Ex-WWE Star Low-Ki (Fka Kaval) Talks Season-Winning NXT Run, Working With LayCool

After winning season 2 of WWE's Tough Enough, fans hoped to see Low-Ki – then known as Kaval – reach the heights that his predecessor, Maven, unfortunately couldn't. Unfortunately, it ended up being a similar journey for Low-Ki, which he blamed the "outdated" management in "NXT" at the time for, during an interview with "That's Wrestling!"

When asked if WWE had a favorite for Season 2 of "NXT," Low-Ki claimed that the brass was behind Alex Riley but opined that he wasn't ready for such a massive push. "They were trying to do the same nonsense they did in the 1980s, trying to pull it off in 2009/2010," Low-Ki pointed out. "Because you got outdated guys in management calling the shots." He further claimed that those in management opted to play backstage politics instead of train the new comers.

Low-Ki also commented on WWE not allowing Joe Hennig (Curtis Axel) to wrestle under his name, and described the situation as the promotion trying to remove his identity. "Why would you try and take his identity away from him and give him some stupid name that was an inside joke between Curt Hennig and Vince McMahon?" Low-Ki noted, pointing out that fans wouldn't know about this and that the better option would've been to simply focus on his lineage and how good he was in the ring. "These morons don't understand what they're doing because they wanna to be in charge, they don't care about the people that they work with." Low-Ki further emphasized that WWE should've bet on Hennig instead of Riley, and chalked their final decision off to favoritism.

During his run on the second season of "NXT," Low-Ki was interestingly paired with two "Pros," Michelle McCool and Layla, Team Lay-Cool, which the inaugural ROH World Champion fondly looked back on. "Working with Layla and working with Michelle McCool? It was relaxing because they were so goofy that they would actually tone down my intensity," he recalled. Despite this, Low-Ki explained he had no misconceptions about the gameshow, and claimed he didn't treat anyone like a friend and understood that those above were bad people. "So, for those two women to actually be as goofy as they were? They were friendly. They weren't headaches – I would help them too."

Low-Ki further claimed that they ended up developing a friendly chemistry but expressed that they were all being manipulated by the "morons" in management and recalled how the segment of Layla's impromptu kiss caused some issues in his private life. "They didn't tell me that was coming and I have a girlfriend at the time," he said. "So, you try explaining that to somebody you're with, that they just watched that on national television and you didn't know it was coming?" Low-Ki further slammed management for this decision, and noted that he didn't have any issues with Lay-Cool personally, and how he eventually became their protector.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "That's Wrestling!" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.