I was on Brooklyn Nine-Nine before The Rock humiliated me on TV flop – now I fight his cousin
LA Knight has been on a collision course with The Rock for over a decade, but he’ll have to settle for his ‘cousin’ at WrestleMania 41. The 42-year-old will defend his United States Championship at the Show of Shows against Jacob Fatu, who belongs to the same famous wrestling Anoa’i family as Dwayne Johnson. Fatu is the non-blood-related second cousin once removed of The RockGetty Knight is one of WWE’s most charismatic characters among the current crop of stars and exudes star power on the microphone. His skills have drawn heavy comparisons to The Rock from fans online, a link he won’t be too fond of considering their history together. During an exclusive interview with talkSPORT that took place in 2023, Knight discussed the links between himself, the People’s Champion, and Stone Cold Steve Austin. He said: “I’ve heard both of those – I don’t care. “If anybody wants to put my name in with those guys, that’s cool because that’s a hell of an elevation right there. “But beyond that, my motives are to move above and beyond both of those guys. “So with all the respect in the world to both of them, I am influenced by both of them, those are the guys that I cut my teeth on in a certain sense when I was in high school, and those were the guys. “Also heavy influences you’re looking at [Roddy] Piper, [Hulk] Hogan, [Ric] Flair, Jake the Snake [Roberts], all these guys and other pop culture influences… actors, musical artists, all these kinds of things are influenced in here – you’ve never once heard me steal somebody’s phrases, dress like somebody. “Although some people go, ‘Ah, he’s got the Austin vest’, by the way, if you look at that vest that I wear, it’s actually modelled after Brad Pillman.” Knight – real name Shaun Ricker – suffered a long road to join the ranks of WWE’s elite with a lengthy stint on the independent scene. Knight had a small role on an episode of Brooklyn Nine-NineNetflix Knight – right – appeared in a scene with Hollywood actor Terry CrewsNetflix During this time, he also boosted his coffers with numerous roles across media and television, from adverts for Aldi to the fourth season of GLOW, which ironically was later scrapped by Netflix, where WWE currently calls home. Most memorably, Knight starred alongside Terry Crews as bodybuilder Mario in a season two episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Since reverting to his WWE character, LA Knight, from Maximum Male Model’s talent agent Max Dupri in 2022, he has excelled. He captured his first singles title at SummerSlam last year after beating Logan Paul and is now in a high-profile match at Mania 41. Knight told us in 2023 on being WWE’s ‘Michael Jordan’: “It’s at a crazy fever pitch when I walk out there, but look man, there’s something different where this isn’t supposed to be happening. “I was never the guy who was supposed to be in that position, and people talk about, ‘he needs the push, he needs the rocket strapped to him’ – I strapped the rocket to myself! Stone Cold Steve Austin versus The Rock was a staple part of the 90s Attitude EraWWE Rock started his rise to become the biggest star in the world at the turn of the centuryAFP “I’ve given myself the push at this point, so it doesn’t make a difference to me, I’m going to go out there and do my thing, and everybody all around the world seems to be getting on the gravy train.” Knight’s showdown with Fatu at WrestleMania has been billed as his biggest test yet, and certainly is the first step on a possible journey that could end up with gatecrashing the main-event scene. That would put him on a path with Rock, who has been pulling the strings at the top using another of his ‘cousins’, Roman Reigns. It would act as the perfect culmination for Knight, having once been a contestant in Rocky’s short-lived 2013 reality TV show, The Hero. Jacob Fatu heads into WrestleMania 41 as the challenger for Knight’s US titleGetty View Tweet: https://t.co/EPaGAelsLh The former Million Dollar Champion, appearing under his real name, won $35,000 but only lasted two episodes of the competitive action series that was cancelled after a single season. His most haunting moment on the show saw him fall victim to Rock’s ‘It Doesn’t Matter’ catchphrase – something Knight hadn’t forgotten about over a decade later. Asked by talkSPORT in 2023 whether he’d relish the chance to go toe-to-toe with The Rock on the microphone, Knight replied: “If that happens, then we gotta do something physical right? “I don’t mind dropping the Rock on his head! “I owe him one from about ten years ago when he hit me with ‘It Doesn’t Matter’ ten years ago, so I owe him a little something.”
