After leaving Impact in 2019, Ricker signed with the rebooted NWA, where he became a one-time
NWA World Tag Team Champion alongside
James Storm. He left the NWA in 2021 to rejoin WWE, where he returned to NXT and was renamed LA Knight. During his time in NXT, he won the
Million Dollar Championship after defeating
Cameron Grimes. He moved up to the main roster in 2022 and was given a
manager role, portraying a talent agent named Max Dupri who led the
Maximum Male Models group. He betrayed the group a few months later and reverted back to his LA Knight persona, subsequently resuming his in-ring wrestling career. He suddenly accumulated an enormous level of fan support due to his
promo delivery skills and character work despite being booked to
lose most of his matches, a trend which was slowly reversed in response to the increasingly fervent support he received from fans.
Outside of wrestling, Ricker appeared as a cast member on
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's 2013 reality show The Hero, had a small role in a 2015 episode of the comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and provided the
motion capture for other WWE wrestlers in many of the WWE 2K series of video games.
NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood (2010–2013)
In December 2010, Ricker moved to work for
NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood. He joined forces with
Brian Cage, forming The Natural Selection
tag team and winning the
NWA Heritage Tag Team Championship from The RockNES Monsters on December 8.[9] After holding the titles for over 200 days, The Natural Selection lost them to The Tribe when Cage missed the event, causing the match to become a
handicap match.[9] Ricker then
feuded with Cage for several months, staying even on victories until he defeated Cage to end their feud in late 2012.[7]
Ricker would lose the championship to
Scorpio Sky in a Loser Leaves Hollywood match later that night; this match was scheduled to air on June 2, on tape delay, but was never aired due to the controversial finish.[11] After the cameras went off, Ricker got on the microphone and thanked all of the fans for coming out, saying it would be the last time he would be seen in a ring for Championship Wrestling from Hollywood. All of the wrestlers came out from the back and gave Ricker a standing ovation. However, he made one more final television appearance, defeating Sky's fellow Experience members Big Duke and Xtian Cole.[7]
WWE (2013–2014)
In May 2013, Ricker was one of many independent wrestlers undergoing the necessary medical testing required to be signed by
WWE before he reported to the
WWE Performance Center.[5][12] He had previously made sporadic appearances in WWE over the years; he teamed with
Jon Moxley in a losing effort against
Big Show in a
dark handicap match in May 2006,[6] teamed with
Gene Snitsky in a losing effort against
Cryme Tyme (
JTG and
Shad Gaspard) on ECW in 2008,[6] and played a security guard during a segment featuring
CM Punk and
Kevin Nash on Raw in August 2011.[13]
Upon signing to WWE, Ricker was given the ring name Slate Randall and made his debut by defeating
Yoshi Tatsu in a dark match during an October 2013 taping of NXT.[7] Following that victory, he competed only as an
enhancement talent for
NXT, losing to names such as
Baron Corbin,
Mojo Rawley, and
Mason Ryan.[7] He was released from his WWE contract on August 1, 2014.[14]
Return to the independent circuit (2014–2019)
After his release from WWE, Ricker returned to wrestling on the
independent circuit and began competing under the ring name Eli Drake. On September 5, at
Full Impact Pro's Fallout, he participated in a trios tournament along with
Mason Ryan and
Michael Tarver, but they were defeated by the Full Impact Puerto Ricans (
Lince Dorado,
Jay Cruz, and Jay Rios) in the semifinals.[15] On November 21, Ricker defeated
Kenny King at FSW Luck of the Draw.[16]
On January 26, 2016, Drake won the
Feast or Fired match and the briefcase that contained a title shot for the future
TNA King Of The Mountain Championship.[29] On the February 9 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake was attacked by
Grado, who had been fired after his Feast or Fired briefcase contained the
pink slip. Later that night, Drake interrupted him backstage, telling him "he better shut up about whatever he thinks he knows" and attacked Grado again, having him escorted out of the building through the tunnel.[30] On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake lost to Grado, who was masked as Odarg the Great.[31] On the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, he faced Grado in a
