AEW Star Kevin Knight Talks Young Bucks, MJF and His Future as a Top Star | Inside The Ring

Tony Khan recently had an interview and they asked him, you know, who are the four new pillars that you see for the future of AEW? He brought up Mercedes, he brought up Tecla, brought up Kyle Fletcher, and he brought up you. How does that feel coming from your boss and how do you see yourself in this company? Hey, welcome to TMZ's Inside the Ring. I'm Branson Quirk. I'm Roger Corral. And really excited for this weekend, WrestleDream AEW. WrestleDream, baby. Every time, it's great. Yeah, man. Every single time. And it proves, I'm telling you, every freaking pay-per-view, man. They deliver. AEW is known for their pay-per-views. And it's on a Saturday, so. I love that it's on a Saturday. I love that, man. Because then I can enjoy my Sunday. Yes, sir. You know, because. Go to church the next day. Yeah, right, right. I got to get right with the Lord the next day. Right? Typically. Especially after I see somebody like Kyle Fletcher and Don Callis, you know, the paintings. Yeah, the paintings. Well, today's guest, really excited. Our guest today is one of the most explosive, dynamic, and high-flying athletes in professional wrestling. From the NJPW LA Dojo to holding gold in AEW, he continues to take his career to absolute new heights every single time he steps through the ropes. Ahead of his massive championship showdown at WrestleDream against the Young Bucks for the tag team titles, please welcome the Jet, Kevin Knight. Yo, what's going on? That was an amazing introduction. I'm going to need AEW to talk to you guys and talk about doing my in-ring introduction because I love that right there. Here's the thing is that they would probably be cool with it, but there's one person who wouldn't, and it's Don Callis. That's a good point. He's not a big fan of us. He tends to think that we're a little bit too silly. You know what I mean? Don Callis likes me enough to where he'll trust my opinion. Just let me work my magic, and I got you. I got you. I actually have a question about that. how much does it bother you the degree that Don Callis loves Kyle Fletcher that man loves Kyle Fletcher above anything else no doubt you you know as you should they've been working together for what two years now or however long it's been so they have their relationship and everything and they kind of look alike um you know for all we know Kyle Fletcher might be a stepson um they they might be related in some type of way so listen there's no skin off my back I'm here to uh chase gold um and uh at the Don Callis families a bunch of of of stud athletes and like we all just are looking to keep the gold in the family so it doesn't bother me too much but you know uh Don Callis has been pursuing me ever since I got into AEW so if anything Kyle is threatened by by my presence but we move move on so we've asked everyone who's involved can you tell us what happens at a Don Callis party or that's can you give us anything you know i wish i could tell you what happens because i'm more of an introvert i don't really go out too much i let them do their own thing and i just see them at work but i i would imagine um that's where the paintings get done uh that's where you see all the abs and everything pop out, I I haven't seen it personally but um that's what I would imagine, that's where all that stuff goes down. Well, you got an answer yeah, at least we got something. He tries to stay away which is probably the smart thing. Don Callis told us, who needs women when you have Kyle Fletcher and he was very, yeah yeah, he comes from a different school of thought, um he comes from a different era and uh you know sometimes Don can have blinders on, but that's why I'm here to open up the peripherals and you know see the other avenues that are open to us, um but you know I'm still working on it, I'm still the newest member in the family, so just give me some time. I want to know how much of a difference it is when you compete in singles action compared to tag team action. You're a former trios champion, it sounds like you could do it all and obviously you're going after the tag titles, but you are a former TNT champion, you could obviously go one-on-one in the ring. Is there something you prefer? Is there a difference when you actually plan for one of these matches, you know, it's all pretty much the same, um I feel like the goal is to win. Right. So whether you're winning with this one on one, whether you're winning two on two or three on three, the goal is to win. You just have more bodies now. You have other factors to throw in there. But when you have guys like Kyle Fletcher as your partner you know, we're already great individually So we're only going to be better as a tag team. so there's not much that I can really say that's different it's just I have somebody that I can lean on when times get tough or when you know when Kyle can't handle the pressure when it gets a little too hot in the kitchen for him you know he can tag on me and I got it I got it from there on out so that's what I do whenever it gets too intense in here tag Branson tag Branson tag me hey hey uh you might have talked about this is it true you have a background in IT oh yeah oh yeah definitely you know um I used to be Clark Kent when I first started wrestling uh i was definitely clark kent um i would uh so i was a consultant an identity and access management consultant where i would uh grant and revoke access to uh certain users based off of their role in the company whatever and uh you know we would do