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The Phantom Rant: Riding the plateaued wave of a Kross and Knight

Posted: Jun 9th 2025 By: Joseph Davis

Greetings conversationalist’s all across the world wide web. It is time once again for The Phantom Rant. I am Joseph Davis and Money in the Bank has come and gone and I have to say it was a predictable show up until that shocking return in the main event. I will get to that in a few moments. But first I am super annoyed that Seth Rollins won the damn Money in the Bank match. I know we like to praise Triple H for all that he does. But the guy still is pretty tone deaf when something hot is right in front of him.

I was pulling for L.A. Knight to win the Money in the Bank briefcase. I would have also like Penta to win…so either one of them I thought would be a good choice for the briefcase. Instead we got Seth “Freaking” Rollins. It was the most boring pick because we all know Rollins will cash in and win and we’ll be back to him as champion. It’s odd because I do like Paul Heyman being with him and him having Bron Breakker and BIG Bronson Reed as his muscle. I just don’t want to see him as champion. It’s like I keep saying in the words of Lemmy himself…”The Chase is better than the Catch”. Rollins makes a good guy to feud with and chase for the title. But he is boring as hell as champion. Plus Jey Uso is way too over to take the title off of right now. Also, I would hate to see Rollins become champion for a number of reasons.

So with this column, I was trying to think of a fitting topic and I saw a tweet on twitter while scrolling and it said something to the effect of how Karrion Kross not being featured in ANY of the MITB qualifying matches was a really tone deaf decision on the part of the WWE. Kross has only been getting a minute or two of tv time while being relegated to Main Event (I had no idea that was still even on) in matches that have been getting good reactions from the crowds. He’s been getting such good reactions that his shirt is selling pretty well on the ol ShopWWE. So much so that they are actually selling his shirt at RAW.

You would think someone who is over with the crowd would be more prominently showcased. Instead he’s just there in the background and maybe getting a minute to get over a really complex storyline. They say you should reach for the brass ring in the WWE or wrestling in general. The problem with that is sometimes the powers that be don’t want you to grab that ring. And what happens if you do grab that ring anyway? Why they’ll just put you back into your place. Remember Zakk Ryder? He is the textbook example of what happens when you reach for the brass ring even though management doesn’t want you to. Oh sure, Ryder…now known as Matt Cardona has transformed himself on the Indies into one of the biggest names around. But you would think someone like that would get some interest from the WWE again. Nope…he’s said they have yet to even give him a call. Granted, he makes way more money on the Indies and with all his Major Figures products…but I’m sure a call would be nice.

But Karrion Kross is just one of many people who get themselves over and suddenly “creative has nothing for you”. Wrestling is a weird business. You want people who can make you money, but only if it’s the “right” people. L.A. Knight as I mentioned before is another one. He’s super over with the crowds, sells a lot of merchandise and for whatever reason the company just does not want to pull the trigger on him for that next level. I’m afraid to say this, but L.A. Knight has plateaued in the WWE. Now from a money standpoint I’m sure he’s doing pretty pretty good…so a lot of guys would love to be plateaued like him. But you just know he’s capable of so much more and he should have won that damn Money in the Bank briefcase.

I’m hoping the budding feud between Karrion Kross and Sami Zayn is going to go somewhere. Kross is doing the devil on the shoulder gimmick and Sami keeps turning his advice down. Sami is another guy who has plateaued in the company. He’s upper midcard and he’s in a good spot for the rest of his career. Just don’t ever expect him to win the World title. No matter how much the fans might demand it.

Speaking of fan demands, at the end of the Money in the Bank event we all got the shock of the year as this man in black came out through the crowd to attack John Cena. He pulls off his hoodie and it’s none other than Ron Killings…aka R-Truth. Last week he posted on twitter that he got released because his contract was coming up and they were not going to renew it. There is a lot of debate if this was a “work” or not. According to Mike Johnson on PWInsider.com it was not. “R-Truth is indeed back and will be going under the Ron Killings name going forward, at least initially. He was in discussions with several about appearances and independent bookings several days ago, so the decision to bring him back happened over the last 72 hours.” When asked about it at the post show press conference, Triple H simply said “All part of the show”.

We fans and our demands can be heard time to time. At Wrestlemania 30 at the peak of the Yes movement, the WWE did a pivot and ended up putting Daniel Bryan in the main event and he ended up winning the World Heavyweight Championship. Had they not done that we would have got one of the most boring main events in Wrestlemania history with Batista vs. Randy Orton. But the WWE for the most part does not like giving into fans and their demands. Now me personally, I’m a conspiracy theorist at heart so I want to believe that this was a plan all along and either way Truth is about to get the biggest push of his career. Ron Killings when he’s serious is a great heel and a great face. So to see him drop the comedy to go after John Cena should make for some good television.

All I know is when it comes to Karrion Kross, L.A. Knight, Ron Killings, and others our voice does end up helping in the end. So buy those shirts. The biggest thing is we have to show they are a value to the company. Maybe just maybe they can break that plateau I spoke of and they can keep climbing to the mountain top.

On that optimistic note I am done for this week. I promise to be back quicker next time. It’s just writing these columns is very labor intensive and I don’t want to half-ass it for you the reader. So until next time you can post your feedback down below, on twitter or email me at phantomlordnyc@gmail.com