"Wait, what is this?" – SmackDown star comments on Vince McMahon dramatically changing his WWE name
Prior to his retirement from WWE in July, one of Vince McMahon's final creative decisions saw him change NXT star LA Knight's ring name to Max Dupri.
Knight made his official WWE main roster debut on SmackDown on May 20th as a self-obsessed male model manager, in what was a complete overhaul of the character he crafted in WWE's third brand, NXT.
During a recent interview with Yahoo Entertainment, LA Knight, who has since got his original name back, was asked how it felt to be given a new gimmick when he arrived on the main roster.
"So now here comes this other character being introduced and so for those people, it was like, ‘Wait, what is this?’. But when you look at the numbers of a SmackDown audience, for a large swath of those people, they are seeing me for the first time. So I could’ve been Joe Shmoe for all it matters."
He went on to elaborate:
"In a strange sense, that would have actually worked just because three quarters of that audience is seeing me for the first time regardless of who I am. At the same time though, I think there is a matter of the shoe fitting and not. I will make any [character] work, but when it comes down to it, there was one that was way more ‘me’ than the other one." (H/T Yahoo Entertainment)
After running into travel complications in Europe, @MaxDupri couldn't make it to #SmackDown.
So NEXT WEEK we will find out who is the new client of Maximum Male Models! https://t.co/0fAg4rCgfq
It is fair to say that fans are not missing Max Dupri, as his LA Knight character is one of the most prolific and entertaining superstars that WWE has on the microphone.
Is Vince McMahon returning to WWE?
Despite the product seemingly improving since he left in July, reports have indicated that the 77-year-old wants to return to the company.
Debunking this notion was Sean Ross Sapp from Fightful, who recently tweeted that many WWE higher-ups are not keen on a Vince McMahon return.
"Numerous WWE higher ups that I've spoken to in recent months have indicated to us they want nothing to do with that and are happy with the direction. I haven't heard one person there itching for a Vince return."
Numerous WWE higher ups that I've spoken to in recent months have indicated to us they want nothing to do with that and are happy with the direction.
I haven't heard one person there itching for a Vince return. twitter.com/rebeccaballhau…
Since Vince McMahon retired, the creative duties of both Monday Night RAW and Friday Night SmackDown have fallen on the shoulders of his more than capable son-in-law, Triple H.
How would you feel if Vince McMahon returned to WWE? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.