Things haven’t always been smooth-sailing for “The Mega Star” during his rise to the top in WWE.
Not by a long shot.
During a recent appearance on the “INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet” podcast, LA Knight recalled a time where he felt like he was butting heads with Vince McMahon behind-the-scenes in WWE during his run as Max Dupri.
“Well, the problem is you look around the wrestling landscape,” Knight said. “And I even think to my past, and I’m like, man, I had so much freedom to kind of be me and do my thing. And now I’m doing whatever this stupid model thing is. I don’t know who this is or what this is but all right, well, I got a nice raise out of it. So at least I try and make this thing work. And so I’m sitting there and I’m trying to do it. And all praise to Mace and Mansoor because I mean, I even heard them kind of sharing the stories about how Vince (McMahon) was just — it was really weird. Because I was told not to talk like I did, nothing. ‘Don’t say any of the things you said, don’t talk the way you did.’ And I’m like, okay, I mean, what brought me to the dance is getting completely stripped from me.”
Knight continued, “But alright. I mean, at the same time, I kind of looked at it as a challenge. I’m frustrated by it but I’m also kind of like, okay, well, let’s see how we can do this. And then I mean, in short order, it was just like, this is crazy. And then he and I kind of felt like we were butting heads, but it was just like, he had a vision for this thing that puts such a microscope on it. And I didn’t know what the hell it was, but I was trying to figure it out. And it just was not going well. And I was very unhappy. And I’m sure he probably was and then at some point, it was just like, all of a sudden, I’m not on TV and I’m like, ‘Well, I’m pretty sure I’m fired. Pretty sure this whole ride is over.’ And at that point, I’m kind of looking at other options and what I can do and where I can go to kind of, you know, just keep my whole thing rolling. And, lo and behold, circumstances prevailed that kind of put me in the right spot where I could at least come back in a wrestling capacity, do my thing. And again, like I said, I don’t think there were great expectations thrust upon me. It was just, hey, here’s a guy who can handle himself. He’s a professional. He knows how to do his thing in the ring. And we can work with some guys, he can have some good programs. Well, surprise, surprise on your eyes, because things just got a little crazy after that.”
Check out the complete interview at ChrisVanVliet.com. H/T to POSTWrestling.com for transcribing the above quotes.
