By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Insight With Chris Van Vliet with guest LA Knight
Host: Chris Van Vliet
Podcast available via Podcasts.Apple.com
Video available at Chris Van Vliet’s YouTube Page
When LA Knight noticed the great crowd reactions: “I can tell you exactly. It was back in March, we were in DC, Sheamus and Drew were in the ring. And then all of a sudden, that music hit, and I walked out and I remember it just kind of hit me. And I was like, that’s different. But I was just thinking to myself, I was like, ah, they probably know I’m from up the road. Hagerstown is like, an hour away. Maybe enough of them know. Then we went to Pittsburgh the next week, went to New York the week after that. And everywhere we went beyond there, it just continued to pick up more and more, and I’m just like, Okay, well, I guess it’s not [just local fans]. I’m not from New York, not from Pittsburgh, so maybe it’s not that. And since then, it’s just kind of picked up. LA got to a fever pitch, obviously. Hell, Triple H is out there doing a presser in Saudi Arabia and he’s getting interrupted. So, something’s happening. I don’t know why, and maybe I don’t even want to know why. But for some reason or another, the people are demanding me.”
On hearing his name chanted at the Saudi Arabia press conference: “Well, first of all, I was sitting in my hotel room in Saudi Arabia. So, I wasn’t even there, I wasn’t even at the actual press event. So, somebody sent it to me on Instagram, I think. Actually, first before they even sent it to me, I saw somebody else in my stories and they were chanting LA Knight’s name at the thing. I’m like, okay, yeah, sure what it was probably like three people doing it. Then I see the video, and I’m like, Oh, damn, all right. I was, it’s right there, so that was pretty wild. But, you know, I’m also the worst at that really letting something like that get to me. Like I can acknowledge it, but that’s like, okay, that’s cool, now what? So, I love and hate that about myself. Because I’m like, sometimes it’s like, well, why don’t we just take a second to appreciate this? But I, for whatever reason, whether it’s a flaw or virtue or mix of the two, I just can’t. And I’m just like, alright, that’s cool. Now let’s continue on and make this better and bigger.”
On almost being fired during his time as Max Dupri: “Well, let me just go ahead and say this, I’m pretty sure I was fired. And it just hadn’t officially happened yet. Without getting into too many details, some things happened. I don’t remember what it was, but some things happened. And then I had gotten a FaceTime. Hey, you know, we want to keep you around. We want to do this, this, that, whatever. And, okay, cool, good. So somehow, I had been saved from being thrown off the cliff. At least this is my interpretation of it. Maybe I’m incorrect, I don’t know. And so eventually, just things kind of worked out. And I think that maybe again, maybe some of the testament to why things are working the way they are and the people reacting the way they are, is because one of these was not me, and I didn’t know who it was. And one of these is very much just me, like, I don’t have to think about LA Knight, I don’t really have to dig in like, what is this? Who am I? What am I doing? I just go and do, because it’s just me heightened. So, like, to me, my personality on TV is an amalgamation of me at a party and me in an argument. And when those two together, you’ve got LA Knight.”
On plans if he wins the Money in the Bank contract: “Well, I mean, we gotta get there first. I don’t know that there’s so many options there. I mean, you got that brand new World Heavyweight Championship and that’s a beautiful piece of gold. But at the same time, I mean, what’s bigger and better than being the WWE Champion? And [being] the guy who disrupted years of a title reign? Something to talk about there, I don’t know. There are options, but we’ll see. But I gotta get there.”
Be the first to comment