Pat McAfee Praises LA Knight, Maven Recalls Working With Kane
Pat McAfee is a big fan of LA Knight and the former NFL punter noted that WWE is well aware of the crowd reactions Knight is receiving organically.
On the latest episode of his “The Pat McAfee Show,” McAfee weighed in on Knight’s current success and status in WWE.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Knight: “The guy to watch right now is a guy that, as I left NXT in 2019. It was literally the next pay-per-view. I’m out after WarGames. As I left NXT to go off into nothing land, ‘it’s over, it’s been fun,’ that decision was made, it’s not mine, but I do appreciate that it happened. LA Knight came back into NXT the next pay-per-view. I was watching, he cut a promo the next pay-per-view, right to the camera, and I’m like, ‘Who is this guy? This is a guy that I would like to talk to.’ Yeah! This guy, really entertaining. I finally get to meet him, he got called up to SmackDown, I got the chance to meet him. I’m like, ‘Hey buddy, I’m a massive fan of yours.’ Didn’t really use him or anything. Then he was Max Dupri, which was something, certainly, but wasn’t the whole LA Knight. Now that he’s getting to be himself and kind of do everything he’s done for his entire career, I’m incredibly happy for him.”
On Knight’s crowd reactions: “The pops he’s getting whenever his music hits are f**king Attitude Era pops. WWE knows. They know that guy is…they hear the pop every time. Triple H, who I believe is running creative, I’m not behind the scenes and don’t know what’s going on over there, but I believe they hear them. They know. He’s good. I told him numerous times how big of a fan I am of him. At that time, I don’t think he was necessarily taking compliments as well because he wasn’t able to do his thing. Now, I’m super pumped for him.”
On his YouTube channel, Maven called WWE Hall of Famer Kane the “nicest guy on Earth” and an exemplary locker room leader.
Maven recalled his experience working with the Big Red Machine, and you can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On his experiences with Kane: “Kane. Nicest guy on Earth. Absolute nicest guy on Earth. We all know about ‘The Big Red Machine’ in the ring. Amazing, and amazing worker. The first things I remember about Kane, during my time, we would all have to be at the arena at one o’clock. Live airings went on at nine. We went live at nine o’clock, so to be there at one, you got a lot of time to kill. I remember one of the first things I saw backstage was Kane playing video games. Now, you see this guy, and you’re like, the last thing on Earth you think is that he’s into video games. Most people don’t know this about Kane, but Kane is a comic book lover. He’s not what you think. Obviously, now he’s the mayor of a town in Tennessee. Amazing, everything he did in the ring. But backstage, truly one of the nicest guys. A genuine nice guy, genuinely cared about [you].”
On Kane taking care of younger talent: “I was in WWE for, I would say, probably a little over a year. We had a death, Crash Holly passed away, and Kane made it a point to pull myself and Randy Orton aside, just to make sure we were on the right path, make sure that the next wrestler that was read about and passed away way too early wasn’t one of us. I guarantee, I could see Kane today, haven’t seen him in probably 15 years, and I’d hug him like no time at all passed. He’d get my vote too.”
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