Every Version Of LA Knight, Ranked Worst To Best

LA Knight has been doing some incredible work as of late, culminating in an Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match against Roman Reigns at Crown Jewel 2023. Despite losing, Knight has remained as popular as ever and a constant fixture at SmackDown events. While current-day LA Knight found the recipe to success and has become a merchandising machine for the WWE, what led him to where he is now?

Things Fans Should Known About WWE LA Knight

15 Things WWE Fans Should Know About LA Knight

Whether it be his in-ring career or achievements that LA Knight has made outside of the business, there is plenty to learn about WWE's latest star.

The man has a career spanning decades as he started working around 2003 in Heartland Wrestling Association before traveling to other promotions learning his craft. Basically, everywhere Knight went, he'd reinvent his character or make minor tweaks here and there to try and become more popular, of course, to varying degrees of success. Let's find every version of LA Knight and see where they rank against each other.

7 First Stint In WWE As Slate Randall

Never Found His Footing

Shaun Ricker's First WWE Gimmick.
Debuted Against Yoshi Tatsu.
Used As Enhancement Talent.

Before his work as Max Dupri or LA Knight in the WWE, Shaun Ricker had attempted to work for the promotion once before. This run would come as a character named Slate Randall and wasn't far off from the typical stuff Ricker does now. The character was a charismatic speaker, but that was all fans got to see, as Ricker was used as an enhancement talent during that time and never worked on television.

There are some promos that have been put online from tests that NXT would do. One of them shows off Slate's catchphrase, "You've been Slated". Ricker was released from his contract on August 1st, 2014 and the Slate Randall character has been gone since.

6 The Start Of His Career: Deuce/Dick Rick

Found In Heartland Wrestling Association

His Debut Match Was In May 2003.
Stayed In HWA Until Mid-2009.
Became HWA Television Champion.

The first character that Shaun Ricker would portray was that of Deuce during his time in the Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA). This came while Ricker was only 20 and barely starting his wrestling career. His debut was in May 2003 in a battle royal match where he lost to Ring of Honor legend, Nigel McGuinness.

Deuce went on to have numerous matches with the promotion as he stayed with HWA until the summer of 2009. The name Deuce stuck for a short while before keeping the character relatively the same, but now under the name Dick Rick. One of his biggest matches in HWA was a Last Man Standing match against Jon Moxley in late 2008.

5 WWE Main Roster Call Up As Max Dupri

A Complete Change From NXT

Created The Maximum Male Models Group.
Introduced Fans To His (Storyline) Sister, Maxxine Dupri.
Lasted Only A Few Months.

After returning to WWE in early 2021, Ricker was placed on the NXT brand where he had a decent run, but was saddled with a complete character change once he was called up to the main roster. This change came in the form of Max Dupri, the manager of the Maximum Male Models stable with Mace and Mansoor.

The character gave audiences a few funny moments, as Ricker can do, but didn't do much for the star. The gimmick only lasted a few months before he reverted to being LA Knight and his storyline sister Maxxine took over the stable for its remaining days.

4 First Real Taste Of Stardom As Shaun Ricker

Came With An Odd Manager Pairing

Managed By Percy Pringle (Paul Bearer).
Teamed With Brian Cage As The Natural Selection.
Held The NWA Heritage Tag Team Titles.

After his time with Heartland Wrestling Association came to an end, Ricker started wrestling under his real name and joined NWA Championship Wrestling From Hollywood. This became the first big break that Ricker received as he was finally getting decent exposure online due to his work with Percy Pringle, known as Paul Bearer. The two were partnered together on-screen and Ricker has said how much Percy taught him and helped him as a wrestler.

10 Best Quotes Of LA Knight's Career

LA Knight is one of the most charismatic WWE wrestlers in recent years. Here are some of his most famous quotes.

His first taste of success in this promotion was when he captured the NWA Heritage Tag Team Championships alongside a very young Brian Cage. The two held the titles for over 200 days and saw Ricker become a top talent for the promotion, leading to matches against names like Adam Pearce and Scorpio Sky.

3 Impact World Champion Eli Drake

First Shot With A World Title

Held Multiple Championships During This Run.
Created The Fact Of Life Segments.
Worked With Impact From 2015-2019.

Shaun Ricker started to become a much bigger name once he arrived in Impact Wrestling, now under the name Eli Drake. Drake quickly started earning big opportunities, such as when he won the Bound For Gold Gauntlet at Bound for Glory in 2016 and challenged TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Eddie Edwards.

By the time his work with Impact was finished, Drake held the King of the Mountain, World Tag Team, World Championship, and many more accolades.

2 National Wrestling Alliance Showed More Eli Drake

Mostly Worked On The Mic

Only Had A Handful Of Matches.
Became NWA Tag Team Champions With James Storm.
Stayed With NWA For A Little Over A Year.

Eli Drake departed Impact Wrestling due to a few issues with his booking and quickly joined the National Wrestling Alliance when he teamed with Nick Aldis at Ring of Honor's Best in the World event in 2019. Drake's time in NWA wasn't anything special as he only wrestled a handful of matches and was mostly used for promos.

His time with the promotion did see him become the NWA World Tag Team Champions alongside James Storm, a title he'd hold until his final match with the company. His departure was odd as he signed a new contract and then was quietly released just a few months later. It was for the best as he would join the WWE once again and start his path to becoming one of the most popular wrestlers in the promotion.

1 The Most Popular Guy In WWE, LA Knight

Everybody's Saying LA Knight YEAH!

Held The Million Dollar Championship In NXT.
Became One Of The Best Selling In Terms Of Merchandise.
Main Evented Crown Jewel 2023 Against Roman Reigns.

The first part of LA Knight's run in the WWE started on NXT, where he was a heel and worked with the Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase. The partnership between them saw the revival of the Million Dollar Championship, a belt that Knight won against Cameron Grimes at NXT TakeOver: In Your House.

LA Knight & 8 Other WWE Wrestlers Fans Randomly Started Supporting

Fans randomly started chanting LA Knight and these other WWE wrestlers from out of nowhere.

As mentioned earlier, Knight then created the Maximum Male Models stable but soon reverted to being LA Knight and kicked off a feud against Bray Wyatt. Knight would be Wyatt's final opponent before his very untimely passing when they faced off at the 2023 Royal Rumble. Afterward, Knight started to become more popular than ever before and would get a chance to main event his first Premium Live Event when he faced off against Roman Reigns at Crown Jewel 2023.