WWE made the correct choice turning LA Knight heel

A week removed officially ditching Maximum Male Models and the “Max Dupri” alias, the re-rechristened LA Knight made his in-ring SmackDown debut, taking on former MMM stablemate mån.sôör.

The former Eli Drake made relatively quick work of mån.sôör, pinning him after hitting the Blunt Force Trauma (BFT). However, despite working most of the match as a babyface, Knight shifted course and berated the fans — calling them “incels” — before calling out the rest of the SmackDown roster.

WWE made it clear with one promo that Knight will move forward as a heel.

WWE made the right choice when it turned LA Knight heel.

Since Triple H has taken the creative reigns, the babyface side of the Raw and SmackDown rosters has gotten a bit crowded. Kevin Owens quickly re-won over the fans with his usual blend of great promos and workrate. Johnny Gargano is back and is as popular as ever. The fans haven’t lost faith in Drew McIntyre despite consecutive high-profile losses. You heard how the crowd reacted to Bray Wyatt upon his return. Sheamus is arguably hotter than ever.

As someone who usually argues that you can’t have enough quality babyfaces, it’s also important to recognize that these babyfaces also need credible foils to oppose them. As a solid worker and an audacious talker, Knight is a snug fit for that role.

Sure, Knight could’ve made it work as a babyface, as we saw toward the end of his NXT run and in the National Wrestling Alliance, but he has always seemed like a more natural heel and booking him to feud with some of the names mentioned above is far preferable to having him wrestle MMM for weeks on end.

Either way, Knight has a chance to become a reliable upper midcard attraction, at the very least. For a company that’s still looking to solidify that portion of the roster, wrestlers like that are very welcome.