LA Knight made his first appearance as the United States Champion on this week’s WWE Smackdown in what also marks his first-ever title run on the main roster. Being a string babyface star, he’s quickly been booked in a feud with his first championship match challenger, as well.
On the post-Summerslam edition of WWE Smackdown, Knight came out at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma amid huge “you deserve it” chants in a championship celebration segment. Santos Escobar came out with Legado Del Fantasma to interrupt the session. Escobar said he doesn’t buy Knight as a champion and that this reign is only the stepping stone for his title run to begin.
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Escobar said that he deserves to be the US Champion on WWE Smackdown. Knight said he won’t let Escobar get the title, not because Escobar isn’t good enough, but because The Mega Star won’t let him. Following his “whose game it is” catchphrase, Knight then sent us to a new contender’s matchup on the show.
WWE Smackdown: Santos Escobar defeats Andrade for a title shot
In this bout on WWE Smackdown, Santos Escobar defeated Andrade after interference from Carmelo Hayes to become the new number-one Contender for Knight’s United States Championship. Andrade was rolling in this match despite distractions from the LDF members from ringside.
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After exchanging a superkick and a dropkick, Andrade hit a moonsault on Escobar and wanted to go for the pin attempt. Carmelo Hayes suddenly came out to provide a distraction. Andrade still managed to hit his pendant elbow for a two-count. Elektra Lopez then had the referee distracted, which allowed Hayes to pull Escobar out of a move from Andrade. This also allowed Escobar to roll Andrade up with a handful of tights for the pin-fall win on WWE Smackdown.
It was back in June that LA Knight defeated Logan Paul and Escobar in a three-way match on an episode of WWE Smackdown to advance in the Money in the Bank ladder match. On that night, Knight also pinned Paul to earn the right to become the contender for Paul’s US title.
After MITB, Knight even reached Paul’s house to secure the title match. Paul eventually agreed to the match at SummerSlam by signing a contract. Paul was desperate to win by using brass knuckles given to him by MG but Knight ultimately prevailed with the BFT to begin his first title run on WWE Smackdown.
