Bully Ray is worried about the future of this top WWE Superstar.
It’s been a rough week for WWE Superstar LA Knight. Between tapping out to Gunther Friday night on SmackDown in the finals of the Last Time Is Now Tournament to seemingly being written off television following a vicious backstage attack from The Vision on RAW, the position of the “Mega Star” very much appears to be on shaky ground.
On a recent episode of Busted Open Radio, WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray spoke about what went down with LA Knight on SmackDown, stating the company failed to protect Knight in the finish against Gunther.
“Maybe we should protect LA Knight in the finish, which they did not,” Bully Ray said. “I was very torn by the actual finish. LA Knight tapped out. Now here’s why I was pissed. You could have pinned him. You didn’t do that. Or you could have had him pass out to the move, ala Steve Austin in a Sharpshooter against Bret Hart. And that got Steve over to the moon, because they said he did not tap out. He would not give up, but that’s not what they chose to do with LA Knight.”
LA Knight tapped out instead of passing out
“LA Knight tapped, our babyface tapped. And I know there’s no shame in tapping, but I’d rather you pass out to the pain than tap out any day of the week. There was no protection of LA Knight there. This was all about the the actual hold, the actual finish, and what Gunther has in store for John Cena. [It was] all about the story on Saturday Night’s Main Event.
“So this is where I was not so pissed. I was happy, because I was like, alright, they are planting a major seed here to tell me that rear cravat, or whatever Gunther is calling it, is going to come back into play at Saturday Night’s Main Event, and when he hooks it on Cena, that is going to be a major moment of the match where people are emotionally invested and begging for John Cena to crawl to the ropes.”
Bully Ray is worried about what’s next for the LA Knight character
Bully Ray would go on to admit he’s not sure there’s a reason for fans to continue to be on board with LA Knight and believes it’s time we see a different side of the WWE Superstar.
“So we’ve been talking about LA Knight for a long time now, all of the LA Knight supporters out there get really pissed off when we’re brutally honest about everything that we see,” Bully Ray said. “And nothing is meant disrespectful to LA Knight. We’re talking about a character and a performance in sports entertainment.
“Do you have any hope for LA Knight at this point? What does he do? Where does that character go? As a fan, with the ups and downs of LA Knight, why should you be on board with him? I’m gonna answer the question for you, I don’t think you should be. I think it’s time for a different side of LA Knight.”
Midcard obscurity for LA Knight?
Bully Ray attempts to pitch the idea of a heel turn for LA Knight, where he would eventually be revealed as the masked man from Survivor Series. Ray fears that if they don’t do something with Knight quickly, he could fade into midcard obscurity.
“But I have an idea of the exact direction LA Knight should go in,” Bully Ray said. “What if LA Knight was the guy underneath the hood and climbed the cage and kicked CM Punk in the face? I’m trying to find something for this guy. You just tapped. Tough babyface, one-half Steve Austin, one-half The Rock, and you tapped.
“You ever seen Rock tap? Maybe he did once as a heel, maybe he tapped to Benoit or Angle or something. Maybe. But he did it as a heel. As a babyface you ever see The Rock tap? You ever see Stone Cold babyface tap? The only reason I’m using these two guys is that who LA Knight is a mixture of, and you tapped. The character tapped.
“What’s next? Something completely in a different direction. You need to do something, and you need to do something quick. Otherwise, he’s going to kind of fade into midcard obscurity. When a wrestler has to rely on a tagline in the middle of a match, a huge match, a championship-esque level match, you’ve got to rely on that tagline; there’s something wrong.”
Bully Ray’s fantasy booking won’t work for LA Knight
While a heel turn could be in LA Knight’s future in 2026, it certainly can’t be as the masked man from Survivor Series.
With The Vision destroying Knight and writing him off television this week on RAW, his assisting that faction would make absolutely no sense.
WWE needs to do something with Knight before his passionate fanbase loses interest, but it appears that time is running out.
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What do you make of Bully Ray’s overall comments? Are you worried that LA Knight could basically be headed towards midcard obscurity in WWE? Let us know your overall thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of these quotes, please credit Busted Open with a link to this article for the transcription.
