LA Knight’s rise to stardom within WWE has become one of the biggest pro wrestling stories of 2023. While Knight (formerly Eli Drake) has been a presence in the industry for years, fans started rallying behind him earlier this year after his infamous program with Bray Wyatt wrapped up at the Royal Rumble. It got to the point where he generated one of the loudest reactions inside Detroit’s Ford Field Stadium this past weekend when he won the 25-man Slim Jim SummerSlam Battle Royal. He then stood his ground in a promo battle with The Miz on this week’s Monday Night Raw.ย
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Reddit user Wrestlemania22 posted a video to the r/SquaredCircle subreddit on Wednesday showing just how much Knight’s popularity has grown. The account edited together an entrance Knight made on SmackDown back in November and compared it to his appearance on this week’s Raw. The difference in volume from the crowd’s reaction is quite noticeable.ย
LA Knight on WWE “Strapping The Rocket” to Him
One of the main concerns surrounding Knight among fans is that, while his promo ability and connection to the audience is incredibly apparent, WWE has a history of dropping the ball with wrestlers that fans organically rally around. Knight addressed that concern during the SummerSlam post-show media scrum.
“I definitely look at it that way (like his SummerSlam win was a long time coming) in the grand scheme of things,” Knight said. “But if you’re also looking at the fact that what LA Knight only appeared on the Smackdown roster, what back in October? So in a weird way, this has been an amazingly fast climb and it’s been really crazy how it’s happened kind of unexpectedly.
“I’ve said this before. I’ll say it again, I always knew that I had something to give,” he continued. “Did I know that it was going to go to this level this quickly? Not necessarily. But damn, here we are. And for me, everybody is talking about, ‘Oh, well, he, you know, he needs the rocket strapped to him.’ Look, I’ll strap the rocket to myself and that’s exactly what I got.”
WWE SummerSlam 2023 Results
- Logan Paul def. Ricochet
- Cody Rhodes def. Brock Lesnar
- LA Knight wins the SummerSlam Battle Royal
- Shayna Baszler def. Ronda Rousey (MMA Rules)
- Intercontinental Championship:ย Gunther def. Drew McIntyre
- World Heavyweight Championship:ย Seth Rollins def. Finn Balor
- WWE Women’s Championship:ย Bianca Belair def. Asuka & Charlotte Flair
- WWE Women’s Championship:ย Iyo Sky def. Bianca Belair
- Undisputed WWE Universal Championship:ย Roman Reigns def. Jey Uso (Tribal Combat Rules)
