Originally published at LA Knight reflects on WWE Raw 30 appearance, was told he was going to be there 'last minute'
L.A. Knight feels it’s a feather in his cap that the audience was with him while The Undertaker was in the ring.
Heading into the 2023 Royal Rumble Premium Live Event, WWE hosted their 30th anniversary of Raw special this past Monday.
One of the highlighted segments on the program featured The Undertaker, Bray Wyatt and L.A. Knight. It started off with just Knight and Undertaker before Wyatt entered the picture.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet about this past Monday, Knight feels it’s a feather in his cap that the audience was on top of what he had to say even when The Undertaker was in the ring.
Well, I’ll tell you what, he was about this close to get the slap right in the mouth, but I decided to spare him. But I’ll tell you the truth. It’s funny because you always hear the cliché when you’re standing in that ring, and that bell tolls. You know, it’s chills. And I’m like, sure. Once that hit, it was chills, it was pretty wild. But at the same time to be standing there and doing my thing, and to be very recognized. That audience was right on top of everything I had to say even with the Undertaker in the ring. So I mean, that’s a big feather in my cap as far as I’m concerned. And at the same time, you know, looking at a guy who’s undoubtedly a legend, Hall of Famer, crazy, crazy night leading into this Royal Rumble.
Knight did not know he was going to be on Raw 30 and said he was made aware of it last minute.
Busy week in the ring with The Undertaker. Sorry, I just took all your glory. I’m stealing your interview from you. But it’s a wild week, man. I didn’t even know I was going to be going to Raw and then last minute it’s like you guys are going to Raw. Why? Because well Rumble is coming around the corner, we got the Pitch Black match, the Royal Rumble, all this stuff and it’s just go, go, go at this point.
Since making his WWE television debut nearly two years ago at NXT Vengeance Day, this coming Saturday is going to be his first appearance at a Royal Rumble.
Knight stated that there is a certain part of him that would like to be in the men’s Rumble match, but said having his own singles match on the card puts the spotlight on himself and Wyatt.
Well, it’s pretty crazy. I mean, look, I’ve been watching this since I was a little kid. I think I watched the very first Royal Rumble. So this is, in my mind, the second biggest event of the year, this is enormous. So yeah, hell yeah, it means a lot. And at the same time, there’s a certain level to me where I’m like, I’d love to be in the actual Royal Rumble match. But when you’re looking at the idea that I’m in my own match, that puts all the focus on me and Bray, and I dig that because now I’m not sharing the focus with 30 other guys. Is that selfish? Is that egotistical? I don’t know, some people might say so. But if you’re in this business, that’s exactly what you want. So you know, to have that, that primary focus on such a big event, I think that it speaks volumes to LA Knight.
As he was speaking about the current run he’s on, Knight said there has not been a lot of him saying he wants to do specific things. He is looking forward to Royal Rumble, but coming out of that, he wants to ‘step over’ Wyatt to move on to the next stage of his career in WWE.
You know, what’s funny is, in this run, there hasn’t been a lot where I’m like, you know, I want this, I want to do this, I want to go there. The only thing that I can really think of in a very overall sense is I want to be at the top of the mountain, I want to be the guy. And in my mind, this is a stepping stone to that. And don’t let me minimize Bray Wyatt at all. He’s a big dude, he’s a big deal, and Saturday is going to be a hell of a fight. I understand, I get that. But in my mind, coming out of that, I’m looking at me stepping over him and moving myself up closer to the top of that mountain. So was this something specific that I wanted, desired, whatever? No, not really. But at the end of the day, is it something that now I can utilize to move myself forward? You bet your ass.
As of this writing, here is the updated card for the Royal Rumble :
- Men’s Royal Rumble Match: Kofi Kingston, Santos Escobar, Ricochet, Austin Theory, Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley, Baron Corbin, Rey Mysterio, GUNTHER, Cody Rhodes, Omos, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Braun Strowman, Karrion Kross
- Women’s Royal Rumble Match: Liv Morgan, Candice LeRae, Raquel Rodriguez, Rhea Ripley, Raquel Rodriguez, Shayna Baszler, Zelina Vega, Emma
- Mountain Dew Pitch Black Match: Bray Wyatt vs. L.A. Knight
- Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. Kevin Owens
- Raw Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair (c) vs. Alexa Bliss