LA Knight Wants To Win A Title In 2024, His "Overnight" Success, Roman Reigns Match
LA Knight Wants To Win A Title In 2024, His "Overnight" Success, Roman Reigns Match
LA Knight (@reallaknight) is a professional wrestler signed to WWE. He is also known for his time in IMPACT Wrestling and the NWA. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood, CA to talk about the incredible year that he had in 2023, what his plans are to top it in 2024, his goal to win a Championship, wanting to be "the guy" in WWE, being the top merch seller several months in a row despite only having a few pieces of merch in the WWE Shop, almost winning the Money In The Bank briefcase, his epic promo battles with The Miz, his rivalry with Logan Paul, his WWE Championship match with Roman Reigns at Crown Jewel, the various TV shows and commercials that he has acted in and much more!
Quote I'm thinking about:
If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. - Henry Ford
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On his incredible 2023 in WWE:
"I can't put a finger on that. But I think, God, I don't want to give you all too much credit. But I think that people did it in a lot of ways. Look, at the end of the day, I did it. If I'm not doing my thing, then the people can't get behind me. So look, you got a little bit of credit. But let's leave the credit where it is supposed to be. But yeah, I mean, once I made the people demand me and, as cliche as it sounds, became undeniable. There was a point in time where it's like, alright, well, we got to do this. Then there's the time where it's like, alright, well let's see if he's really got it. Let's see if he can really do it. Sink or swim. Here we go."
On reactions getting louder each week:
“I think every week I'm always looking at it like, man, it's gonna slide off at some point. And you know what, when it does, I'm just gonna roll with it and I'm gonna get even better from that point. Because at that point I'm out, you're all getting jabbed. But no, I don't know, at this point it's just been growing and growing. And I remember the very first time I think we talked about it last time it was, it was in DC in March. And from there, it was like, oh, okay, now we're starting to get somewhere. And then it was like, more and more, and that wasn't necessarily the reaction I was looking for. Because especially coming out of the Bray Wyatt thing, it's like, Alright, let me keep getting heat, let me keep getting heat. But then it was like they put me out there with guys who were supposed to be big babyfaces, who were getting big reactions and stuff like that. But then there was just something about me coming out there where it was like, I can't put a name to what they were seeing or thinking or anything like that. But there was something there where they were just like, I want this guy. We want this.”
Why it took so long to get LA Knight merch:
“It's a process, getting all that stuff done. Because I have ideas for things and it's like so you might try and run it through somebody. Okay, well, yeah, we might do that. And I think there was also just scepticism at first, like, is this really a thing? Is this just gonna be a flash in the pan? Is this just gonna be a flavour of the month? And that was kind of even a thing that we had talked about and was even talked about with me, it was like, Well, we don't want to give it to him too soon, because then they might get over it. And it's like, look, fine. If that's the case, and I'm not good enough to carry that cool. Let's go with that. But I understand the idea of also wanting to protect me at some point as well. But I have the belief in myself that I can pivot and move and adapt to whatever the situation is. So if the thought is, well, if we give it to him too soon, you don't wanna give it to him too soon, but if you just try not to give it to him at all, come on, man. I feel like I'm better than that. I don’t mean that in like a boisterous way, but just, I'm confident in what I do. I'm confident in my skills. And at the same time, I want to be able to fail. Because when I fail I get better.”
