LA Knight has the best opportunity he has ever had at capturing a WWE championship.
He will go one-on-one with Roman Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank on Saturday in New Orleans. Knight’s wave of popularity has still been extremely high since he caught on with the WWE Universe in 2023-24. And even through detours that included a U.S. title run, feuds with The Vision and Reigns’ Bloodline stablemates, he’s continued to be one of the wrestlers fans continually gravitate toward.
Knight got his first crack at a world title at Crown Jewel in 2023. He was supposed to be one-on-one with Reigns before Jimmy Uso interfered and cost him the title. He was then thrust into a fatal four-way match for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Royal Rumble in 2024 against Reigns, AJ Styles and Randy Orton. But Reigns would remain supreme.
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This time, it’s a little different. Reigns, as Knight has pointed out, hasn’t had The Bloodline in his corner as they’ve been preoccupied with Jacob Fatu’s dominance and the 946 faction. It might truly be a one-on-one bout between the two WWE superstars.
Who wins is anyone’s guess. But WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page told OutKick Dropkick he’s backing Knight in the premium live event.
“I would love to see that. I would love to see that … LA and I have been, because of our careers, even though he started wrestling in his 20s, our career took off in our 40s and I would love to see that. Do I believe it’s going to happen? I’m going to say yes because I want it to be out in the universe for LA,” Page said in a recent interview, on behalf of Gambling.com, the guide to the best online sportsbooks.
Page said if Reigns lost the match it wouldn’t hurt him. He compared it to his own win over Randy Savage at World Championship Wrestling’s Spring Stampede in 1997.
“And Roman though, Roman’s Hulk. Roman’s Rock, Roman’s Cena, he is, he’s that guy. I mean, he’s that guy if he did freaking put LA Knight over, it wouldn’t hurt him at all,” he said. “Matter of fact, he Randy Savage’d him, which is what Randy did for me when he reached down and you tell me in 1997, April 6th, the day after my 41st birthday, that anybody thinks I’m going to beat Randy Savage. No one, no one. But Randy did. And Randy knew this guy has worked so hard, the people love him. I’m gonna really make him blast off.
“And I’ll tell you, when I beat Randy Savage, it was more dramatic than even being the world champion. People acted different to me. I mean, the fans, everybody. It was like I stepped into a different dimension. And that’s what Roman would be doing if LA night does go over. So, I’m putting that out in the universe and I would love to see it because I think he deserves it so much.”
Page shared that he and Knight have had talks about getting to the pinnacle of professional wrestling. He likened it to his own conversations with Cody Rhodes when the “American Nightmare” was pursuing Reigns’ gold.
Rhodes failed to win it at WrestleMania 39 but came all the way back through a gauntlet of challengers to earn the title shot again and win it at WrestleMania 40.
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“Me and him have had talks, you know, and just, even getting there, you know, you don’t have to win it, but it’s gonna, if he doesn’t, it might even get him over more,” Page explained to OutKick Dropkick. “It’s kind of like with Cody and right over here at this table right here, when it’s him and Roman, and he has been, you know, led to believe that it’s your time. But then you start to hear the rumblings of maybe it’s not yet. And he came here and we sat down and had a couple of beers and I brought him a set and I looked at him and I go, ‘Is it really so bad if you don’t win this the first time?’ He goes, ‘I knew you were gonna say that.’ He goes, ‘No one said that.’ He goes, you say, I go, ‘Yes, because I know, like, the people love you, bro,’ and they love LA Knight, too. They love Roman too, but Roman can either reach down and pull him up or he keeps fighting, and he keeps fighting.”
Still, if Knight loses on Saturday, Page didn’t think it would hurt Knight either.
He, still, would love to see Knight win because he knows how hard it is to achieve an almost impossible goal in professional wrestling.
“I don’t think it hurts LA Knight either way,” he said. “I’d love to see it because I know, like me, it was, it’s a dream. It’s a dream that you dream about, you want so bad and you throw it in the universe and you just gotta stay positive and keep going. And I’ll tell you, boy, he has gotten himself so over with the people that you don’t know what’s gonna happen.
“And that’s the spot that I wanted in 1994 and I thought I was ready for it, but I wasn’t. I go out there and I don’t care who it is, you don’t know who’s gonna win. That’s where LA Knight is right now and so Roman, he’s been in that spot for a decade. You know, like Cena, he has carried the gauntlet. So, I’d love to see it.”
