LA Knight has looked back on the night he went one-on-one with Roman Reigns in the main event of a PLE.
2023 saw the meteoric rise of The Megastar into the main event scene on SmackDown. The most over star in the Money in the Bank match back in July and receiving louder and louder reactions each week, fans were begging for the company to finally pull the trigger on Knight and give him the title opportunity he deserved.
In autumn 2023, Knight was named the new number one contender for Roman Reigns’ Undisputed Championship. Taking place at Crown Jewel, the match marked just over one year since Knight was able to drop the Max Dupri moniker and truly be himself. While many fans thought the spot was well-deserved for Knight, the current United States Champion was not as sure.
Speaking with Alex McCarthy for Mail Online, Knight admitted that while it was a major spot to be in, there were times that he questioned whether or not he actually belonged in the main event at that point:
That’s a hell of a spot to be in, and definitely not one I expected to be in at that point because you’re talking about maybe a year from the time LA Knight reared his face on SmackDown. It was probably October 2022 when I showed up in that iteration, and by the very beginning of November 2023, I was in the WWE Championship match in Saudi Arabia, headlining the event. That’s a pretty crazy jump, a pretty crazy climb in a very short amount of time.
There were a lot of adjustments to be made. There were definitely some battling thoughts inside my head between, “Do I belong here?” and, “Hell yeah, you belong here.” It all happened so quickly that there was definitely an adjustment period.
But now, with the US Championship and walking into SummerSlam, you never know where that could lead. And when you’re talking about the WWE Championship, World Heavyweight Championship, this and that, this is a hell of a stepping-off point. Picking up the US title, there’s not that question anymore of, “ah, it this my spot? Do I belong here?” For damn sure, I belong!
Hall Of Famer Has No Issues With LA Knight
Although Knight was a firm fan favourite in 2023 and remains beloved by the fans, not everyone was on board in believing in The Megastar. Previously on his podcast, Hall of Famer Kevin Nash stated that Knight was a parody of The Rock and did not see anything special in him. In a new update in August, the Hall of Famer clarified things and stated that he had no heat with LA Knight.
Also in the interview, LA Knight explained why SummerSlam was the right time to win the US title.