Outside of wrestling, Ricker appeared on the reality television series The Hero and the comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He has provided motion capture for other WWE wrestlers for the WWE 2K video game series and voiced a fictional character in WWE 2K22.
Early life
Shaun Edward Ricker[2] was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, on November 1, 1982.[3][4] He has two older siblings and started watching professional wrestling at the age of three.[4][5] He graduated from North Hagerstown High School.[6] He attended West Virginia University, but dropped out halfway through his second year due to financial issues. He then returned to Hagerstown before fully committing to a career in wrestling.[7]
Ricker wrestling as Slate Randall in February 2014
NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood (2010–2013)
In December 2010, Ricker moved to work for NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood. He joined forces with Brian Cage, forming The Natural Selection tag team and winning the NWA Heritage Tag Team Championship from The RockNES Monsters on December 8.[10] After holding the titles for over 200 days, The Natural Selection lost them to The Tribe when Cage missed the event, causing the match to become a handicap match.[10] Ricker then feuded with Cage for several months, staying even on victories until he defeated Cage to end their feud in late 2012.[8]
Ricker would lose the championship to Scorpio Sky in a Loser Leaves Hollywood match later that night; this match was scheduled to air on June 2, on tape delay, but was never aired due to the controversial finish.[12] After the cameras went off, Ricker got on the microphone and thanked all of the fans for coming out, saying it would be the last time he would be seen in a ring for Championship Wrestling from Hollywood. All of the wrestlers came out from the back and gave Ricker a standing ovation. However, he made one more final television appearance, defeating Sky's fellow Experience members Big Duke and Xtian Cole.[8]
WWE (2013–2014)
In May 2013, Ricker was one of many independent wrestlers undergoing the necessary medical testing required to be signed by WWE before he reported to the WWE Performance Center.[5][13] He had previously made sporadic appearances in WWE over the years; he teamed with Jonathan Good in a losing effort against Big Show in a dark handicap match in May 2006,[4] teamed with Gene Snitsky in a losing effort against Cryme Tyme (JTG and Shad Gaspard) on ECW in 2008,[4] and played a security guard during a segment featuring CM Punk and Kevin Nash on Raw in August 2011.[14]
Upon signing to WWE, Ricker was given the ring name Slate Randall and made his debut by defeating Yoshi Tatsu in a dark match during an October 2013 taping of NXT.[8] Following that victory, he competed as an enhancement talent for NXT, losing to names such as Baron Corbin, Mojo Rawley, and Mason Ryan.[8] He was released from his WWE contract on August 1, 2014.[15] He was “pushed out” in his words due to disagreements with WWE management.[16] The main issues were with Bill DeMott who was the head coach at that time. DeMott was later removed from WWE after allegations of abuse and unsafe training practices.[17]
Return to the independent circuit (2014–2019)
After his release from WWE, Ricker returned to wrestling on the independent circuit and began competing under the ring name Eli Drake. On September 5, at Full Impact Pro's Fallout, he participated in a trios tournament along with Mason Ryan and Michael Tarver, but they were defeated by the Full Impact Puerto Ricans (Lince Dorado, Jay Cruz, and Jay Rios) in the semifinals.[18] On November 21, Ricker defeated Kenny King at FSW Luck of the Draw.[19]
On January 26, 2016, Drake won the Feast or Fired match and the briefcase that contained a title shot for the future TNA King Of The Mountain Championship.[32] On the February 9 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake was attacked by Grado, who had been fired after his Feast or Fired briefcase contained the pink slip. Later that night, Drake interrupted him backstage, telling him "he better shut up about whatever he thinks he knows" and attacked Grado again, having him escorted out of the building through the tunnel.[33] On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake lost to Grado, who was masked as Odarg the Great.[34] On the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, he faced Grado in a ladder match with Grado's career on the line, but was defeated.[35]
Fact of Life and Namer of Dummies (2016–2017)
Drake (left) formed an alliance with Chris Adonis in 2017
