LA Knight pitches major champion vs. champion match for upcoming WWE PLE
WWE is gearing up for two major champion vs. champion matches at Crown Jewel next month. LA Knight is WWE's current United States Champion, but he has his eye on much more prestigious championship gold. A few potential major matches for the former Eli Drake have been suggested ahead of WrestleMania Season.
The Megastar is approaching the three-month mark of his first United States Championship reign after dethroning Logan Paul at WWE SummerSlam. Since then, Knight has had successful televised title defenses over Santos Escobar, Ludwig Kaiser, Andrade, and Carmelo Hayes. The 41-year-old is joined in the exclusive group of WWE men's division title holders by Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes, World Heavyweight Champion Gunther, and Intercontinental Champion Bron Breakker.
Knight is looking ahead to WrestleMania 41 in April but is especially interested in working at The Grandest Stage of Them All against The American Nightmare, The Ring General, or John Cena. Speaking to Beef Vegan on Rock 102.1 in Tucson, Knight was asked how he would fantasy book his WrestleMania Vegas storyline.
"Man, there’s so many different ways you can go. I mean, I look at the fact that WrestleMania’s gonna be John Cena’s last WrestleMania. Could it be me against John Cena for that United States Championship? I don’t know. Will I even be the United States Champion by then? It could be. If I was gonna fantasy book, I would probably do a title vs. title, me vs. Cody, or maybe even me vs. Gunther. I’m looking for the champions. I want the world championship, I want the WWE Championship, and so for me, again, it’s always that progression," LA Knight said.
Knight continued:
"Let’s continue moving up, let’s continue moving forward. I think we could do some special things, whether it was with Cena, whether it was with Gunther, or whether it was with Cody. Then again, the crazy thing about this career so far though, especially since being in WWE, it’s just that there are things that I haven’t even thought about or didn’t even know existed as options for me, that have presented themselves... You never know, especially between now and April, anything could happen," LA Knight said. [H/T - Fightful]
Knight has lost twice to Gunther, including their NXT Stand & Deliver 2022 match. He's lost three times to Cody, which includes their March 2023 RAW match. Cena served as special referee for Knight's Payback 2023 win over The Miz, then Cena and LA teamed up to defeat Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa at Fastlane.
LA Knight to defend US Title at WWE Crown Jewel
LA Knight is set to make his fourth televised defense of the WWE United States Championship. Knight was confirmed for the big Crown Jewel Premium Live Event on this week's SmackDown.
The Megastar served as special referee for the Best of Seven Finale between Carmelo Hayes and Andrade but stopped the match at eleven minutes after dropping both participants with the BFT.
Knight then declared himself champion but an angry Nick Aldis later booked a Triple-Threat bout for the title at Crown Jewel. Below is the updated lineup with two more matches also confirmed - Orton vs. Owens, and a Fatal-Four Way for the Women's Tag Team Championship:
- Seth Rollins vs. Bronson Reed
- Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens
- Women's Tag Team Championship Fatal-Four Way: Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair (c) vs. Chelsea Green and Piper Niven vs. Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson vs. Kairi Sane and IYO SKY
- United States Championship Triple-Threat: LA Knight (c) vs. Andrade vs. Carmelo Hayes
- Inaugural Women's Crown Jewel Champion Match: Women's World Champion Liv Morgan vs. Women's Champion Nia Jax
- Inaugural Crown Jewel Champion Match: World Heavyweight Champion Gunther vs. Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes
WWE will present its sixth Crown Jewel PLE on Saturday, November 2 at 1 PM ET, from Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. WWE will return to the arena on Sunday to tape the RAW episode that will air the following day, Monday, November 4.