WWE Superstar LA Knight “I’m better now than 10 years ago”
WWE Superstar LA Knight joined Mike Riley’s podcast this week to talk about WWE Smackdown returning to Boston at TD Garden on Friday, September 8th at 8pm. LA Knight spoke to “Sarge” about Bray Wyatt’s passing, his upbringing in wrestling and how he feels better now than he did 10 years ago.
Transcript:
Sarge: WWE Smackdown returns to TD Garden on Friday, September the eighth. Tickets are available now at Ticketmaster dot com. Hello again, everyone. Mike Riley, 95, The Sports Hub. And today I am honored to be joined by WWE superstar L.A. Knight, who will be in Boston on Friday, September the eighth for Smackdown at the TD Garden. L.A. Knight. How are you doing, my man?
LA Knight: Yeah! Here we are. It’s lovely. Just ready to rock!
Sarge: Yes. Well, I got to tell you, we’re coming up to the final quarter of the year, and you were definitely a candidate as superstar for the year in my book. The reason I say that is at the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, you were just starting to get acquainted with the fans. You had a really good spot in the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match. You won the Slim Jim Battle Royal at Summer Slam. I think this has been a banner year for you.
LA Knight: If it ain’t my year that I don’t know who’s here, it is. So, YEAH, I think you’re on to something there. And that’s something I hadn’t even thought of or considered. But now that you mention it. Yeah, I again, I don’t see how it’s not.
Sarge: I think the only thing missing in 2023 is any WWE championship. You certainly have earned it.
LA Knight: Yeah. And I mean, you know, some people have the philosophy that like, oh, you know, he doesn’t need it, this, that or whatever. And maybe from a popularity standpoint I don’t. But to accomplish the things that I want to accomplish and do the things that I want to do, I need those championships. YEAH!
Sarge: You know, LA, we talked about the Royal Rumble, and it was actually the last match that the late Bray Wyatt had before his recent passing. And you had a really nice tribute on Smackdown last week. Can you tell us what does that mean for you to have that last match with Bray Wyatt? And what did that do for you and your career?
LA Knight: I mean, that was the last televised match. But then we did a series of those matches on live events for like the next, I want to say, three weeks to a month after that. But I mean, that’s that’s essentially where I, where I cut my teeth on Smackdown was in that whole feud, you know, so and you know, it’s kind of goes back to what I said on Smackdown last week, which is sometimes your biggest foes can be your biggest helpers. And in a lot of ways, that whole interaction, that whole story kind of helped to get me the visibility to get me where I am now. So, yeah, so. It’s tough to take pride in the fact that I was his last match because I wish I wasn’t. So I really don’t know how to think about that one, other than the fact that I can look at it in a way of just, you know, I made the most of that opportunity. I’m grateful for the opportunity that I had there to make that work. And I think it’s it’s one of the big reasons why I’m doing what I’m doing now.
Sarge: Very nice and a beautiful way to honor the memory of Bray Wyatt on Smackdown last week in LA And I got to tell you, the further we continue with this conversation here, I can hear the Rock in your voice. And I’m sure you’ve heard that before from people. But was the Rock one of your idols growing up? Was he a favorite superstar of yours, or did you have another favorite superstar growing up watching wrestling?
LA Knight: Sure. Well, I had multiple. I grew up on Hulk Hogan. So, you know, when I was first exposed to everything when I was three years old, it was Hogan and and even through middle school. And when he joined the NWA, I was still just like a he’s a bad guy now, but still. Hogan that was my guy. So then you get into the Attitude era, you got Austin and then you get, you know, then further that you go the rock. And so between those three guys, those were the three that made me want to do this. And then, you know, as time goes on that I gained a better appreciation for flair like a Jake Roberts, Roddy Piper, those kind of guys. So, I mean, it’s a lot of stuff that I get a lot of influences from all those. But I mean, for whatever reason in high school, I watched the hell out of this VHS Know Your Role, it was the VHS that they put out back around like 1998, 99, something like that. I’d probably watch that thing damn near twice a week, if not more. And so I don’t know if then being 16 years old and hearing that voice in my head every day made me just sound like that naturally, or whatever. A lot of people get it. They’re like, Man, even when you’re just talking to me, just hear like this. I hear it. It’s just my voice. Like, I don’t know what to do about that. I love it. Embrace dogs. All right. So here it is. I could I could try and talk like this, you know? But, yeah, I don’t know. I mean, that’s the best that I could. You know, there was I think it was an old Dane Cook joke from like 23 where he said, like, you know, he played speak and spell so much he started talking like this. I don’t know, maybe it’s something like that where it’s just, you know, it was just in there.
