 25 episode of NXT, Kross retained the title against Balor in his first title defense. On June 14 at , Kross successfully retained the championship by defeating Pete Dunne, Kyle O'Reilly, Johnny Gargano, and Adam Cole in a fatal 5-way match. On the July 14 episode of NXT, Kross faced Gargano to defend the NXT Championship with Samoa Joe as guest referee where he successfully retained. On August 22 at TakeOver 36, Kross lost the NXT Championship to Joe, suffering his first loss in NXT; this was his final match in NXT before he was moved to Raw.
While he was NXT Champion, Kross made his main roster debut on the July 19 episode of WWE Raw, where he was defeated by Jeff Hardy in a non-title match in less than two minutes, marking his first pinfall loss in WWE. Because of said result, many critics and audiences complained that it damaged the formidable character of Kross. According to Kross in an interview after his release, the match originally was supposed to last 10-minutes before being abruptly shortened to 90 seconds just after he made his entrance to the ring. After losing the NXT Championship, Kross was transferred to Raw on its August 23 episode, performing without Scarlett and debuting a new look where he wore a gladiator helmet and suspenders in his entrance; his new attire and character direction was further criticized, with many deeming these changes unnecessary and poorly thought out. WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley talked about WWE's problems, saying that Kross' character was "greatly watered down and even made a joke of when they debut on the main roster." Foley's comments were supported by another WWE Hall of Famer, Booker T. On November 4, Kross and Scarlett were released from their WWE contracts, ending their one-year tenure with the company.
After a four-month hiatus, Kross made his return on the December 8 Tribute to the Troops special episode of SmackDown, taking part in the United States Championship #1 Contender Tournament, where he lost in the first round to Bobby Lashley. On , Kross, accompanied by Scarlett, the Authors of Pain (AOP) and Paul Ellering, attacked Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits, creating the Final Testament stable. On January 27 at the Royal Rumble, Kross participated in the Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by Lashley, which caused Kross to return to the ring to eliminate Lashley in retaliation. At Night 2 of WrestleMania XL, the Final Testament was defeated by The Pride (a stable formed by Lashley and Street Profits) in a Philadelphia Street Fight ending their feud.
During night 2 of the WWE Draft, which occurred on April 29, 2024, The Final Testament was drafted to WWE Raw. He, along with the rest of the Final Testament, began feuding with The New Day, attempting to drive a wedge between Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston, claiming that Kingston had been preventing from Woods from achieving success as a singles competitor, leading to several bouts between the factions. The feud concluded on the August 19 episode of Raw when The Final Testament lost to The New Day and Odyssey Jones in a Six-Man Tag Team Match. On February 7, 2025, The Final Testament disbanded after AOP and Paul Ellering were released from their WWE Contracts, leaving Kross and Scarlett the only members left.
After the disbandment of The Final Testament, Kross would be involved in backstage segments where he would try and convince various superstars to embrace their dark side, with the character being called "The Devil's Advocate" (inspired by Sean O'Haire and Kevin Sullivan's characters), some of whom include Sami Zayn and
/ref> Kross would go on to appear in Styles’ match against Logan Paul at WrestleMania 41, preventing interference from a member of Paul’s entourage. Kross would attempt to persuade Styles to hit Paul with brass knuckles, to no avail, after which Styles proceeded to lose the match. Kross would appear later on the WrestleMania 41 recap show with Scarlett where he would cut a highly acclaimed shoot promo criticizing the company and his booking. The promo at the WrestleMania 41 recap show as well as the Devil'
/ref> even being cheered as a heel against the babyface wrestler Sami Zayn at Night of Champions and SummerSlam. The SummerSlam bout would be Kross' final appearance in WWE, since he and Scarlett left WWE on August 10 following the expiry of their contracts which would not be renewed, thus ending their second tenure of three years with the company. After departing from WWE, Kross, in an out-of-character interview, revealed that he was only given twenty four hours to sign his new contract offer, which did not include Scarlett re-signing along with him, ultimately leading to his decision to depart the company.
He also appeared on the short action film Blue Evening, where he also serves as an executive producer for the film.
Kross has written a memoir, Life is Fighting, (2025). A separate biography, The Karrion Kross Untold Story: A Complete Biography of WWE's Most Feared Competitor by Gustavo Williams, was also published in 2025.
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