LA Knight has proven to be a hit on WWE’s main roster, but only after ditching the name Max Dupri.
Knight joined WWE in early 2021 after previous stints in TNA/Impact Wrestling and the NWA as Eli Drake, and is a former Impact World Champion.
The 40-year-old wrestler made an impact (pardon the pun) upon his arrival to NXT, where he held the Million Dollar Championship.
Dupri No More
In May 2022, Knight was reintroduced to the WWE Universe as Max Dupri, the head of the Maximum Male Models.
After his sister Maxine Dupri was introduced later that month, Dupri would split from the group, and revert to his LA Knight persona.
Speaking to ComicBook.com, Knight explained why his tenure as Max Dupri was short-lived.
“How honest do you want me to be? I’ll just say this, at the end of the day I can make anything work. But at the end of the day, I’ve got a real tough time not being [me]. I’ll tell you this, it wasn’t me. So when things came to pass and LA Knight started to shine through, it was the right place to go and not a moment too soon.”
LA Knight.
At WWE Royal Rumble 2023, Knight lost to Bray Wyatt in the Mountain Dew Pitch Black match, which marked Wyatt’s first televised match since returning to WWE.
What’s in a Name?
Whether it’s as LA Knight, Max Dupri, or Eli Drake, the SmackDown Superstar (real name Shaun Ricker) has made a name himself, but these aren’t his only names.
Knight previously worked for WWE from 2013-2014 as Slate Randall but was primarily used as an enhancement talent.
In 2011, Knight was an unnamed security guard during the infamous text message promo between Kevin Nash and CM Punk, when the latter joked that people thought Nash died years ago.
Gamers may recognize Knight (or at least his voice) as “Paragon Jay Pierce” in WWE 2K22’s MyRise mode.