LA Knight has been on a collision course with The Rock for over a decade, but he’ll have to settle for his ‘cousin’ at WrestleMania 41.
The 42-year-old will defend his United States Championship at the Show of Shows against Jacob Fatu, who belongs to the same famous wrestling Anoa’i family as Dwayne Johnson.
Knight is one of WWE’s most charismatic characters among the current crop of stars and exudes star power on the microphone.
His skills have drawn heavy comparisons to The Rock from fans online, a link he won’t be too fond of considering their history together.
During an exclusive interview with talkSPORT that took place in 2023, Knight discussed the links between himself, the People’s Champion, and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
He said: “I’ve heard both of those – I don’t care.
“If anybody wants to put my name in with those guys, that’s cool because that’s a hell of an elevation right there.
“But beyond that, my motives are to move above and beyond both of those guys.
“So with all the respect in the world to both of them, I am influenced by both of them, those are the guys that I cut my teeth on in a certain sense when I was in high school, and those were the guys.
“Also heavy influences you’re looking at [Roddy] Piper, [Hulk] Hogan, [Ric] Flair, Jake the Snake [Roberts], all these guys and other pop culture influences… actors, musical artists, all these kinds of things are influenced in here – you’ve never once heard me steal somebody’s phrases, dress like somebody.
“Although some people go, ‘Ah, he’s got the Austin vest’, by the way, if you look at that vest that I wear, it’s actually modelled after Brad Pillman.”
Knight – real name Shaun Ricker – suffered a long road to join the ranks of WWE’s elite with a lengthy stint on the independent scene.
During this time, he also boosted his coffers with numerous roles across media and television, from adverts for Aldi to the fourth season of GLOW, which ironically was later scrapped by Netflix, where WWE currently calls home.
Most memorably, Knight starred alongside Terry Crews as bodybuilder Mario in a season two episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Since reverting to his WWE character, LA Knight, from Maximum Male Model’s talent agent Max Dupri in 2022, he has excelled.
He captured his first singles title at SummerSlam last year after beating Logan Paul and is now in a high-profile match at Mania 41.
Knight told us in 2023 on being WWE’s ‘Michael Jordan’: “It’s at a crazy fever pitch when I walk out there, but look man, there’s something different where this isn’t supposed to be happening.
“I was never the guy who was supposed to be in that position, and people talk about, ‘he needs the push, he needs the rocket strapped to him’ – I strapped the rocket to myself!
“I’ve given myself the push at this point, so it doesn’t make a difference to me, I’m going to go out there and do my thing, and everybody all around the world seems to be getting on the gravy train.”
Knight’s showdown with Fatu at WrestleMania has been billed as his biggest test yet, and certainly is the first step on a possible journey that could end up with gatecrashing the main-event scene.
That would put him on a path with Rock, who has been pulling the strings at the top using another of his ‘cousins’, Roman Reigns.
It would act as the perfect culmination for Knight, having once been a contestant in Rocky’s short-lived 2013 reality TV show, The Hero.
The former Million Dollar Champion, appearing under his real name, won $35,000 but only lasted two episodes of the competitive action series that was cancelled after a single season.
His most haunting moment on the show saw him fall victim to Rock’s ‘It Doesn’t Matter’ catchphrase – something Knight hadn’t forgotten about over a decade later.
Asked by talkSPORT in 2023 whether he’d relish the chance to go toe-to-toe with The Rock on the microphone, Knight replied: “If that happens, then we gotta do something physical right?
“I don’t mind dropping the Rock on his head!
“I owe him one from about ten years ago when he hit me with ‘It Doesn’t Matter’ ten years ago, so I owe him a little something.”
