Wrestling world reacts to WWE changing LA Knight's name on SmackDown

It seems like LA Knight wasn't safe regarding WWE's recent barrage of name changes.

During his time in the indie, he went by Eli Drake, even using his real name Shaun Ricker at some point in his career. Following his signing with WWE in 2021, that was changed to LA Knight.

During this week's episode of SmackDown, Knight appeared during a backstage segment. However, he now bears the new name 'Max Dupri' as the CEO of Maximum Male Models.

Following the segment and announcement of his new name, fans started reacting on social media. Check out some of the tweets here:

This isn't the first time WWE has arranged a name change for their talents. Some examples are Butch (FKA Pete Dunne), Gunther (WALTER), Ludwig Kaiser (Marcel Barthel), among others. Most recently, Austin Theory and Tommaso Ciampa dropped their first names only to be known as Theory and Ciampa.

What was LA Knight up to before becoming Max Dupri?

Though the former IMPACT star debuted on NXT in February 2021 as a heel, Dupri initially appeared in WWE back in 2013 but was released in the following year.

His second coming in NXT has proven to be more fruitful. Max found himself in a feud with the likes of Cameron Grimes, Joe Gacy, Drake Maverick, Johnny Gargano, and Dolph Ziggler. He also challenged for the NXT North American Championship but was lost.

Dupri's efforts haven't gone to waste since he captured the Million Dollar Championship in a ladder match during NXT Takeover: In Your House. His last match in the developmental brand was against Gunther in March 2022.

His first introduction to the main roster was in a backstage segment, where he appeared with Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode as a member of The Dirty Dawgs. Dupri then made his official debut on SmackDown in a dark segment as a villainous manager for Knight Model Management.

With the changed name and persona, it will be interesting to see how LA Knight's new character will go forth in the show.