LA Knight Addresses Fans Bringing Up His Age, the Origin of His Hand Symbol

During a recent interview with Insight With Chris Van Vliet, WWE Superstar LA Knight discussed fans bringing up his age, as he’s 43, if he wants to wrestle into his 50s, and more. Below are some highlights from Insight:

LA Knight on If It’s Frustrating How People Bring Up His Age

“Yeah, I get it, though, because I think a lot of guys who are my age, and even a lot of guys who are younger than me, they’re in rough, rough shape. I’ve taken care of myself very well. I think I worked in a very safe manner, to where again it hasn’t led me to have [injuries]. I’ve broken my nose once, I’ve had a few concussions and stuff, but I’ve never had anything ever, never ever. I’m super reliable, I’ve never been on the shelf for any kind of real legitimate injury. My hope is to get out at some point, eventually, and not have any of those things on me. I’ve got neck and back pain, everybody has.”

I just don’t know why it was made such a point about you, and there’s so many people on the roster whose age began with a four.
“I think it’s just the idea that I was starting brand new, and so a lot of the guys who were there, who were already in their late 30s and 40s, had been established. I think it was just looking at this is going to be this long slow climb, we don’t want to invest. I mean, I 100% get it. If all you’re looking at is a picture and a number, 100% get it, but you got to figure out what’s under that. But if I’m honest, I understand the guy’s too busy to look at what’s under the hood. It’s just, hey, this is what I see, I don’t want to invest in that. I understand it. At the same time, I know me, and if we look at the way things worked out, goddamn, it worked out pretty well for everybody, didn’t it? I mean, sh*t, it didn’t take five years for me to get off the ground. It took, I mean, if we’re really looking at it real, LA Knight didn’t pop up till at least on SmackDown until October or November, I think it was, and then by July, we were full hilt, that was around the time that it was Money in the Bank, and sh*t was taking off at that point in time.”

On Why He Thinks Fans Constantly Make It an Issue

“I think it’s just the idea that I was starting brand new, and so a lot of the guys who were there, who were already in their late 30s and 40s, had been established. I think it was just looking at this is going to be this long slow climb, we don’t want to invest. I mean, I 100% get it. If all you’re looking at is a picture and a number, 100% get it, but you got to figure out what’s under that. But if I’m honest, I understand the guy’s too busy to look at what’s under the hood. It’s just, hey, this is what I see, I don’t want to invest in that. I understand it. At the same time, I know me, and if we look at the way things worked out, goddamn, it worked out pretty well for everybody, didn’t it? I mean, sh*t, it didn’t take five years for me to get off the ground. It took, I mean, if we’re really looking at it real, LA Knight didn’t pop up till at least on SmackDown until October or November, I think it was, and then by July, we were full hilt, that was around the time that it was Money in the Bank, and sh*t was taking off at that point in time.”

On the Story Behind His Hand Symbol

“It’s a secret, and I’ll tell it in a few years. That it’s a very easy-to-decode secret that’s right in front of everybody’s eyes, but at the same time… So I used to come out and do this when I’d hit the buckle, but then I saw I was always thinking like someday I’m going to be in WWE, so I was always working that way, and I didn’t want to do anything that seemed like something somebody else was doing. So then AJ started doing this, and I was like, “Close, can’t do it. And I was like well, what can I do? I can’t just do this, that’s Austin, whatever. I was like, well, what else can I do? And I started thinking like different hand signs and stuff, and I’m looking at sign language, and I’m like, no, that sucks. Then at some point I found something where I was like, oh, I think I kind of like that, and I started kind of doing it a little bit, and I was like, I’m gonna stick with that. I started doing it, and then I started noticing people out there doing it, and I was like, yeah, I think we’re good, I think we’re good with this. Eventually, I’ll tell the story, but it says something there, it says something that links me to my past.”

LA Knight is currently competing in this year’s King of the Ring tournament. He will face off against Jey Uso, Royce Keys, and Finn Balor in an opening round matchup later on.