Category Archives: Longevity

After making his fun, feel-good return at Survivor Series as the final member of Cody Rhodes' WarGames team and working a few matches since against the likes of Dominik Mysterio and Jimmy Uso, Randy Orton will be thrown directly in the deep end at the Royal Rumble, where he will go toe-to-toe against Roman Reigns, and AJ Styles, and LA Knight with the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship on the line.

Can the Viper, one of the most decorated performers in history, add an 11th reign with the WWE Championship and fifteenth total reign with a World Championship at the first Premium Live Event of the year? Or will someone else, maybe Reigns, maybe Styles, maybe even the Megastar come out on top, with Paul Triple H Levesque and company having to adjust their plans as a result?

Only time will tell, but in an interview with Kayla Braxton on The Bump, Orton was actually very complimentary of the Megastar, noting that he's far from a flash in the pan.

Too early to tell, but I have high hopes. I would love to see him happy and able to do whatever his goals are, I'd love to see him fulfill those goals. As long as they don't get in my way, I'm fine with him doing his thing, Randy Orton told Kayla Braxton via Fightful. I've been so many guys come up, get hot, and then putter out. I'm not saying that's him. As a matter of fact, he's one of a kind. He's got something different. I don't know that I've ever seen the fans just take to somebody that they didn't really know so quickly. You've seen it before with guys like Kofi Kingston. They knew who these guys were for ten years, and then all of a sudden, there was this massive surge and fan following. LA Knight kind of went from zero to hero, [snaps] like that. So that's interesting. I'm curious to see how strong the crowd chants for him, how long that lasts, but even more so, how he chooses to evolve and keep those fans buying the t-shirts and chanting the catchphrases and everything like that. I think he has all the potential in the world to get that done.

Asked how LA can keep up his efforts and find career longevity, Orton gave his soon-to-be foe a key piece of advice, suggesting that his mindset could be the key.

I think as long as he stays humble and remembers that he doesn't know it all, and that he still has a lot to learn, Orton noted. If he stays humble, I think he's gonna keep doing this [mimes rising up]. But we all get in our own way sometimes, and hopefully that's not the case with him. But I think he's a good cat, he's got a good head on his shoulders, he's smart, and I know he's here to be the man. So hopefully, he becomes the man.

Can LA Knight keep his head down and focus on the future, avoiding the emotional rollercoaster that can come with being an upper-mid card guy in the WWE? Only time will tell, but if he keeps grinding and the fans stay behind him, there's little reason to believe Orton won't end up correct in the end.

Sitting down for an interview of his own ahead of the Royal Rumble, speaking with Chris Van Vliet on Insight, LA Knight commented on his process and revealed that he welcomes adversity in the squared circle, as it's the only way he knows how to get better.

It's a process, getting all that stuff done. Because I have ideas for things, and it's like, so you might try and run it through somebody, LA Knight told Chris Van Vliet via Fightful. Okay, well, yeah, we might do that. And I think there was also just skepticism at first, like, is this really a thing? Is this just gonna be a flash in the pan? Is this just gonna be a flavor of the month? And that was kind of even a thing that we had talked about and was even talked about with me. It was like, Well, we don't want to give it to him too soon, because then they might get over it.' And it's like, look, fine. If that's the case and I'm not good enough to carry that, cool. Let's go with that. But I understand the idea of also wanting to protect me at some point as well. But I have the belief in myself that I can pivot and move and adapt to whatever the situation is. So if the thought is, well, if we give it to him too soon, you don't wanna give it to him too soon. But if you just don't give it to him at all, come on, man. I feel like I'm better than that. I don't mean that in like a boisterous way, but just, I'm confident in what I do. I'm confident in my skills. And at the same time, I want to be able to fail. Because when I fail I get better.

As crazy as it may sound, LA Knight has never really been the top guy in a wrestling promotion, as even his title reign in Impact felt like a B story to other angles, like the rise of Tessa Blanchard. If Knight keeps grinding and things break right, who knows, maybe he'll finally become a top guy, in the biggest wrestling promotion in the world to boot.

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WWE's Randy Orton reveals the one major key to career longevity for LA Knight - ClutchPoints