that i'll clock out and uh go up to training and uh you know fly off the top rope so i was uh very well versed in both fields. At what point when you were sitting in that nine to five chair that you realized that you were, you were done with that? Like, I can't do this anymore. Yeah. Oh, I realized it with like, honestly, like hand to God, like my first week at my, at my job, I was like, Oh no, I can't do this for, for 40 more years or however it may be till you retire. I was like, Oh, this is absolutely boring. You know, I was used to having a Christmas break, a spring break, a summer break, but then you get there and they tell you none of that is real so i was like oh i can't live like this and then expecting you to uh come early and stay late and uh basically dedicate your whole life to the computer i was like you know what i'm good i'd rather do something that um i can be fulfilled with that so i uh looked up how to get into pro wrestling and i think i stayed at that job for like two years um before i got a chance to leave for New Japan so i was i was the rest was history that's crazy i've also seen that you're a really good roller skater speaking of other things you can do how did you develop that man we do it all uh during the pandemic i was very bored just like the rest of us um there's really not much else to do uh so my friend at the time just was like yo we're gonna go roller skating so I got some cheap pair of skates we went to the belt line um and I the first couple days I bust my ass like uh but you know it was just so much fun you know you get out there you play your music um you know it's very interactive you get to meet a lot of different people it's athletic you got some conditioning and um it was just the thing that I did during the pandemic and like it was my way of uh uh disconnecting from pro wrestling and it was just like an easy transition so and I feel like it helps me in pro wrestling just how to move how to control my body and uh yeah and you guys see the results on on Instagram when I post every once in a while but yeah wait you didn't learn to do this like as a kid you picked it up during the pandemic yeah I mean like I would go skating like on the weekends maybe once every two three years whatever but it was nothing where it was serious it was like when somebody had a skating birthday party or whatever you will go do it but yeah I didn't pick it up till I was like 24 25 that's impressive I only did that during the pandemic it wasn't anything fancy but because I I feel like you probably need a certain ability to pick up something like that you know especially at 24 25 i saw that MJF kind of made a funny quip online told you uh what did he say he said i've been waiting for my Sonic order for three hours get back to work put the fries in the bag you call them uncultured what's his problem yeah you used to know how MJF is he always thinks he thinks he's the smartest in the room he thinks he's uh the best professional wrestler in the world which he did get the number one in the PWI which is subjective always but um like he he uh he lives in his own head and i think that's his biggest problem and he doesn't realize it so yeah me calling him uncultured is like yeah bro this is what we do we don't just sit at home just thinking about pro wrestling all day we have actual lives and um we can do other things you know uh roller skating is one of them uh playing the guitar is another one it reading a book you know what i mean there's multiple other things that we do other than just pro wrestling so i think he was kind of astonished that um yes i'm a great professional wrestler and i'm also great in other things meanwhile he's only good at one thing so i think i kind of just threw him off off guard yeah i have another question about uh your image backstage tony khan uh recently had an interview and they asked him, you know, who are the four new pillars that you see for the future of AEW? He brought up Mercedes, he brought up Tecla, brought up Kyle Fletcher, and he brought up you. How does that feel coming from your boss and how do you see yourself in this company? Yeah, that means a lot, honestly, because I've been in this company a little over a year at this point and I was on the dual contracts. You know, when I first got to AEW, I was mainly New Japan and you know things happen and i looked up and everything has happened you know the way it happened so the way the reason why you start um it impacts me just because like i wasn't one of his first guys that he first signed right off the box you know mercedes was a big name coming from WWE Tecla was a big name coming out of Stardom Kyle has been grinding you know the last two three years on tv and me i feel like i just got here so for him to mention me among those names it's like wow it's like he really thinks a lot of me and um for me i just go out there and do what i'm supposed to or i just do what i do to my best abilities and uh obviously he gravitates to it so i'm just like okay i'm doing something right so let me just keep doing it i know i i think you're too humble man because again you just got here but you just competed for the world title against Kenny Omega you're you're challenging the Young Bucks for the tag team titles like how do you take all that in again maybe that's what you do you humble yourself but you're a big name you're taking all these people how do you how do you approach your days you know um i feel like the biggest thing is i train every day like i'm in the main event or whatever i'm doing like especially when i'm in the ring