ladder match with Grado's career on the line, but was defeated.[32]
Fact of Life and Namer of Dummies (2016–2017)
On the May 31 episode of Impact on Pop, Drake cashed in his
Feast or Fired briefcase for his shot at the
TNA King of the Mountain Championship, defeating
Bram, who was just viciously attacked by
Lashley, winning his first title in TNA.[33] On June 12 at
Slammiversary, Drake retained the title against Bram.[34] On the June 28 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake hosted a Fact of Life segment, inviting
James Storm as his guest and proceeded to insult him; Storm eventually hit Drake with the
Last Call, igniting a feud between the two.[35] On the July 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake defended the King of the Mountain Championship against Storm, but intentionally disqualified himself to save the title.[36] However, on the August 4 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake lost the championship to Storm.[37] Drake then entered the
Impact Grand Championship tournament, defeating
Jessie Godderz in the first round,[38] but lost to
Aron Rex in the semi-finals.[39] On October 2 at
Bound for Glory, Drake won the Bound for Gold Gauntlet by last eliminating Tyrus.[40] On the October 6 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake started a feud against
Ethan Carter III, after his Fact of Life segment.[41] On the October 27 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake and Rex defeated EC3 and Jessie Godderz.[42] On the November 10 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake cashed in his Bound for Gold opportunity, but failed to win the
TNA World Heavyweight Championship from
Eddie Edwards.[43] On the November 24 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake faced EC3 in a title shot vs. voice match where if Ethan lost, he would lose his heavyweight title shot, and if Drake lost, he would not be able to talk for the rest of 2016; EC3 won by submission.[44]
On the January 5, 2017, episode of Impact Wrestling, Eli Drake had a confrontation against
The Broken Hardys during his returning Fact of Life segment.[45] At
One Night Only: Live! the next day, Drake and Tyrus unsuccessfully challenged the Hardys for the
TNA World Tag Team Championship.[46] Tyrus helped Drake take the red case during the Race for the Case on the January 19 episode of Impact Wrestling.[47] On the February 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake cashed in his Race for the Case briefcase for a match against Ethan Carter III, but lost. After the match, he and Tyrus attacked EC3, but were assaulted by the
Death Crew Council.[48] On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake abandoned Tyrus during their handicap match against The Death Crew Council, causing them to lose.[49] A match was scheduled between Drake and Tyrus two weeks later, which ended in a disqualification victory for Tyrus. After the match, Drake proposed more money to Tyrus for keeping him as a bodyguard, which Tyrus accepted.[50] On the March 16 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake and Tyrus were defeated by Garza Jr. and
Laredo Kid after Drake unintentionally hit Tyrus, causing the loss.[51] On the April 13 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake and Tyrus, alongside Bram and
Lashley as Team
Josh Mathews, were defeated by Team
Jeremy Borash (
Alberto El Patron,
Chris Adonis,
Magnus and
Matt Morgan).[52]
On the May 4 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake lost to Alberto El Patron, failing to be the #1 contender for the
GFW Global Championship.[53] The following week, with help from Tyrus and Chris Adonis, he attacked Impact Grand Champion
Moose after his match against
Marshe Rockett.[54] On the June 1 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake failed to win the Impact Grand Championship from Moose.[55] At
Slammiversary on July 2, Drake and Adonis lost to Moose and
DeAngelo Williams.[56]
Impact Global Champion (2017–2018)
On the August 24 episode of Impact!, Drake won a 20-man gauntlet match, from the second entrant position, to win the vacant
GFW Global Championship for the first time; it was later renamed to the Impact Global Championship. This was Drake's first world title reign from a major wrestling promotion in his career.[57] Drake would defend the title against
Matt Sydal on Impact,[58] and against
Cody Hall in Japan for
Pro Wrestling Noah.[59] He would soon begin feuding with
Johnny Impact for the title, as Drake retained the title against Impact on September 28 at
Victory Road after repeated interference from Adonis and a low blow.[60] At
