After watching Santos Escobar punch his ticket to the second round of the United States Title Invitational, the next four entrants in the contest, Rey Mysterio, Cameron Grimes, Sheamus, and LA Knight, were afforded a chance to address the WWE Universe and give a few words on what taking the strap off of Austin Theory would mean to them.

Three pre-taped promos down, LA Knight decided to break with tradition and cut his promo live and in person, giving the fans in Raleigh, North Carolina, arguably the biggest pop of the night.

“Let me talk to ya. All of a sudden, LA Knight’s everywhere, huh? Yeah!” LA Knight said. “Everybody wants to use my name. Everybody on the internet wants to use my name to get views and clicks. Let’s call it what it is; I’m the best decision this company ever made. I stand head and shoulders above, nobody back there can touch me. So let’s go ahead and talk about the worst decision made. United States Title Invitational? Nah nah! Austin Theory’s title is in a lot of trouble. Not because five guys are vying for that title, but because this man is coming for that title. You gotta understand something; you can call me the ‘Megastar,’ h*ll, if you want to, you can call me the GOAT, but sooner or later one way or another, you will be calling be champ, yeah! Because whose game is it? With everybody saying L, A, Knight, yeah!”

Assuming LA Knight punches his ticket to the finals of the United States Title Invitational – which, if he doesn't, the fan might literally charge the ring in the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida next week – Theory has to be sitting not-so-pretty heading into SummerSlam, as he's as unpopular with fans as the “Megastar” is over and will have some 60,000 fans cheering on his opponent on the first Saturday in August.

Booker T comes to the defense of LA Knight amid Kevin Nash's criticisms.

Discussing LA Knight on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T was asked if he feels as though the “Megastar” is a rip-off of other performers, as Kevin Nash suggested on his Kliq This podcast. In the opinion of the NXT commentator, it's hard to be mad at any wrestler for having influences, as even he drew inspiration from the performers who came before him.

“You know, one could say Big Cass was a ripoff of you know, Big Sexy,” Booker T said via 411 Mania. “You know, me personally, my first finishing move was the AK-47, elbow off the top rope, emulating Randy Savage. I couldn’t stand up there like Mach, so I said, ‘Let me ditch this AK-47.’ But I think that’s what good wrestlers do. One of the wrestlers that I took from was a guy by the name of Pat Tanaka. Pat Tanaka was, he was bad, man. Never really got his just due, his props because he had many bad influences and whatnot. But Pat Tanaka was in the middle of that square circle, he was really, really good. And I stole a lot of his flavor and made it my own. So yeah, that’s what we do.”

Asked about Nash's comments specifically, Booker doesn't fault Big Daddy Cool Diesel for having an opinion, even if he doesn't agree with it.

“But as far as LA Knight hate, I don’t know if it was hate from Nash or anything like that. I just think he was quoting his opinion. Yeah, it was definitely criticism. Constructive, one could say. But yeah, it was just his opinion. Still, I think everybody’s gonna have their opinion. It may be different, just like my opinion is, ‘Yeah, maybe he was taking a little bit away from the Rock, maybe a little bit from Stone Cold Steve Austin, and it might be a couple of other guys, guys out there. I always talk to people about Stone Cold Steve Austin. Guys, go back and find some tape of Gorgeous Gary Young if you can. That’s all you gotta do. Find some tape of Gorgeous Gary Young, and you gonna see Stone Cold Steve Austin, exactly. I’ll tell you, this dude, he was a worker down in Dallas. And he was a hell of a worker. And Stone Cold Steve Austin pretty much emulates Gorgeous Gary Young. Still to this day, I mean no better comparison…. from a working perspective, in the ring. The way they move, the way they hold their hands, the way they throw punches. Everything. Gorgeous Gary Young was Stone Cold Steve Austin before Stone Cold Steve Austin.”

Is LA Knight aping off of “Stone Cold” or The Rock? Maybe yes, maybe no, but he also just so happens to be one of the most over performers in all of WWE – and wrestling in general – and that is something that actually puts dollars in his bank account, yeah!