and there's nobody there watching me i train like i am in the main event against the Kenny Omega or the main event at a Wrestle Dream or Wrestle Kingdom whatever it is So I feel like I mentally prepare myself before I ever step in the ring. And that way, when I do get into the ring, it's like just like any other day. There's no extra pressure. There's no. Yeah, there's no extra pressure. I'm not nervous or anything. I've already wrestled, you know, every day that I train like this. So when I show up, it's just another day. So it may come off as humble. But to me, it's just like a quiet confidence. I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. and i know how good i am and obviously the work is showing like tony khan wouldn't be saying these things because i paid him off like njf um he's saying these things because he genuinely feels this way you know and again it shows and speaking of Kenny Omega in New Japan i don't know if you saw but Kenny Omega just made an impact in New Japan he just went after Yota Sugi in Japan after his match and he's going after the IWGP title you obviously have competed in Japan uh do you see a potential forbidden door situation coming where you might get the itch to go back and make a statement on behalf of AEW with Wrestle Kingdom coming up soon yeah you know me personally I would love to I would love to get that chance um if we can make that happen yes um if the timing is right yes you know obviously Kenny Omega had a much longer tenure in New Japan than I did um you know he reached the mountaintop before he came over to AEW so the new japan fans have like are already gravitated to him you know what i mean so i feel like it would be a different um situation for me to go back but i would love to go back to new japan and show the audience just how much i've grown in my character and my stature um in my work because new japan has seen me from the very very beginning when i was a young lion um and you know for them to see me now I feel like maybe a little more time needs to pass but I would ultimately love to come back to New Japan and just show them just this new side I would love it man I would love it this might feel a bit of a clickbaity question but I don't know if you've seen the potential give it to me I don't know if you've seen the potential names that people have given to you and Kyle Fletcher the FletchKnights the FletchKnights that's what you guys are known as on social media FletchKnights do you guys like the name do you guys want to come up with a different name FletchKnights that sounds a little suggestive that sounds a little suggestive and this AEW is a family show um so I'm not sure if um we'll approve FletchKnights or or whatever else they approved or whatever else they uh threw out there but for right now we're just going as the Don Callis family like as simple as that so I know you say you don't prepare any differently for any of these matches but you have a huge tag team match against the Young Bucks this weekend I feel like with a team like that you have to prepare a little differently do something this is a huge huge match man yeah um i don't know if you've seen me and kyle's uh tag team record but we're undefeated as a regular tag team um and a couple losses that we've had has been eight men so you know uh trent took a loss and i believe uh one of the guys from ftr took a loss on our behalf but when it comes to me and kyle we're up we're pretty good as a regular tag team and one of the victories that we had was over the young bucks in a tables match so now we're just changing the stipulation to a regular tag team match which um kyle has been in a lot of good tag teams from aussie open to proto sheeted or proto kata i've been in great tag teams with speedball mike bailey and kushida so we're both very well versed in a tag team realm and um once we come together we make magic we put our differences aside and uh i think you know we're ready to book to dethrone the young bucks they've had their time they've had their time at the top they're what a four-time tag team i know young bucks more like old bucks right yeah literally i think i think if you combine our ages me and kyle like we're younger than uh one of the Young Bucks or whatever it is I'm not sure um but yeah we're it's a new time and um the Young Bucks definitely fear us you know I don't know if you can see it in their eyes but uh they see us coming up and uh they know Don Callis uh knows them better than anybody else so they uh you gotta look over their shoulder anytime we come around that's true you did mention Mike Bailey some time has passed obviously things you know went the direction they went now that now that time has past do you have any regrets about the way you treated the guy that there may be some reconciliation that we could see between you guys you know uh i think i might have been a little hard on Speedball for not choosing my side at the time um but you know things happen for a reason things happen for a reason and i think uh he's been thriving on his own you know he's with uh Will Osprey in his group now um so i think he's doing well on his own and uh i've been doing well on my own as well so i Maybe there's some reconciliation, but, you know, that guy kicked so hard. I'm really not trying to experience that ever again. So as long as they stay on that side and we stay on our side, we're good. That's fair. That's fair. One of the things that I love about you and Kyle is the way your fashion comes through the screen. You guys are really, the shirt that you're rocking right now, you guys