7 Ups & 0 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Aug 25)

2. RUN!

LA Knight Bray Wyatt Tribute
WWE.com

Wow, this was another example of LA Knight's rising star power and confidence.

Let's not rewrite history. His match vs. Bray at Royal Rumble was a creative clanger totally ruined by Mountain Dew branding, but it's clear LA thinks the world of Wyatt so he was a fine choice to cut this promo. Knight's poise, heartfelt emotion and use of Bray's old "RUN!" line when talking about The Miz? Goosebumps inducing.

All this guy could think throughout the whole thing was just how well LA has done to seize opportunity in WWE, and just how obvious it is that he's got loads of respect for Wyatt. Nothing about his speech was hollow or forced, and that cannot have been easy to do when bringing up Miz.

The fans in Louisville needed this sort of interaction. They really, really did. People needed to shout, scream and bellow "YEAH!" at the top of their lungs before applauding LA's ability to honour Bray the way he did. Well played, sir.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.