LA KNIGHT

After leaving Impact in 2019, Ricker signed with the recently-rebooted NWA, and held the NWA World Tag Team Championship (with James Storm) once. He left the NWA in 2021 to re-sign with WWE.

Return to WWE

On February 14, 2021, it was announced that Ricker had re-signed with WWE. He made his debut as a heel at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day. At the event, it was revealed his new ring name would be LA Knight. At TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, Knight participated in a Gauntlet Eliminator for a future NXT North American Championship match, but was defeated. In May, Knight aligned himself with Ted DiBiase and he defeated Cameron Grimes in a ladder match for the re-introduced Million Dollar Championship at TakeOver: In Your House.

Knight later turned on DiBiase, attacking him during the title ceremony, before being driven off by Grimes. At The Great American Bash, Knight then defeated Grimes and as per the stipulation of the rematch, Grimes became Knight’s personal butler. On the August 10 episode of NXT, Knight agreed to defend the championship against Grimes at NXT TakeOver 36. The condition was however that if Knight won, DiBiase would replace Grimes as Knight’s personal butler. At the event, Knight lost the title to Grimes following interference from DiBiase, ending his reign at 70 days.

LA Knight’s Various Feuds

In October, Knight began a feud with Grayson Waller. On the November 23rd episode of NXT, a double turn took place; Waller turned heel by berating the fans, and Knight turned face by displaying fighting spirit attitude. Before his match with Joe Gacy, Knight was attacked by Waller. At WarGames, Knight teamed with Johnny Gargano, Pete Dunne, and Tommaso Ciampa as Team Black & Gold. They lost to Team 2.0 (Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller, and Tony D’Angelo) in a WarGames match.

In March, Knight started a brief feud with Gunther when he took offense at Knight getting an NXT Championship match by calling out Dolph Ziggler. The next week, Knight confronted Gunther after his match with Duke Hudson. He challenged him to a match at NXT Stand & Deliver, which he lost. This turned out to be his final NXT appearance.

LA Knight Moves to Main Roster

Knight made his first main roster appearance on the January 24, 2022 episode of RAW. At this appearance, he participated in a backstage segment with The Dirty Dawgs (Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode). On the January 27 episode of Main Event, Knight defeated Cedric Alexander in his first match on the main roster.

In a dark segment before the April 15 episode of SmackDown, Knight appeared as a villainous manager by announcing his new stable, “Knight Model Management.” He became the manager of Mace and Mansoor. On the May 20th episode of SmackDown, he made his televised debut on the brand under the ring name Max Dupri, revealing his stable Maximum Male Models.

Dupri announced Mace and Mansoor, under the tweaked names “ma.çé” and “mån.sôör”, as Maximum Male Models. He was joined by his storyline sister, Maxxine Dupri (formerly known as Sofia Cromwell from NXT). Dupri ended his relationship with Maximum Male Models on the September 30th episode of SmackDown. The following week, he beat down Mace and Mansoor and reverted to his LA Knight persona.

After a brief feud with Ricochet, Knight became involved in a feud with Bray Wyatt that culminated in a Mountain Dew Pitch Black match at the Royal Rumble, which he lost. As part of the 2023 WWE Draft, Knight stayed on SmackDown.

Knight’s Rise in Popularity

Throughout 2023, Knight’s popularity with fans began increasing despite his poor win record and his onscreen character being a heel. On the June 2nd episode of SmackDown, Knight defeated Montez Ford to qualify for the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match. At the event, the match was won by Damian Priest, who threw Knight off the ladder in order to grab the briefcase.

Knight participated in the United States Championship Invitational tournament but lost at the semi-finals. The next week, he defeated Ashante “Thee” Adonis and was confirmed to be an entrant in the Slim Jim Battle Royal match at SummerSlam event in August. which he eventually won by last eliminating Sheamus.

Two nights later on RAW, he turned face when he began a feud with The Miz. At Payback, he defeated Miz with John Cena as the surprise special guest referee. Two weeks later on the September 15th episode of SmackDown, Knight defeated Miz in a rematch, ending their feud.

Knight teamed with John Cena to successfully battle Jimmy Uso and Solo at the Fastlane pay-per-view event. Knight then started feuding with WWE Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns, with a title match being announced for Crown Jewel. LA Knight lost to Reigns after interference from The Bloodline’s Jimmy Uso. Following his loss, Knight made it clear that he aimed to make his way back to a rematch with Reigns by beating every member of The Bloodline.

LA Knight’s 2024 Battles

At SmackDown: New Year’s Revolution on January 5, 2024, Knight faced Randy Orton and AJ Styles in a triple threat match to determine the number one contender to face Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Royal Rumble. The match ended in a no contest after The Bloodline took out all three competitors. SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis then announced that Reigns would defend his title in a fatal-four way match against Knight, Styles, and Orton at the Royal Rumble, which Reigns won.

Knight then began feuding with AJ Styles and qualified for the men’s Elimination Chamber match. At the event, he was eliminated by Drew McIntyre after Styles interrupted the match and attacked him. This eventually lead to Knight challenging Styles to a match at WrestleMania XL, which Styles accepted. Knight then defeated Styles at the event. The following SmackDown, Knight participated in the Undisputed WWE Championship Eliminator Tournament, defeating Bobby Lashley and Santos Escobar in the semifinals. Knight was defeated by Styles on the April 19th episode of SmackDown.

LA Knight Becomes US Champion

Knight began feuding with reigning United States Champion Logan Paul in June 2024. On the June 30th episode of SmackDown, LA Knight defeated Paul and Santos Escobar in a triple threat to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match with Knight pinning Paul. At SummerSlam, Knight defeated Paul to win the United States Championship, his first official championship in WWE

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