He Was Ripping Off The Rock... Now He's Taking Over The World
A very welcome departure from the punishingly intense main event scene, Knight was terrific as the cruel d*ckhead who used Ted DiBiase to win the Million Dollar Title title and made life hell for Cameron Grimes. That was his plan, anyway, but since Grimes actually enjoyed being his butler, in a Triple Jovian Eclipse of that storyline being good, Knight was apoplectic. Watching the prize prick lose his sh*t made for enjoyable TV.
Knight was just on fire in this programme. He sang DiBiase's theme in the shower and changed the last "money" to "yeah-uh". He called the girls at his mansion "toots". He sprinted further and further away from the idea that he was a huckster selling people on the idea that he was a star. He was a star.
After a doomed run on the main roster as Max Dupris (even in the hatchet job of a role, he was still funny in a creepy way), he reverted to LA Knight under the booking of Triple H. He was then selected as Bray Wyatt's first post-return opponent and actually survived, where the only thing Wyatt remotely has in common with an actually scary movie monster is that those around him tend to die horrific deaths. Knight sh*t-talked him off the face of the earth and nobody cared how rubbish the Mountain Dew Pitch Black match was. They fell for LA Knight.
Watching Knight do his thing on the major stage and in the big arenas has been a revelation. The man is a superstar, or at least has significant superstar potential. He belongs in WWE at the highest level. He was auditioning for a massive role his entire life, and in retrospect, it was always going to look weird on the fringe.
There's still one problem. LA Knight isn't an amazing wrestler between the ropes capable of telling an emotionally rich story that peaks the crowd response with amazing feats of athleticism or dramatic timing. Name one stand-out WWE match that made the crowd go banana, in sheer disbelief that they didn't just see the finish. You can't. You could argue that Knight hasn't been positioned to do that, but he's 40. He'd have had that one classic match by now if he was capable of having it.
The thing is, this matters less and less in WWE in 2023.
CONT'D...(4 of 5)