Bully Ray and Dave LaGreca believe WWE may have reached the point where it can no longer ignore LA Knight’s popularity.
During a recent edition of Busted Open, the two discussed a potential post-SummerSlam scenario in which Seth Rollins defeats Roman Reigns to capture the World Heavyweight Championship. While Bully Ray believes Rollins should win the title, both hosts agreed that LA Knight should be next in line. “You’ve heard me say for 10 years, wins and losses don’t matter, except when a win or a loss matters, and I think a win for Seth Rollins at SummerSlam really matters,” Bully Ray said.
LaGreca believes the ideal follow-up would be an immediate championship program between Rollins and Knight, predicting the WWE Universe would overwhelmingly rally behind Knight. “If Seth Rollins wins this championship and his first program or his first match is with LA Knight, the WWE universe is going to be 100% behind LA Knight, and there’s no doubt in my mind,” LaGreca said.
Bully Ray agreed, suggesting WWE may already be positioning Knight for that opportunity. “I would not be shocked to see them use Seth Rollins as your champion to get LA Knight over,” Bully Ray said. “I think LA Knight has the best chance of succeeding chasing Seth Rollins.”
He even outlined how he would book Knight’s first challenge. “I like the idea of having him challenge Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship. Let’s start from square one,” Bully Ray said. “You could have Seth Rollins go out there. I’m gonna be a fighting champion. I’m the first one who had this championship. I was the workhorse. I made this championship. I’m a revolutionary. Whatever it is, you know. And whoever wants the first shot, you got it. LA Knight’s music. Square one.”
LaGreca had little doubt how fans would respond. “The place would go f*cking insane,” LaGreca said. “The Monday Night Raw right after SummerSlam. You have Seth Rollins cutting that promo and LA Knight’s music hits.”
Both hosts pointed to the audience reaction as evidence that Knight is ready for a main event push. “He is now getting the biggest responses in arenas and on shows than anybody else,” LaGreca said. “This is the first time, seriously, since LA Knight has been on the main roster, where I was like, I can see him having a world heavyweight championship around his waist.”
Bully Ray compared Knight’s momentum to Daniel Bryan’s rise over a decade ago. “We’ve seen this happen before in the WWE, where fans are behind a certain talent, but it’s obvious the talent is not reaching the level of success that the fans would like to see them reach, thus they start cheering louder. The Daniel Bryan effect,” Bully Ray said. “Maybe that’s what we’re going to see with LA Knight.”
LaGreca agreed, saying the fanbase appears ready for something different. “The only thing I can compare it to is Daniel Bryan, where the fans are like, enough, we’ve had enough of this. Now we want this guy,” LaGreca said. “The fans have had enough with the same old, same old. They want something new. I think the answer is LA Knight.”
While praising Knight, Bully Ray acknowledged that the veteran has experienced several stalled pushes throughout his career. “LA Knight’s been around a long time in this industry, and he’s always gotten just so far,” Bully Ray said. “He has to be a common denominator in why he’s just gotten so far.”
LaGreca disagreed with the idea that criticism from Triple H on WWE: Unreal reflected a lack of confidence. “I kind of compare that to a coach chewing out a player on the sidelines,” LaGreca said. “Certain coaches know that if I chew this player out, he’s going to step up and he’s going to show me more.”
Bully Ray also suggested WWE may have been reluctant to fully commit because of occasional mistakes during live performances. “I think WWE has been skittish because something always happens with LA Knight out there that makes people go, either he fumbles a line, or he trips on a rope, or something happens at a very inopportune time,” Bully Ray said. “You know, Steve Austin wasn’t the most graceful guy out there either. Let’s get behind him. Let’s give this three months of storytelling.”
Ultimately, Bully Ray believes WWE should stop hesitating and give Knight a genuine opportunity to prove he belongs at the top of the card. “Let’s give him another go at it. Let’s see what we really got here. Let’s really get behind him on this one. Let’s really write for him. Let’s really put him in scenarios to succeed,” Bully Ray said. “If creative gets behind this guy, the way the crowd has been reacting to him, I think they’ll have something positive on their hands.”
Knight is currently scheduled to compete in a six-man tag team match at SummerSlam, which takes place across August 1 and 2 in Minneapolis. Bully Ray believes the event could be the beginning of Knight’s next major push. “LA Knight would be very fresh and very new, despite the fact that he’s been around for a while in the WWE,” Bully Ray said.
