WWE superstar LA Knight was worried about ‘fading’ into the background after huge names like CM Punk and Randy Orton returned during his rise to the top.
The former United States Champion has recalled his concerns after both of the legends made their respective comebacks at Survivor Series 2023, just weeks after Knight lost his Undisputed WWE Title match to Roman Reigns.
Knight, who could be having similar concerns with The Rock returning to SmackDown tonight, exclusively told Metro: ‘Randy comes back, CM Punk comes back.
‘And I’m like, “Alright, well, now the perception is going to be, “I got defeated, now these guys are here, so now I fade”. And I think a lot of people [had] kind of taken that stance for a moment.’
The 42-year-old megastar has spent decades working his way up to this level, and despite his larger-than-life charisma and confidence, he’s not always kept faith.
‘Man, I’d love to say yes, but sometimes yes, sometimes no,’ he confessed.
Knight pointed out how WWE and ‘wrestling in general’ can be ‘such an interesting, unique business’ with a competitive edge, even with its predetermined nature.
He added: ‘I think for years and years of being on the independents and different companies and whatnot, you just get used to kind of looking over your shoulder and just thinking, “Alright, at any point somebody’s gonna try and pull the carpet out from under me.”
‘So, I mean, I’m always just kind of on edge in that certain way where it’s like, I got put in that position, and then I’m just like, “Alright, well, now what?” ‘
Despite feeling like things could cool down after the loss to Roman and the returns of Punk and Orton, Knight started to sense a turn of the tide as 2024 got underway.
‘Along came the Royal Rumble, and then beyond that, then came WrestleMania. And then from there, it was like, okay, now we’re getting to this fever pitch again,’ he said.
‘We get to SummerSlam, me and Logan Paul, and the place blew the roof off. So yeah, it was always going to be ebbs and flows and little peaks and valleys and stuff like that.’
Knight pointed out how his work with the controversial YouTuber – who was US Champion at the time – gave him the chance to try new things as they worked around Logan’s ‘limited schedule’.
They had a lot of history going back to the build to Money In The Bank 2023 in London, but he has given WWE creative chief Triple H credit for not rushing into a bigger story at the time.
‘WWE, anyway, was at least smart enough to be like, “Alright, we’re gonna hold on to that for a little bit, and do some distraction stuff,’ Knight explained.
‘[Logan will] do some other stuff. I’ll do some other stuff, and then eventually bring it back, because as far back as even [WrestleMania 40], I’d done some meet and greet and I went out in the audience and just took the microphone out there and started talking to people.
‘Every single person was like, “You gotta fight Logan Paul. You gotta take the US Championship”. And I’m like, “Okay, there’s something here. A lot of people want to see this.” ‘
He beat his rival to win the US Title last summer, and he held the gold until the end of November when he lost to current champ Shinsuke Nakamura.
Speaking to at a Netflix preview event in London before the loss, Knight pointed out that sometimes a wrestler will have some slower moments before a meteoric rise.
‘In order to keep that momentum, there was probably a little bit of a drawback before we took off again.’
Fans will be hoping the pattern repeats as Knight and WWE push on to WrestleMania 41 in April.
Netflix is the home of WWE in the UK. WWE returns to London’s O2 Arena for SmackDown (March 28) and Raw (March 31).
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