LA Knight is in sort of a weird spot at the moment.
Yes, he’s the United States Champion, which is the second-greatest honor one can secure on SmackDown, and he’s been able to successfully defend his belt more times than his predecessor, Logan Paul, by a healthy margin, but his hype? Being one of the hottest acts in the WWE Universe? Well, it sure feels like that has dimmed over the past few months.
And yet, no matter what the future holds for Knight, one person who absolutely has his back through thick and thin is none other than Jon Moxley, the AEW World Champion, who seemingly doesn’t have much in common with Knight… except for the fact that they came up together on the indies.
Discussing his relationship with the “Megastar” in an interview with CBS Sports, Moxley celebrated Knight for keeping it real in the good times and bad, as he could have quit hundreds of times if he wasn’t committed to becoming a wrestling star.
“The thing I love about it is, it’s the perfect example of an overnight success story that took 20 years. People think, in all walks of life, they have such impatience for stuff, and they give up as soon as things turn hard and as soon as there are challenges in front of them, especially in this sport with such ups and downs,” Moxley explained via Fightful.
“Nobody’s road is consistent and good all the time to the top. They give up so quickly. No matter what anybody told him, he had his vision and intention and stuck with it for years and years and never wavered. All of a sudden, one day, people think they picked him up out of the blue like they had a WWE casting call one day and they hired him. No, it took 20 years of eating s**t to get to that point. That’s a lesson people should learn from.”
As crazy as it may sound in this modern-day of professional wrestling, Knight wrestled over 480 matches all over the world before he debuted the gimmick in NXT back in 2021. No matter how things shake out for Knight’s current run, it’s clear things could be a whole lot worse, as he’s experienced famine before his current feast.
Booker T hopes LA Knight can recapture the magic on SmackDown
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Speaking of the suggestions that Knight has lost some of his aura over the past few months, one personality who holds that opinion is Booker T, who said as much on his Hall of Fame podcast. Fortunately, Booker is excited about his current program against Shinsuke Nakamura, as it could help to lift him up into the future.
“I like that matchup as well. LA Knight needs something to spark his flame again. It seems like he’s gone dim just a little bit. Seems like that star has dimmed just a little bit,” Booker T explained via Fightful. “So I think Shinsuke Nakamura will definitely be the right person. I love Shinsuke. I love everything about him. So yeah, I like that.”
Now granted, normally, when a wrestler gets into a program with Nakamura, it’s a sign that creative doesn’t have something good for them at the moment, as fans saw firsthand with Cody Rhodes earlier this year. Still, it is something, which is better than the program with Andrade and Carmelo Hayes, which was more about them than the “Megastar” all along.