LA Knight says he proved that he belonged.
Throughout 2023, fans rallied around LA Knight, and this momentum led to WWE Crown Jewel, where he challenged Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. He later faced Reigns, Randy Orton, and AJ Styles at WWE Royal Rumble. Knight's rise continued at WWE SummerSlam 2024, where he beat Logan Paul to win the WWE United States Championship.
Speaking with Mail Sport, LA Knight was asked about working with Roman Reigns.
"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," Knight said.
Knight brought up his win at WWE SummerSlam and noted that you never knew where it could lead, as it was a stepping-off point. He stated that, by winning the title, he erased any doubt that he belonged.
"But now, with the US Championship and walking into SummerSlam, you never know where that could lead. 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, is this my spot? Do I belong here?' For damn sure, I belong," Knight said.
Knight was also asked about his match against Reigns, Randy Orton, and AJ Styles at WWE Royal Rumble 2024, and he noted that it was one of the main times that he felt like he belonged. He then recalled working with Orton, Styles, and Reigns.
"I think that was probably one of the main times where I was just like, 'Oh, hell yeah, I belong in the sense of, here's the one sore thumb of the group, because you've got Roman who's been there forever, Randy, who's really been there forever, AJ, who's been there forever. Then there's this one outlier, new guy, this LA Knight, guy who is kind of the sore thumb of the group, and how's he going to hold up with these guys? I think if you go back and you watch that match, man, I think I shot him like hell on that match. So in that regard, I think that there was no question at all my mind of, well, hell yeah. There is not any question beyond that, does this guy belong? Yeah, I think it's pretty clear and obvious at that point," Knight said.
Knight continued by noting that the experience showed him that he had cemented his position as a made man. However, he also stated that he was still looking over his shoulder, hoping to get back to the world title picture someday.
"I think if there's anything that I learned in that, in that place, it was just learning that I've, I've kind of cemented my position. Here we go again. I'm the dog whisperer. I have to do the calming here. But anyway, yeah, I think I've submitted my position kind of as a made man, so to speak, even though I'm still looking over my shoulder to return," Knight said.
Knight recently said that he wanted to have a record reign with the WWE United States Championship. Check out his comments here.
Fightful will have coverage of WWE SmackDown as it airs on August 23rd, as well as a post-show podcast on our YouTube channel.
