The Miz Screws LA Knight Out of a Title Shot on WWE SmackDown

WWE SmackDown got started with an episode of the Grayson Waller Effect, where Waller invited new United States Champion Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar. Waller tried to instigate a rivalry between Mysterio and Escobar, but Mysterio and Escobar shot that down quickly. Soon after Austin Theory and LA Knight would find themselves in a number 1 contender’s match for the United States Championship, and the intrigue ramped up when The Miz decided to get involved. It was Miz that ultimately cost Knight the match, resulting in Theory getting another shot at the United States Title.

After Waller’s attempts to sew issues between Mysterio and Escobar failed, Theory headed to the ring and took issue with how he lost the United States Championship. Then Adam Pearce ended up at ringside, and he was soon followed by LA Knight, who would end up challenging Theory to a contenders match right there and then.

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Adam Pearce would make it official and that’s when The Miz would enter the fray. The Miz clearly has some issues with Knight’s surging popularity, and he taunted Knight throughout the entire match. Miz took jabs at Knight’s trademark ‘Yeah’ and called him a flavor of the month. Knight would exact some payback by throwing Theory into Miz, causing him to fall over by the announcer’s table.

Unfortunately for Knight, Miz would get the last laugh in this one, and Theory took advantage, pinning Knight and earning another shot at the United States Championship. Knight was bleeding a bit too, and Miz made sure to taunt him all the way back up the ramp. While Knight still has an issue with Theory, he’s likely got even more of a problem right now with The Miz, and we could possibly be seeing more of their feud in the weeks to come.

Knight’s popularity grows by the day, and the massive pop he gets every time he hits the ring can’t be ignored. In an appearance on WWE’s The Bump, Knight was asked about fan support and if it is something he thinks about often. While Knight is certainly appreciative of that support, he also knows just how much he brings to the table.

“Finally, the WWE is gonna give me what I want. Why? Because I had to go out and make it happen. Look, I didn’t ask for anybody, talk about being a fan-favorite, I didn’t go out there and say, ‘Hey, please cheer for me. Hey, please like me.’ As a matter of fact, if they don’t cheer for me, if they don’t like me, doesn’t make a damn bit of difference to me. At the end of the day, I’m gonna go to Money in the Bank, I’m gonna climb that ladder, I’m gonna pull the case down, and then any single one of those titles that I want is coming my way, whether it’s Gunther, whether it’s Austin Theory, whether it’s Seth Rollins or whether it’s Roman Reigns himself, any single one of them are in the crosshairs at this point,” Knight said.

“So what you got to think about is man, look, I didn’t get shoved down anybody’s throat. I wasn’t anybody’s guy. I came in and I did my thing, and the whole world, whether you take me to Saudi Arabia, whether you take me to London, whether you take me to Puerto Rico, you can take me to Mobile, Alabama, and every single place is gonna make a whole lot of noise for LA Knight,” Knight said. “You know why that is? Because they can see that I stand head and shoulders above everybody walking.”

What did you think of the match? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads @mattaguilarcb!