On thinking the release was coming in 2022:
"Well, the problem is you look around the wrestling landscape. And I even think to my past, and I'm like, Man, I had so much freedom to kind of be me and do my thing. And now I'm doing whatever this stupid model thing is. I don't know who this is or what this is but all right, well, I gotta a nice raise out of it. So at least I try and make this thing work. And so I'm sitting there and I'm trying to do it. And, all praise to Mace and Mansoor because I mean, I even heard them kind of sharing the stories about how Vince was just, it was really weird. Because I was told not to talk like I did, nothing. Don't say any of the things you said [before], don't talk the way you did. And I'm like, Okay, I mean, what brought me to the dance is getting completely stripped from me. But alright. I mean, at the same time, I kind of looked at it as a challenge. I'm frustrated by it but I'm also kind of like, okay, well, let's see how we can do this. And then I mean, in short order, it was just like, this is crazy. And then he and I kind of felt like we were butting heads, but it was just like, he had a vision for this thing that puts such a microscope on it. And I didn't know what the hell it was, but I was trying to figure it out. And it just was not going well. And I was very unhappy. And I'm sure he probably was and then at some point, it was just like, all of a sudden, I'm not on TV and I'm like, Well, I'm pretty sure I'm fired. Pretty sure this whole ride is over. And at that point, I'm kind of looking at other options and what I can do and where I can go to kind of, you know, just keep my whole thing rolling. And, lo and behold, circumstances prevailed that kind of put me in the right spot where I could at least, come back in a wrestling capacity, do my thing. And again, like I said, I don't think there were great expectations thrust upon me, it was just, hey, here's a guy who can handle himself. He's a professional. He knows how to do his thing in the ring. And we can work with some guys, he can have some good programmes. Well, surprise, surprise on your eyes, because things just got a little crazy after that.”
On not winning Money in the Bank:
“And it's funny because I just joked, story my career. But at the same time, I always hesitate to say this stuff because I feel like it sounds like I'm like being self-congratulatory, but like, I can't help but state the fact that I willed this sh*t into existence. Like I couldn't stop, I couldn't just be like, Well, I'm just here, I'm just going to be happy with that, and that's cool. I wrote an email to one of the writers when I first came back as LA Knight and I just said, Hey look, I'd like to do this and this and this and at some point, I'm going to ask for the ball. And he was like, probably just was kind of brushing me off. I don't know, I can't speak for him, but I'm sure at the time was probably just like, his response was I appreciate the ambition. And it was kind of that. I'm sure at the same time, he's just thinking who is this guy, whatever. But I meant that and I meant that in the realest possible way to where like, I want the damn ball. And I'm going to make that happen. And so, as many times I've been told no, as many times, maybe I've shot myself in my own foot or slipped on a banana peel, or whatever it is, I need to will this thing into existence. So far 2023 has been a hell of a climb and making that happen. And so my goal is to just continue on in 2024 and 2025 and who knows from there. And you know, people want to look at the age number, but my God, I'm in some damn good shape.”
On having a promo battle with The Miz:
"Miz was really bringing it to the point where like I remember a couple guys in the back just being like Wow, I feel like this is like the best work Miz has done and while coincidentally I felt like I was some of the worst work I'd done in a while. So God, I hate pulling the curtain back a lot, but I'm not a good planner. I like to be off the cuff and I like to kind of just listen and react. But sometimes in these scenarios, when you're doing this, you have to plan a little bit more. Just because there's so many moving parts and things like that. And people want to know where you're going and whatever. But in the past, other places I've worked, it's just kind of, alright, well, we're gonna go out there, we're gonna generally talk about this, okay, cool. I'll save some stuff, they'll listen to me are you reacting go back and forth. In this case, it was like, now I had kind of like planned canned stuff, but it's like, I don't know, whatever I'm thinking or saying at like three o'clock is not going to be the same stuff at eight o'clock. And so where I should have probably just dropped some of that stuff, and just listened and reacted and just shot back that way. It was like, I gotta keep the stock. So we got time, and I gotta hit the time, and they're expecting this. And so some of that I was just kind of like, Ah, this just doesn't feel like, don't feel like my best. But that's also I think, a bit of a process and, and still adapting, because I'm still that old school, let's go out and call it out there. Let's go out there and do it on the fly. And let's just kind of, you know, I'm gonna listen and react, you're gonna, I don't want to know, and I don't want you to know, because I want it to be fresh. I want it to be real. Like, I don't want you to already know what I'm going to say. Because then it's like, Okay, let me react. Let it be real. And then that way, I can really digest what you're saying to me, and then just bring it back. So yeah, but at the same time, I think that feud in general, rivalry, whatever you want to call it. Some people hate the word feud. So that in general I think helped elevate us both in certain ways, because I mean, I think it brought out a passion in him. Because I think there are similarities between us even though I think we're different, but we have some similarities to us. He was doing some great work. I feel like I was doing some great work. And at the same time, it was kind of like, showing a little bit of adversity because for so long, like I said, I was floundering and I wasn't doing much and now it's like, all of a sudden, now there's a little bit of elevation. So okay, let's show a little bit of adversity. Let's show here's the guy who is established, he's been there for a while, at the same time, I'm gonna get under his skin. He's gonna get under my skin a little bit, but at the end of the day, I'm gonna kick his ass. And so that's really what it comes down to. So as long as that happens, we accomplish that then we're good."