Bound for Glory on November 5, Drake retained the title against Impact in a rematch after the returning
Alberto El Patron hit Impact with a steel chair.[61] On January 25, 2018, Drake would retain the title against Impact and El Patron in a Six Sides of Steel match at
Genesis.[62] He lost his renamed Impact World Championship on the February 1 episode of Impact Wrestling against the returning
Austin Aries, ending his reign at 146 days.[63][64] On the February 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake failed to regain the title from Aries.[65]
On the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake won a briefcase during the Feast or Fired containing an opportunity for an
Impact World Tag Team Championship match, which he did not want as he no longer had a tag team partner.[66] Then, he challenged Moose for his World Championship briefcase on the April 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, which he won, thanks to an intervention of
Ohio Versus Everything.[67] At
Redemption on April 22, Drake and his tag team partner
Scott Steiner defeated
The Latin American Xchange to become the new Impact World Tag Team Champions.[68] On the April 26 episode of Impact!, Drake and Steiner defeated LAX in a rematch to retain the Tag Team Championship.[69] Two weeks later, Drake cashed in his World Championship briefcase against
Pentagón Jr., but failed to win the title.[70] On the May 17 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake and Steiner lost the titles against D&E (
DJZ and
Andrew Everett).[71] After some tensions between the two partners, on May 31 at
Under Pressure, Drake won a match against Steiner after a chair shot.[72]
On the June 7 episode of Impact Wrestling, during his Fact of Life segment, Drake ranked Moose number one in his top five dummies in Impact. Moose confronted Drake later and challenged him for a match to determine the number one contender to the
Impact World Championship at
Slammiversary XVI. Drake accepted the challenge and attacked Moose.[73] The following week at House of Hardcore, Drake lost to Moose.[74] On June 25, Eli Drake signed a new contract with Impact Wrestling.[75] On the July 12 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake flirted with
Grado's girlfriend,
Katarina, during a backstage segment. This led to a match between Drake and Grado later that night, which was won by Drake. After the match, he tried again to flirt with Katarina, but Drake was stopped by
Joe Hendry.[76] On the August 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake aligned himself with the Cult of Lee (
Trevor Lee and
Caleb Konley) and defeated Hendry and Grado.[77] Drake issued various open challenges by this time, including one at
Bound for Glory.[78] At the event on October 14, Drake defeated
James Ellsworth. After the match, Drake asked for a new challenger, a "Hall of Fame material" which resulted in
Abyss, the newest
Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame member, showing up and hitting him with a chokeslam through a table.[79]
Feuding with hardcore wrestlers and departure (2018–2019)
On the October 18 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake "sued" Impact Wrestling management for "unsafe working environment" after the attack of Abyss at Bound for Glory.[80] On the November 8 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake betrayed his lawyer
Joseph Park after a low-blow. The following week, Drake criticized hardcore wrestling before being confronted by
Tommy Dreamer.[81] Two weeks later, Drake lost to Dreamer via count-out after walking away from the match. However, the match was restarted by Impact Wrestling management, and become a No Disqualification match, which Drake won.[82] On the January 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake was confronted and attacked by Dreamer and
Raven.[83] At
Impact Wrestling Homecoming three days later, Drake defeated Abyss in a
Monster's Ball match.[84]
On the January 11, 2019, episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake confronted
Eddie Edwards, talking down about his hardcore style. On the February 22 episode of Impact Wrestling, Edwards defeated Drake with a roll-up.[85] Two weeks later, Eli saved Edwards from the
Desi Hit Squad.[86] Now having formed a tag team, on the April 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake and Edwards defeated
LAX with the help of the
Lucha Bros.[87] Two weeks later, Drake and Edwards challenged the Lucha Bros for the
Impact World Tag Team Championship, but failed to win the titles.[88] During this time, a match was booked between Drake and
