AEW star gives himself a new nickname after huge win over Hurt Syndicate member

One of AEW's recent signings just achieved a major victory over a member of The Hurt Syndicate on Collision. The star referred to here, Kevin Knight, now seemingly wants to adopt the moniker of 'Gold Standard,' which belongs to his rival, Shelton Benjamin.

Kevin Knight and "Speedball" Mike Bailey have been at odds with The Hurt Syndicate for several weeks now. The duo threw hands with Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley this past Wednesday, but they couldn't gain the upper hand in the fight. Despite being planted by the reigning AEW World Tag Team Champions, Knight defiantly challenged The Standard of Excellence to a bout on Collision.

However, another competitor was added to the mix—Nick Wayne, whose mentor, Christian Cage, recently expressed interest in holding the tag team titles with his 'son.' The Prodigy faced Benjamin and Knight on the 100th episode of AEW Collision this weekend. Despite Nick's best efforts, it was Kevin who emerged victorious in the three-way by pinning Shelton.

Shortly after picking up a major win over the former WWE Superstar, Kevin Knight took to X/Twitter to celebrate by claiming Shelton Benjamin's former nickname, Gold Standard, and writing:

Breaking Vince Russo and Jim Cornette update HERE.

"Call me The New Gold standard [smiling face in sunglasses emoji]," posted Kevin.

Check out Kevin Knight's tweet below:

Expand Tweet

It remains to be seen whether Benjamin and Lashley will agree to defend their belts against JetSpeed and The Patriarchy at All In: Texas.

AEW's Kevin Knight on rejecting a WWE tryout

Kevin Knight signed a contract with AEW earlier this year after making his official singles debut against Jay White on Collision. Subsequent reports claimed that the high-flying rising star had also received interest from WWE but ultimately declined a tryout with for sports entertainment juggernaut, choosing to go All Elite instead.

During his interview with RJ City on AEW Hey! (EW) sometime earlier, Knight confirmed that he did indeed reject a tryout with WWE at the company's performance center and also hinted at the motivation behind his rejection.

"What was the declining phone call?" RJ asked. "The declining phone call? I don't need this, this ain't my job, you know what I'm saying? Just like that, quoted," Knight said. [9:51 - 10:07]

It remains to be seen if the 28-year-old star will have his first taste of All Elite Wrestling gold at All In: Texas.

About the author

Anurag is an AEW writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling. He holds a BA and MA degree in English along with a TEFL certification to teach English. Before Sportskeeda, he worked as a Content and Correspondence writer at Nayabad Titas, a theater group. He has also worked as a English language tutor.

To ensure complete accuracy, he uses internet resources, social media platforms, and especially pieces composed by his peers to find solid, verified information that he presents as objectively as possible. Thanks to his academic background, he can research different subjects thoroughly.

Anurag's interest in wrestling began as a child. He watched RAW and Smackdown frequently from age 10 or 11 and was officially hooked by the YES Movement story in WWE heading into WrestleMania 30.

As a lifelong wrestling fan and lover of stories, Anurag would read news, articles, and other content about the talent and events he enjoyed watching. His understanding of the business continued to grow with time, and his interest in the art and sport of wrestling led him to pursue a career as a writer.

Apart from writing, he loves to read books, watch movies and television programs, play and listen to music, and write poetry and fiction.

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Edited by Anurag Mukherjee