When LA Knight began to heat up in the WWE Universe at the end of 2022 and especially in the first quarter of 2023, it seemed to genuinely catch the promotion's creative team by surprise.
Sure, he had a match with Bray Wyatt at the 2023 Royal Rumble, which was a much bigger match for him than the former “Fiend,” but in the end, he was left off of WrestleMania 39 in front of his” hometown” crowd and didn't really get a shot at a legitimate star-making prize until that November, when he unsuccessfully challenged Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in Saudi Arabia.
Discussing how fans have reacted to his sudden rise in an interview on Busted Open Radio, LA Knight noted that, in his opinion, he never begged fans to like him, instead catching on because of the authenticity he brings to the table.
“Yeah, I feel like that never ends. Whether that’s internally or externally, as far as people in the business or outside of it. That’s always going to be the case. I stay off Twitter as much as I can, but every now and then, when you have to go on there and post something,” LA Knight explained via Fightful. “‘I just don’t understand this guy’ or you’ll see the people who will be like, ‘I didn’t understand this guy for the longest time, but now I really like him.’ That stuff is always going to be there. Whether that’s inside the company or outside the company. I’m sure there are still people inside the company who are like, ‘I don’t understand this at all. I don’t get this.’ At some point, it’s either going to happen, or it’s not. All I can do is keep doing my thing, which is all I was doing from the beginning. I didn’t go out there and beg the people to like me; they just started to like me, and that’s my thing. I can’t go out there and be like, ‘Trying hard’ to get people to like me. I can’t be trying hard to get people on my side. I’m just going to do my thing. Either you like it, or you don’t. So far, it seems like the majority do.”
Asked to elaborate on his “try hard” comments, Knight did just that, noting that, in his opinion, there's nothing cornier than when someone begs to be liked by an audience that simply isn't feeling it.
“Not at all, but I know there have been points in time where I’ve been like, ‘Maybe I need to do this,’ and I’ll catch myself,” LA Knight noted. “In all seriousness, I remember a Kanye [Kanye West] lyric. ‘When you try hard is when you die hard.’ For some reason, that just sticks in my head. You know people in life that have tried too hard to get people to like them. You know they are well-meaning and have good intentions, but it’s like, ‘Slow down, you don’t need to do that, you’re coming off as corny.’ It’s just along those lines. I need to put in effort, but I don’t want to try hard.”
While LA Knight was never earmarked as the next big thing within the WWE Universe, the promotion has smartened up to his popularity, with a spot as the new spokesman for Slim Jims provided by the promotion and his merch consistently doing numbers. Still, Knight knows getting hype isn't nearly as hard as sustaining it, and he's got plenty of work to do in order to keep it, including some things that simply aren't in his control.
LA Knight believes he was pushed too fast at the WWE Championship.
Speaking of opportunities out of his control, elsewhere on Busted Open Radio, LA Knight reflected on his match with Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, which was his first title shot on the main roster at that point.
While he was excited to land a “d**n good spot” on a huge show, at the same time, going right at the top title instead of a mid-card belt isn't the tried-and-true path most wrestlers take to Superstardom.
“I actually feel, maybe there was too far of a push a little too fast. That is not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but a little bit of a steady build going into a championship match as far as going for the US Championship or Intercontinental Championship or something like that,” LA Knight noted via Fightful. “Coming straight up to the WWE Championship at Crown Jewel was a little fast to where I almost worry that it might make people go, ‘Eh, they’re not going to do this. They’re not going to shove him down our throat like this, are they?’ There is that potential. At the same time, right now, I think I’m in a damn good spot. I don’t know if I’m selling myself short so much as I’m just cautiously optimistic.”
Would it have made more sense for Knight to go for the IC Title or the US Championship before being thrown into the “Pool of Relevancy” with the “Tribal Chief?” Yes, it's honestly surprising that Knight hasn't been given a shot at the US Title, especially when there was a transitional champion like Rey Mysterio or a part-time champion like Logan Paul that he could best to earn regular spots on television. Still, despite his age, Knight's run in WWE is still young, so there's plenty of time for him to land a midcard belt and maybe even one of the big ones before his career comes to an end.
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