LA Knight will Lose but will he be buried at Crown Jewel? Some fans already believe Knight will lose against Undisputed Champion Roman Reigns come 4 November. As much as the WWE Universe is behind Roman Reigns, the WWE still seems intent on booking Cody vs Roman 2 at WrestleMania, which means there’s as much chance of a snowstorm at Crown Jewel as there is of LA Knight walking out with the championship.

The Odds Are Stacked Against LA Knight

The WWE’s fixation with keeping the Undisputed Championship around Roman Reigns’ waist poses a major problem for LA Knight. It’s obvious that the former Max Dupri has catapulted to the top of the WWE’s babyface mountain, despite a questionable start on the main roster. It’s been a long time since WWE fans have gotten so strongly behind a Superstar, effectively forcing the WWE to take notice. Thankfully, Triple H is running creative. With Vince McMahon, it was rare that a wrestler would get a push unless Vinnie Mac was behind it. After all, what do the fans know?

While things look good for Knight under Triple H, that doesn’t mean Triple H is going to pivot just to accommodate Knight’s legions of fans. Triple H is reportedly a firm believer in long-term booking, which means if he wants Cody vs Roman at WrestleMania 40, that’s what he’s going to get. If that’s the case, how can the WWE have LA Knight lose without cooling off his push? Is there any way to book a loss without burying him?

Booking LA’s Loss

In all likelihood, LA Knight will become the latest wrestler to have Roman on the ropes and ready to win the title, only to slip on a banana peel and count the lights. Said banana peel could be outside interference, a low blow, or the use of a foreign object such as a steel chair. It should go without saying that there will also be at least one ref bump during the match.

The WWE may use Crown Jewel to introduce a new member of The Bloodline or rely on Jimmy Uso and/or Solo Sikoa. Like most babyfaces, LA Knight seems to go it alone which means he’ll need to take on every member of The Bloodline. So far, no one has beat those odds.

There is a way to have Roman retain the title while losing the match. So far, Roman has only lost one match by disqualification (his 2022 Royal Rumble match against Seth Rollins) which opens the door for another loss. If Roman loses by disqualification (or count-out), LA Knight could then claim a victory but not a title. Although he would have to join Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in seeking a rematch, this could make things very interesting come the 2024 Royal Rumble.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to tell whether the WWE would go with a count-out or disqualification finish at a show as big as Crown Jewel. The WWE is said to be booking this year’s Crown Jewel like a WrestleMania. Just imagine how fans would feel at ‘Mania if the main event ended with a disqualification or count-out.

There are ways to keep the title on Roman and keep Knight looking strong. In the event the WWE opts for LA Knight to lose via pinfall (Triple H needs to avoid a submission loss at all costs), it will have to do damage control.

What Happens After Knight Loses?

Another question is how to handle LA Knight’s push after he loses to Roman. Is the WWE going to slow down his push? Will the WWE have Knight pursue a secondary championship such as the United States Championship? Even if he wins a secondary belt, it will make him look like a guy who had to settle for the next best thing (much like Seth Rollins had to settle for the World Heavyweight Championship).

One of the worst things that can happen to Knight is for the WWE to book him as just another wrestler who came up short against "The Head of the Table." The WWE has a bad habit of pushing wrestlers temporarily just to create new opponents for their world champions. For example, in 2021, Finn Balor went from a guy who bounced back and forth between the mid and upper card to a challenger for Roman. The same thing happened with Cesaro, who reverted to his usual role in the mid-card act after losing to Roman and feuding with Seth Rollins.

Does LA Knight Need to Win?

One person who believes Knight should win is Booker T. Booker discussed the situation during a recent episode of his Hall of Fame podcast:

“I don’t know if they’re going to pull the trigger on him right now. But I’ll tell you what. I never try to write the show. We talk about that on this show all the time. You know, we just had Mark Henry last week. Say I refer to Mark Henry, Bubba Ray, Disco Inferno, those types of guys to actually give you guys the synopsis of how the show should go or how it should. But I can tell you this if they were to pull the trigger on LA Knight. What a surprise it would be! And how many people would go nuts?”

H/T Wrestling Headlines

The WWE loves to please the Saudi Sports Authority by putting on mega-shows every time it comes to the area. An Undisputed Champion win by LA Knight would be huge. It might be the only option the WWE has if it wants to keep the LA Knight train rolling. Booker suggested the WWE needs to capitalize on Knight’s momentum:

So my thing is, I’m a fan, just like you guys. I’m wishing for Knight to get the big push. Because one thing about this business is always talking about also the sand in the hourglass, the clock is ticking, and you want to capitalize right now. You don’t want to wait till tomorrow to capitalize on something like late night because that fire is going to burn out. It’s not going to be this hot. It’s not going to be this hot forever, LA Knight. So it’s just like a wrestling match. You want to go home when the fire is, is, as hot as it can be. Why not go home? Send them home, man. See, that’s what I’m saying. That’s a book, you know. So, I think that’s the same thing with LA Knight. He’s hot, man. He’s hot. He’s white hot. And if they were to pull the trigger on it on LA Knight, I think the people would go nuts. I really do. You talk about the Intercontinental Championship. I’m talking about the World Championship, the WWE title.”

H/T WrestlingHeadlines

Booker T isn’t alone in his sentiment that the WWE should put the belt on LA Knight. Is this realistic? Is there any way to put the belt on him without disrupting the WWE’s plans for WrestleMania 40?

Is There Room for a Transition Run?

One possibility is to put the belt on LA Knight only to have him lose it sometime before WrestleMania 40. Unfortunately, the WWE’s obsession with Reigns holding the belt makes this extremely unlikely. If LA Knight wins the belt, it’s unlikely the WWE will have him keep it warm so Roman can win it back and then drop it to Cody. This is particularly important because if Cody wins at ‘Mania 40, his victory will be diminished by Knight being the first to dethrone Roman.

LA Knight could also win the title and let the WWE book on the fly, accepting that there are some instances where it’s better to give the fans what they want than what you think they want. The downside to this would be how the WWE would handle an LA Knight title run. While LA Knight is hot, can he keep his heat? Also, are there enough strong opponents for LA Knight to defend the title against?

Triple H’s Greatest Challenge

As mentioned earlier, LA Knight can’t win or the WWE risks changing everything with WrestleMania 40 and its Cody vs Roman rematch. However, it can’t risk burying LA Knight by having him lose by one of the usual calls from the Roman Reigns playbook. How Triple H manages to get himself out of this mess will prove whether he’s as good a creative mind as some fans believe.

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Photo Credit: FOX