Randy Orton has "high hopes" for popular WWE Star on Friday Night SmackDown
Randy Orton's WWE career is hard to replicate as very few superstars have come close to what The Viper has done over the past two decades. Recently, Orton heavily praised a popular star and expressed high hopes for them on the blue brand.
In 2022, LA Knight was reborn on WWE's main roster under Triple H's regime after he spent months on Friday Night SmackDown as Maximum Male Models' Max Dupri. He eventually rose to the top and became one of the most popular stars of the brand.
Many thought Knight was done after his encounter with Roman Reigns in Saudi Arabia. However, The Megastar punched his ticket to Royal Rumble for another shot at the title. Speaking on WWE's The Bump, Randy Orton praised LA Knight's work over the past few months on the blue brand.
"Too early to tell, but I have high hopes. I would love to see him happy and able to do whatever his goals are. I would love to see him fulfill those goals as long as those don't get in my way. I'm fine with him doing his thing. I've seen so many guys come up, get hot, and then putter out. I'm not saying that's him, as a matter of fact, he's one of a kind. He's got something different. The fans, I don't think I've ever seen the fans just take to somebody they didn't really know so quickly." (From 33:55 to 34:45)
LA Knight thought WWE would release him after working on Friday Night SmackDown
LA Knight's WWE journey was filled with ups and downs when he joined the main roster as a manager instead of an in-ring performer. He paired up with the Maximum Male Models for months, which went nowhere.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Knight revealed that he thought Vince McMahon would fire him after his work with the stable on the blue brand.
"It [the Max Dupri character] just was not going well. And I was very unhappy. And I'm sure he [Vince McMahon] probably was and then at some point, it was just like, all of a sudden, I'm not on TV and I'm like, well, I'm pretty sure I'm fired. Pretty sure this whole ride is over. And at that point, I'm kind of looking at other options and what I can do and where I can go to kind of, you know, just keep my whole thing rolling."
Knight is set to face Roman Reigns at WWE Royal Rumble 2024 in a Fatal-4-Way match, which also includes Randy Orton and AJ Styles.
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