LA Knight reveals why he refused to return to WWE after his release

LA Knight recently disclosed why he refused to return to WWE nearly a year after his release in 2014.

Nearly a decade ago, LA Knight had a short stint in the Stamford-based company. He signed a developmental contract in 2013 and spent about a year in the Performance Center before being released from his contract in August 2014. A year later, the promotion wanted to re-sign the 40-year-old former IMPACT World Champion. However, he turned down the offer.

In a recent interview with Sporting News, LA Knight explained how pay-related issues influenced his decision not to return to WWE after his initial release.

"The issue was I was making more money where I was now at the time than they [WWE] were offering me to come back. Now, there's a game here to where I was [sic] was paying me great money, but I was close to the ceiling there. I was getting offered way less over here, but the ceiling is way higher on this one. But I wasn't ready to take that bet yet because I've been broke for ten years, all through my 20s. Like, didn't have a bank account for most of that time. Like, didn't have a car for some of that time. Like, was getting eviction notices for a lot of that time."

The SmackDown star added:

"That kinda stuff sits there, and I'm like, 'All right, they're giving me great money here. I'm gonna take this for at least a couple [of] years.' We kinda went back and forth for a couple [of] years. I'm expecting I'm gonna get more money from this offer, no. So, I stay. Eventually, when the time was right, I felt like I was pretty comfortable in a financial situation, it was, 'All right, well, now I can take that bet on myself, take less money for now on the bet, knowing that hey, I can have myself set up financially much better in the future when things work out.' So, yeah, eventually, I made the move, and here we are." [4:39 - 5:51]

LA Knight revealed the real reason why WWE fired him in 2014. Check out his comments here.

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LA Knight wants to become the top guy in WWE

After returning to the Stamford-based company in 2021, LA Knight spent about a year in NXT, during which time he held the Million Dollar Championship. In May 2022, the 40-year-old made his main roster debut. He has since been an active competitor on SmackDown.

In a recent interview with Cheap Heat, LA Knight spoke about his ambitions in WWE, disclosing that he wants to become the top guy in the company.

"Now, what would I like to be? I wanna be the guy who's at the top of this deal. I wanna be the guy who is running around with that Universal Championship, the World Heavyweight Championship, whatever it is, to the point where people are like, 'All right, that's the guy. All right, that's the guy who also now we're gonna consider is he one of the best of all time? I don't know.' And maybe that's ambitious, and people look at me and be like, 'Oh, this guy's out of his mind. He thinks he's that good.' Yeah, I do. Otherwise, I wouldn't be doing this."

LA Knight is "an absolute rip off of The Rock," says former WWE Champion. Check out the details here.

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