Tessa Blanchard at
United We Stand. However, he legitimately refused to partake in the match and criticized
intergender wrestling, and was replaced in the match by
Joey Ryan. After his comments, as well as statements he had made disparaging Impact's booking of him, Drake was fired via email on April 7. Following this, Impact tried to lock him into a non-compete clause due to breach of contract.[89][90][91][92] On June 4, Drake released a statement speaking positively about his time at Impact and announced that he was now a free agent.[93]
On the September 14 episode of NXT, Knight lost to the debuting
Bron Breakker.[111] Later that night, he failed to win a fatal four-way match for the vacant
NXT Championship.[112] In October, he began a feud with
Grayson Waller. On the November 23 episode of NXT, Waller turned heel by berating the fans and Knight turned
face by confronting him; before his match with
Joe Gacy, he was attacked by Waller.[113] At
WarGames on December 5, Knight teamed with
Johnny Gargano,
Pete Dunne, and
Tommaso Ciampa as Team Black & Gold,[114] where they were defeated by Team 2.0 (Breakker,
Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller, and Tony D'Angelo) in a
WarGames match.[115] On March 8 at
Roadblock, Knight faced Waller in a
Last Man Standing match,[116] which he lost.[117] The following week on NXT, he unsuccessfully challenged
Dolph Ziggler for the NXT Championship.[118] After this, he started a brief feud with
Gunther, who had taken offense at Knight getting an NXT Championship match simply by calling out Ziggler. The next week, Knight confronted Gunther after his match with
Duke Hudson and challenged him to a match at
NXT Stand & Deliver on April 2.[119] He was defeated by Gunther in what would be his final NXT match before being promoted to the main roster.[120]
Rise in popularity and feud with AJ Styles (2023–present)
Over the next few months, Knight's popularity with fans began increasing despite his poor win record and his onscreen character being a heel.[134] On the June 2 episode of SmackDown, Knight defeated
Montez Ford to qualify for the men's
Money in the Bankladder match.[135] At the
namesake event, the match was won by
Damian Priest, who threw Knight off the ladder in order to grab the briefcase.[136][137][138] Knight participated in the
United States Championship Invitational tournament but lost at the semifinal stage.[139] The next week, he defeated
Ashante "Thee" Adonis and was confirmed to be an entrant in the
Slim JimBattle Royal match at the upcoming
SummerSlam event in August,[140] which he eventually won by last eliminating
Sheamus.[141] Two nights later on Raw, after months of performing as a
tweener, he turned
face when he began a feud with
The Miz.[142] At
Payback, he defeated Miz with
John Cena as the surprise special guest referee.[143] Two weeks later on the September 15 episode of SmackDown, Knight would defeat Miz in a rematch, ending their feud.
After taking time off for a week, Knight returned on the September 29 episode of SmackDown to assist Cena against the members of
The Bloodline,
Jimmy Uso (who has since
rejoined the stable after betraying his own twin brother
Jey Uso) and
Solo Sikoa, replacing
AJ Styles who was injured by Jimmy and Solo. Knight would team with Cena against Jimmy and Solo at
Fastlane, successfully winning with Knight pinning Uso. Knight would proceed to return to NXT on the October 10 episode to be the special guest referee for the
NXT Championship match that night between
Ilja Dragunov and
NXT North American ChampionDominik Mysterio. Knight would then enter into a feud with
WWE Undisputed Universal ChampionRoman Reigns, with a title match being announced for
Crown Jewel, where Knight lost to Reigns after interference from
The Bloodline's
Jimmy Uso.[144][145][146] Following his loss, Knight made it clear that he aims to make his way back to a rematch with Reigns by beating every member of The Bloodline. At
SmackDown: New Year's Revolution on January 5, 2024, Knight faced
Randy Orton and
AJ Styles in a triple threat match to determine the number one contender to face Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at
Royal Rumble. The match ended in a no contest after The Bloodline took out all three competitors. SmackDown General Manager
Nick Aldis then announced that Reigns would defend his title in a fatal-four way match against Knight, Styles, and Orton at the Royal Rumble,[147] which Reigns won.[148]
Knight then began feuding with Styles and qualified for the men's
Elimination Chamber match at the
