LA Knight remembers a WWE creative pitch for a ring name he didn’t like.
Appearing on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet, the former WWE United States Champion reiterated the importance of having a simple ring name in professional wrestling before recalling how WWE creative once pitched “LA Donovan” to him.
“Not necessarily, but I also know that in this business, you want a simple name. I won’t stay on this too long, but they pitched LA Donovan at one point, and I was like, ‘Yeah, blah. That’s awful. No. That’s so awful and terrible, and I feel like it pigeonholes me. It’s s**t. I’m forever a douche. I can’t do that.’
“You want a simple name. What do you do with LA Donovan? So, yeah, finally we settled on LA Knight.”
While LA Knight avoided the LA Donovan name, he ultimately debuted on WWE’s main roster as Max Dupri under Vince McMahon’s creative direction. As the manager of the Maximum Male Models stable, Knight was paired with Mace, Mansoor, and Maxxine Dupri in a fashion-focused gimmick that differed significantly from the hard-talking persona that had made him popular in NXT.
Reports at the time suggested that Knight was not particularly fond of the creative direction, and many fans also voiced their dissatisfaction with the character. The gimmick proved to be short-lived, as Triple H restored Knight to his LA Knight persona shortly after taking over WWE creative in 2022. The move ultimately paid off, with Knight going on to become one of WWE’s most popular stars and later capturing the United States Championship.
READ MORE: LA Knight and AJ Styles Were Reprimanded by WWE After Unplanned WrestleMania Brawl
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