With WWE's Money in the Bank coming to London this weekend in the most hotly-anticipated live show in the UK capital in more than thirty years, all eyes are on the two wrestlers who will walk out of the building with the iconic briefcases that give the show its name. The Money in the Bank briefcase gives the winner a guaranteed championship title match within the next year and is, barring unforeseen calamity, usually a solid sign of a star about to be given a stratospheric push.
For many fans, the obvious winner of the men's event - even with social media influencer Logan Paul in the mix - is LA Knight who burst onto the main roster as a singles competitor last September having previously been known as Max Dupri, the wily manager of the Maximum Male Models.
While he is pitched as a heel, insulting crowds and opponents alike and cheating his way to victory, Knight has won over fans who love his old-school microphone work and solid in-ring style.
In an exclusive interview with The Mirror, Knight gave us his thoughts on the surprising reaction.
"I think I'm a breath of fresh air," he told us. "There's nobody else like me right now. I don't think there's anybody else that brings the style that I do, whether that's in ring, on the mic or whatever.
"And so the reaction is probably 'oh my god, I've been missing this. This is what I enjoy in wrestling.' But the bottom line is I didn't ask for anybody to cheer me. I didn't beg for anybody to cheer me I wasn't shoved down anybody's throat.
"So the fact that it's happening tells me that yeah, I am something old, something new and something that everybody has been looking for a good long time. And here I am."
Is he bothered about getting more cheers than a baddie traditionally would?
"When I go through that curtain, there's zero. And zero means no reaction, no noise, no nothing. I'm gonna walk out that curtain and I'm going to do me. Now when I do me, I'm going to get absolute value from zero. So any way you want to take it, I'm gonna make you make some sort of noise.
"It might be that you hate me and you boo the hell out of me. You might cheer the hell out of me. But either way, there's no way I'm gonna be out there and we're gonna be at zero."
For Knight, 40, bringing that briefcase home is the culmination of a career spanning almost 15 years, with stints in TNA, Impact and NWA, before starting at NXT and many fans seem to be ready for him to get the recognition to take him into the title picture.
He's equally ready for the big push, saying: "Hell I've felt like now is my time for the last 10 years. This is long overdue.
"If now ain't my time, then it's gonna happen damn soon. Things can take some unexpected twists and turns. You never know what's to come. But I am looking at me being the guy sat at the top of that ladder with that case."
WWE's Money In The Bank is on at London's O2 Arena on Saturday 1st July, with Friday Night Smackdown coming live from the venue on the night before, Friday, June 30. Tickets are still available for all shows on Ticketmaster here.
BT Sport is the home of all WWE programming in the UK and will be showing both Friday Night Smackdown and Money in the Bank live.
Money in the Bank is also available to subscribers of the WWE Network as part of their existing deal.
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