titular event, where he was eliminated by Drew McIntyre after Styles interrupted the match and attacked him.[149] This would eventually lead to Knight challenging Styles to a match at
WrestleMania XL, which Styles accepted; Knight then defeated Styles at the event.[150] The following SmackDown, Knight participated in the
Undisputed WWE Championship Eliminator Tournament, defeating
Bobby Lashley and
Santos Escobar in the semifinals.[151] Knight was defeated by Styles on the April 19 episode of SmackDown.[152]
Professional wrestling persona and popularity
Many fans have favorably likened Knight's brash gimmick and promo style to that of
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson or
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin, complimenting his recognizable catchphrases and considering his charismatic trash-talking character a throwback to the
Attitude Era. The same comparison has also been made in a negative fashion, notably by former wrestler
Kevin Nash.[153]
Knight began to gain a notable amount of popularity in early 2023; despite his feud with
Bray Wyatt being written to re-establish the returning Wyatt as a monster character, Knight's ability to hold his own verbally throughout the feud led fans to start siding with him. In an interview with
Chris Van Vliet, he stated that he first noticed how fast his popularity was growing when the crowd cheered loudly as his entrance music began upon walking out to confront
Drew McIntyre and
Sheamus on SmackDown on March 3, 2023.[154]
Since early 2023, fans and critics alike have been vocal about WWE's poor booking of Knight; this includes his high rate of losses since joining the main roster, not appearing at
WrestleMania 39 despite WWE promising an "LA Knight moment" at the event, and losing the
2023 Money in the Bank ladder match after WWE acknowledged him as the clear favorite to win by allowing him more promo time than the other competitors in the weeks leading up to the match. Many former wrestlers and wrestling personalities, such as
Konnan[155] and
Jim Cornette,[156] have been critical of WWE's poor treatment of Knight and failure to capitalize on him despite his popularity continuing to grow among fans.
Triple H, WWE's
chief content officer and the head of its creative team, acknowledged Knight's popularity during the Money in the Bank post-show press conference and said that "great things come to those who wait".[157] Cornette named Knight his "Wrestler of the Year" for 2023.[158]
In 2013, Ricker appeared on the
TNT reality television show The Hero, which was hosted by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.[2]
In 2015, Ricker appeared in the Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode "Boyle-Linetti Wedding" in a non-speaking role as Mario, a male bodybuilder who is getting married in a gym with Detective Terry Jeffords (
Terry Crews) officiating.[159]
In January 2020, Ricker shot scenes for the fourth season of the
Netflix dramedy GLOW as a character named DJ Henderson, but the show was cancelled before the season could air.[160][161]
In 2021, Ricker appeared in a CarShield commercial as The Overcharger, a
heel wrestler dressed like an automotive repair technician and defiantly bragging about how nobody can stop him from unfairly charging used-vehicle-owning customers for repair work. He is instantly struck down by
Ric Flair, the ad campaign's star and
pitchman.[162]
As well as voicing "Paragon Jay Pierce" in the MyRise mode of WWE 2K22, he performed the
motion capture for other WWE wrestlers in many of the WWE 2K games.[163]
^
abSchelle, Crystal (June 5, 2013).
"Holding out for 'The Hero'". The Herald-Mail. Herald-Mail Media. Archived from
the original on May 12, 2023. Retrieved May 11, 2023. Hagerstown native Shaun Ricker believes he might be the next American hero.
^"LA Knight".
ESPN. November 1, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
^Garretson, Jordan (June 15, 2021).
"WWE NXT results, June 15, 2021".
WWE.
Archived from the original on June 16, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2023. The coronation of the new Million Dollar Champion ended in a way no one expected: with LA Knight savagely attacking "The Million Dollar Man." Cameron Grimes ran out to fight off Knight, but not before Knight appeared to do significant damage to the WWE Hall of Famer.
^Garretson, Jordan (July 6, 2021).
"NXT Great American Bash results: July 6, 2021".
WWE. Archived from
the original on July 13, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2023. With Grimes barely able to stand, Knight landed a soul-crushing BFT to ensure his rival would now suffer the unenviable fate of being his butler.