On regrets about not going back to WWE in 2016-2018:
"Yeah, a lot of it. I had overstayed my welcome. It wasn't overstaying my welcome. But I had overstayed bad booking. I had overstayed misuse, I've overstayed multiple regime changes. And so with that being the case, it was just like, man, it was like, start, stop, start, stop, start, stop. And then when they did throw me the bone and gave me the title was like, they still didn't really feature me as the main event. And I'm like, What is this this like, consolation prize or something? And, at that point, I was like, Alright, I have to leave, I have to go. But the only reason I was staying was because I had been broke for so damn long. And I'm now making good money for the first time. I had never seen money like this before. And so I'm just like, I can't pass this up. I need this at least for two or three years before I can go and take the risk in my mind for the first time around that is going back to WWE. And for what I was promised was not hey, you're going straight to NXT TV, it was we're gonna bring you into the PC and then you prove yourself and that's because I left with heat the first time. So understandably so I guess to a degree but at the same time, I'm thinking like, I'm on TV. I'm ready-made. I've proven in other places. I know how to do TV. I know how to do this stuff. Now look, WWE is always different from other places. It's a whole other level as far as like TV production, all that stuff, but not to toot my own horn. But if you look at what I would do on Impact or whatever else, I think that I knew how to work TV above average from most of the people that were there. I know how to work the cameras but also interact with the crowd and the house and stuff, and I think a lot of people struggle with that, especially guys who come from the Indies because they want to go to the crowd are sure the camera or some people only do the camera and then they never, you know, look at the crowd or that stuff. So it's finding those balances and stuff like that. So I'm just like, why am I only going into the PC, but again, it was because just we want to make sure you're a team player, this kind of stuff and whatnot. So finally, when I did make the jump over there, there was a little bit of not necessarily negotiation, but it was just kind of like, I knew I was going to have to take a pay cut coming in. But I was willing to take the pay cut on the bet that I could turn it into much more. Because I had hit the ceiling basically in Impact. And I had an awesome time and NWA for that little bit that we were able to do before the pandemic hit. But I knew that I needed to be, although I'm gonna tell you during the pandemic 2020, I remember having a conversation with my girlfriend, and just being like, I gotta accept that this thing was just over. And like, nobody's taking me now 37 or whatever it was at the time. And I just gotta make whatever money I can in any of these other companies. And I had been given Triple H’s email, and his phone number, just before the pandemic started. And I was like, Well, what am I going to do with this, I have no relationship with this guy. Like, I mean, we knew of each other and like, I had spoken to him like, once or twice the first time I was in NXT but like, I didn't have a relationship where I was like, I could just hit him up. And so my relationship was with talent relations, and I'm like, I'm probably gonna get heat if I go over their heads, so I'm just not gonna mess with it. But then when I was at the point where I'm like, this ride is probably over. I was like, Well, screw heat. I'm messaging. So I was like, hey, look, this is what I've been doing for the last year that ended. Here's pictures, here's videos, whatever. And then I just let talent relations know, hey, look, by the way, I sent this email, whatever. Just give me a heads-up. And that's where it was just kind of like, well, we got to talk about some things, whatever.”
What is LA Knight grateful for:
“To be in LA, my health and tonight’s New Year’s Eve party.”