Sarge: I love it. Well, let’s do a little inside baseball here. LA Knight, what goes into your mind to prepare for, say, a 60 to 120 second promo? You’ve got to take full advantage for such a short window, right?
LA Knight: Yes and no. Everything and nothing all at the same time. And, you know, it’s not going to make any damn sense. But there’s a lot of times where there’s kind of a road map of where to go. But for the most part, I know what I’m going to say to start and know what I’m going to say to finish. And in between that I just need to make sure that I’m making the most. Of whatever the situation is in that moment and getting the most out of it. So there’s not really a particular preparation. I might have, you know, one or two things in my back pocket that I can pull out at the same time. Sometimes there’s one or two things I might forget about or they might not even come out or I might not need them. So you never know. It’s almost like a freestyle rap concert. I’m probably speaking foreign language to everybody right now, but if you’re around, I don’t know. We’re seeing people like freestyle rap, like they’re freestyle, but they still have things like in their back pocket that they can pull out and throw into that thing. And it’s kind of like that where it’s like, I fortunately have the freedom to again, here’s the beginning, here’s the end, I’m going to fill in the rest. And I’ve got those little bits of things I’m going to pull out of my back pocket here and there to kind of toss in and make work. But as far as preparation. There’s nothing particular. I just got to make sure my mind sharp and I’m ready to rock.
Sarge: Two more questions. What got you to where you are today? I mean, you’ve gone through some other gimmicks. There was a slight Randall Shawn record, right? You know, and but here you are. You’re still kinda holding on to that core of who you are. You haven’t changed too much as a person trying to keep that same LA Knight’s mentality, right?
LA Knight: Sure. YEAH. I mean, look. So more or less, I’ve been doing this same some version of this same personality. Because. Because. Because it’s me. Like it’s me with, like, the volume turned up, basically. So I’ve been doing this for, like, the last probably ten years or so, some version of it. And so. You know, whether it’s Sean Rick or it’s, you know, Eli Drake or Slate Randall. What an awful name. It’s it’s just a matter of I know that this works on a smaller stage. And if it’s working in these smaller, more intimate settings, it’s going to work on a larger level. I just need that window of opportunity. I need that opening. And I got the opening and here we are just running. I think I’ve always stood out, no matter where I’ve gone in some way or another. Whether I’ve been used that way in certain places has been another question. But at this point now, I think I’m kind of forcing the will and a lot of ways just with the way that the with the way the audience is taken to me and stuff like that. And not only that, but just proving my worth as far as like proving what I’ve done. Because there’s a lot of question marks when you look at a guy who at my age, that number scares a lot of people. But that number, and not to sound cliche, is just a number, especially in my case, because a lot of guys at my age in this business have been through the wringer as far as surgeries and injuries and stuff like that. And I have no history of that. Knock on glass.
Sarge: Knock on wood.
LA Knight: So if I went glass in front of I got the wood right here in front of me. Okay. Yeah, sure. But, but, but with that in mind, you know, I’m a lot of guys are running on a much more beaten and battered 40 year old body with this 40 year old body really from an equivalent standpoint is more probably like a 30 year old body. I would honestly even say and again, this is going to sound cliche, but it is the damnedest truth. I feel better and I would say I’m in better shape and look better than I did when I’m 30 when I was 30. And I think that’s just because I’ve learned different methods of how to kind of prolong longevity and things like that and how to recover. And and my low back ten years ago, oh my God, it was awful every single day. And I still have moments where I’ll get tight and stuff like that, but it’s nothing like it was ten years ago. So that’s the crazy thing is I’m I’m a better all around beast than I was ten years ago, which makes no damn sense to anybody. It doesn’t even make sense to me. But somehow or another, I’ve figured out a way to make myself go backwards in that regard.
Sarge: It’s amazing. Come a long way and you’re doing a great job, LA and I know you’re very excited to be coming to Boston Friday, September 8th for WWE Smackdown. Thanks.
LA Knight: I’m ready to go, Boston, Come on out. Come on. See the one! The only. Yeah!
