LA Knight is set to take on his rival Roman Reigns at WWE Money in the Bank at the Smoothie King Arena on Saturday, October 10th at 6 PM. Where Y'at caught up with LA Knight ahead of the big match to ask him about this chance to take the World Heavyweight Championship belt from Roman Reigns.
WYAT: Are you going to change your name to Louisiana Knight for this match in New Orleans?
LA Knight: I have a feeling there's going to be a bunch of signs out there already saying that thanks to our troops. I think the city's going to christen me that.
WYAT: Are you letting the party atmosphere and rich food get to you, or are you staying healthy?
LA Knight: So far so good. Last night when I got to the hotel bar, I only had water, but I had jambalaya with that. I know for sure I'm going to be dialed in going into Saturday.
WYAT: Would you say this is the biggest match of your career so far?
LA Knight: I guess it has to be especially with the stakes on the line. This might be my third world championship match ever, if I can recall correctly. Maybe four because there was a four-man I was in. With that being the case, this is the first time I've had Roman Reigns one-on-one presumably with no Bloodline. In a lot of ways, it feels like do or die.
WYAT: Are you concerned about any interference or sabotage attempts by the Bloodline or 946 factions?
LA Knight: I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. He's done it on his own at Summer Slam, Wrestlemania, the two matches with Jacob Fatu. At the same time, it's something I've always got to consider. There's not really a way to prepare for that other than always be on the lookout, but that's putting me in a power position because I'm used to that. I'm used to doing that whether it's with Seth Rollins, or Roman Reigns before, and now with the 946 gunning for everybody. Technically, they've probably got their crosshairs on me, they've got their crosshairs on Roman. With that being the case, we're both having to look over our shoulders. I'm used to that. Roman's not. Roman's used to being the guy sending the distractions out, but now he's getting distracted as well. So if you ask me, that puts me in the upper hand because I'm used to it.
WYAT: What are your personal feelings about your opponent? Does he need to be taken down a peg?
LA Knight: I'm not too worried about taking anyone down a peg so much as I'm worried about me. And for me, it's about getting that World Heavyweight Championship. If that means take a little something off Roman Reigns, that's fine. I can respect everything that Roman's done. He's done an amazing job; you could honestly say he transcends the business. He's out there doing movies, this, that, and whatever.
But at the same time you're looking at a guy who was brought in, and basically handed a silver spoon from the day he walked in the door. And then you look at an LA Knight, a guy who was barely handed a hot dog and a handshake. From where I came to now standing here looking him straight in his eye…I've got all the respect in the world for what he's been able to maintain with what he's been given. But he's been given a lot, and all he's had to do was maintain it. I had to climb a damn mountain to look him right in his eyes. With that being the case, I don't think he can touch me.
WYAT: Do you think that old-school wrestling versus new-school wrestling, personality, and ego have anything to do with this match?
LA Knight: To me, there's certain parts of the business that are evergreen. For me, there's a lot of guys that are completely new school and some guys are completely old school. I think I'm one of the few guys that's the past, present, and future. In that regard, you could ultimately say that all of those elements are going to come into play. When Roman comes out, he takes ten minutes to walk to the ring, he moves about 3 miles per hour during the match until it's time to pick it up a little bit. For me, I'm always forward motion. Always in motion, always moving forward. We're going to have a lot of different combustible elements.
WYAT: What are you going to do if you win?
LA Knight: With me winning my first championship, I'll have to force myself to enjoy it because I'm not very good at being able to take that moment and go, 'Oh my God, you did it!,' because I'm so used to fighting. I'm so used to pushing against an immovable object and against forces that don't want me to succeed, don't want me to progress. That being the case, it is unfamiliar territory to me to even consider celebrating the championship, but if that goes down, you can bet that will be a major, major moment in my life and my career.
WYAT: If you could wrestle any wrestler past or present, who would it be?
LA Knight: It could be Flair, it could be Austin, it could be Rock…maybe even Shawn Michaels. Triple H would probably be a good heel for me. I don't know if I could narrow it down to one. Even Jake the Snake or Roddy Piper. I would have loved to have tangled against John Cena at some point.
WYAT: Is there anything else you'd like to say to the people of New Orleans?
LA Knight: Get out here! You're talking about one of the biggest shows of the year. The storm has moved to the east, and the only thing that's going to be blowing the roof off this place is Money in the Bank. That's what I'm looking forward to doing, and I'm looking forward to being the new World Heavyweight Champion for the first time in my career. The city of New Orleans and the whole world is going to witness it.
