LA Knight is currently one of the hottest acts in WWE despite only a short run on the main roster and not always being in a featured positioned.
Knight has gained favor with the audience through his charisma and talking as fans have latched on to saying his name followed by "YEAH!"
Appearing on WWE After The Bell, Knight was asked about the support he's been receiving and if he believes it should lead to some type of title run for him.
"At this point, I don't know. There are so many different ways to go with it, but I do think, you can't let this stagnate. Whatever happens, it needs to be an upward and onward trajectory. Whether that's championships or whatever it is, for sure, you can't just let this sit. That's something on me, that's something on everybody, to where it has to stay. You can't just rely and rest on your laurels of 'it's just going to be here. All I have to do is go out there and it's just going to be there.' There has to be an evolution. There has to be something that continues to progress," he said.
When asked if he's worried that fans will turn on him should he win the title, LA Knight explained why his story is different from others who fans have organically gotten behind.
"No, and I'll tell you why. I've had that comparison made where 'it's like this person that got popular, it's like that person.' I don't want to take anything away from them, but I don't think the comparison fits. Everyone they make those comparisons to, they had runs. They had runs as a champion. Maybe they got to be Intercontinental Champion or US Champion, but I've been on the SmackDown roster for nine or ten months, and I don't mean to say this with any arrogance or whatever, but let's face facts, I don't think there has been anybody, ever, that has had in nine or ten months this kind of reaction, with honestly not a lot to do. This hasn't been manufactured, this hasn't been the machine, this is a straight up groundswell in a short amount of time. It was never told to the audience 'this is the guy.' With that being the case, I don't think you can make the comparisons to the other people. Do I think that reaching the pinnacle, as far as being the champion would be a hindrance? Not at all. When I look at the fact that, I still haven't wrestled...I made it to WWE, the biggest company in the world, 'oh, you finally made it.' No, I haven't. You have to keep going. There is always something to push at. Whether it's new contenders, fighting from underneath even if you're the champion. That comes from different creative outlets, just finding ways to make it fresh, keep it fresh, keep me fresh, keep everything around fresh. Being that hungry SOB that I am where I'm never satisfied. Sometimes, that's a flaw of mine, but it's a virtue of mine that I'm never satisfied. Even if you put the championship on me. Okay, I've gotten that, but I don't want to be a champion, I want to take it to a level where I'm looked at as maybe one of the best ever. Now, I have even more work to do to get that done," he said.
Knight continued, further explaining why his case is different than others.
"The thing that made me, the thing that carried me is the talking, the trash talking, the personality, the swagger. All that stuff. I don't think the other people they've made comparisons to had that same thing going for them. A lot of it was 'this guy is the underdog.' If you take the underdog and give them the thing, they are no longer the underdog, so they have nothing to cheer for. If the thing they're cheering for with me is the trash talking, stomping romping guy, and you give him the championship, nothing has changed. I'm still that same trash talking guy, now I'm just continuing it while holding the championship. Where they've gotten to blow their wad, in a certain way, with the underdog, you don't get the same opportunity with me. Now it's just me continuing it, but I have hurdles to jump, speed bumps, walls to break through," he said.
Knight will be in action on Friday's WWE SmackDown when he takes on Sheamus.
He is also set to compete in the Slim Jim Battle Royal at WWE SummerSlam. Fans can check out the current lineup for WWE SummerSlam by clicking here.
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