Top SmackDown Star Had Backstage Heat When They Returned To WWE

Over the last few months WWE has been reshuffling the deck ever since Triple H took over creative. At the time Triple H took over LA Knight was working as the Max Dupri character. However, The Game quickly switched things up and brought LA Knight back to WWE programming.

LA Knight originally competed in NXT under the name Slate Randall in 2013, but his run with the company came to an end in 2014. He then went on to compete for companies like Impact Wrestling and NWA before returning to WWE in 2021. Knight recently spoke to Sports Illustrated about his WWE return and he admitted that he had some backstage heat when he came back.

“When I came back [to WWE in 2021], there was residual heat from my first time around. There was a little bit of headbutting between me and the former head coach back then. It’s a new head coach [Matt Bloom] in place, but there was still the question of whether I could be a team player.

I never saw myself as trouble, but I am a very proud guy, so I do speak up. That’s kept me very authentic to myself, but it’s also made my path take a lot longer. I always knew I had something to offer. And to be quite honest, I don’t have a backup.

Persevering and being better were the only choices I had. There is still no choice for me but to keep going and make this work… Maybe I wasn’t quite for this ride back then. But I am damn-sure ready now.”

LA Knight will compete tonight at the Royal Rumble when he faces Bray Wyatt in the first ever Pitch Black match. Stay tuned for more updates as they become available.