look fly all the time. Is that like a UFO on your shirt? You just have all this. That is. It's crazy. And one of the main things that I like are your glasses. Where do you get your glasses from? Where does that fashion come from? And what can we expect this weekend? Yeah, my entrance glasses. That's always looking into the future. But going back to the future, shout out to Kushida. You know, he's had a big, a big role in my career. And I feel like I always pay homage to him through the glasses. And whenever I'm wearing those glasses, I feel like I'm looking into the future. I'm seeing, I'm visualizing myself as a world champion, as the greatest TNT champion, as tag team champions coming up. So I feel like I just always get a little scoop into the future. And they're very unique. They're very hard to see out of, but they're very unique. And they give me a different look than the rest of the rosters. So anything that's different, I love doing it. Can we expect a new set this weekend? Am I putting too much pressure? uh you know those things are expensive and uh few and far in between so uh we will see how it matches with the outfit the colors that we got that's fair that's fair you know i you had a match uh against Darby Allen recently uh again it didn't go as well i don't know why anyone would pick a false count anywhere match against Darby Allen but you know it went the way it did and at some point you know let's not forget that that match it was 12 other people involved including the legendary Sting including Steve Borden like without without the uh the Sting bunch i think that match would have gone a completely different way and uh i still need my retribution for that like i i haven't talked about it on television yet but we got to get that retribution because Darby Allen knows what's up i've beaten him fair and square one-on-one yeah but you know with the interruption or the inclusion of Sting like you had to bring Sting out there um of course uh he came away winning that match but continue with the question i didn't mean to cut no no no let's let's be fair i think uh everyone i i would say even you i know things didn't go the way they did but did you pop a little when Sting came out you know it was cool seeing him uh seeing him stroll his old ass down there but you know i'm starting to get cold waiting on him come down there so i really i almost pulled a hamstring waiting on him to get down there because of how long he took um so i really don't like how you just you know took my all-in moment away from me and i took my TNT title with him so no i didn't pop all right that's fair enough fair enough again i i think one-on-one situation would be different would you take Darby Allen on a regular one-on-one match like no stipulations no anything crazy that's already been done um that would you do it again like would you be okay taking on Darby Allen in that direction Darby Allen can get this work 24 7 any day out of the week by 365 366 on a leap year like whenever Darby Allen is ready to face the Jet again i think he fears me the most honestly because our first match in the Continental Classic last year where did he go straight to the hospital right off the fresh fresh off of Mount Everest and who sent him to the hospital me so i think um and he's climbing another mountain right now actually it's a perfect time he's climbing another mountain right now to mentally get ready for the jet when i make my comeback for that TNT championship um so he just i think he's just getting himself mentally ready for me honestly truthfully i like that i like you call yourself the jet again it might be a dumb question but i just want to know what airlines your favorite jet to fly on i gotta ask the jet i gotta ask the jet himself listen we are flying we're not flying airlines we're going on Tony Khan's jet every every tuesday night every wednesday morning um we're not we don't we're not doing TSA we're not doing clear we're not doing none of that we're getting straight on the jet and we're flying wherever we want whenever we want so i'll leave that i'll leave that up to the common folk that's fair that's fair uh that's about it man i don't have anything else is there any message that you have for the young bucks this weekend and for your partner Kyle as well uh i think the message is clear if you watch Collision this past Saturday we jumped them and we let them know that our intentions are clear. We're coming for those tag team gold and me and Kyle are on the same page. So we're dangerous than ever and we know ourselves better than ever and the Young Bucks, their time is up. Their last little fairytale run as tag team champions is coming short. Coming in short this Sunday. Do you think the Don Callis' family is too big or are you still happy with the size of the family? You know, the more the merrier around Christmas time around Christmas times it gets a little tricky but that's about it the more the merrier other than Christmas getting presents for everybody I think I think it's perfectly fine I love that I love that well the Christmas present for us will be this weekend again don't miss it Wrestle Dream this Saturday Kyle Fletcher Kevin Knight against the Young Bucks for the Tag Team Championships check it out will probably be the match of the night you're gonna kill it man already know it doesn't matter if it's the match of the night, the result is going to be the same and new tag team champion. So yeah, definitely tuning in. People that come on the show do really great stuff. For sure, you're winning. Love it. Thank you, Kevin. Thank you.