On the May 31 episode of Impact on Pop, Drake cashed in his Feast or Fired briefcase for his shot at the TNA King of the Mountain Championship, defeating Bram, who was just viciously attacked by Lashley, winning his first title in TNA.[36] On June 12 at Slammiversary, Drake retained the title against Bram.[37] On the June 28 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake hosted a Fact of Life segment, inviting James Storm as his guest and proceeded to insult him; Storm eventually hit Drake with the Last Call, igniting a feud between the two.[38] On the July 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake defended the King of the Mountain Championship against Storm, but intentionally disqualified himself to save the title.[39] However, on the August 4 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake lost the championship to Storm.[40] Drake then entered the Impact Grand Championship tournament, defeating Jessie Godderz in the first round,[41] but lost to Aron Rex in the semi-finals.[42] On October 2 at Bound for Glory, Drake won the Bound for Gold Gauntlet by last eliminating Tyrus.[43] On the October 6 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake started a feud against Ethan Carter III, after his Fact of Life segment.[44] On the October 27 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake and Rex defeated EC3 and Jessie Godderz.[45] On the November 10 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake cashed in his Bound for Gold opportunity, but failed to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Eddie Edwards.[46] On the November 24 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake faced EC3 in a title shot vs. voice match where if Ethan lost, he would lose his heavyweight title shot, and if Drake lost, he would not be able to talk for the rest of 2016; EC3 won by submission.[47]
On the January 5, 2017, episode of Impact Wrestling, Eli Drake had a confrontation against The Broken Hardys during his returning Fact of Life segment.[48] At One Night Only: Live! the next day, Drake and Tyrus unsuccessfully challenged the Hardys for the TNA World Tag Team Championship.[49] Tyrus helped Drake take the red case during the Race for the Case on the January 19 episode of Impact Wrestling.[50] On the February 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake cashed in his Race for the Case briefcase for a match against Ethan Carter III, but lost. After the match, he and Tyrus attacked EC3, but were assaulted by the Death Crew Council.[51] On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake abandoned Tyrus during their handicap match against The Death Crew Council, causing them to lose.[52] A match was scheduled between Drake and Tyrus two weeks later, which ended in a disqualification victory for Tyrus. After the match, Drake proposed more money to Tyrus for keeping him as a bodyguard, which Tyrus accepted.[53] On the March 16 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake and Tyrus were defeated by Garza Jr. and Laredo Kid after Drake unintentionally hit Tyrus, causing the loss.[54] On the April 13 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake and Tyrus, alongside Bram and Lashley as Team Josh Mathews, were defeated by Team Jeremy Borash (Alberto El Patron, Chris Adonis, Magnus and Matt Morgan).[55]
On the May 4 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake lost to Alberto El Patron, failing to be the #1 contender for the GFW Global Championship.[56] The following week, with help from Tyrus and Chris Adonis, he attacked Impact Grand Champion Moose after his match against Marshe Rockett.[57] On the June 1 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake failed to win the Impact Grand Championship from Moose.[58] At Slammiversary on July 2, Drake and Adonis lost to Moose and DeAngelo Williams.[59]
On the August 24 episode of Impact!, Drake won a 20-man gauntlet match, from the second entrant position, to win the vacant GFW Global Championship for the first time; it was later renamed to the Impact Global Championship. This was Drake's first world title reign from a major wrestling promotion in his career.[60] Drake would defend the title against Matt Sydal on Impact,[61] and against Cody Hall in Japan for Pro Wrestling Noah.[62] He would soon begin feuding with Johnny Impact for the title, as Drake retained the title against Impact on September 28 at Victory Road after repeated interference from Adonis and a low blow.[63] At Bound for Glory on November 5, Drake retained the title against Impact in a rematch after the returning Alberto El Patron hit Impact with a steel chair.[64] On January 25, 2018, Drake would retain the title against Impact and El Patron in a Six Sides of Steel match at Genesis.[65] He lost his renamed Impact World Championship on the February 1 episode of Impact Wrestling against the returning Austin Aries, ending his reign at 146 days.[66][67] On the February 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake failed to regain the title from Aries.[68]
On the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake won a briefcase during the Feast or Fired containing an opportunity for an Impact World Tag Team Championship match, which he did not want as he no longer had a tag team partner.[69] Then, he challenged Moose for his World Championship briefcase on the April 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, which he won, thanks to an intervention of Ohio Versus Everything.[70] At Redemption on April 22, Drake and his tag team partner Scott Steiner defeated The Latin American Xchange to become the new Impact World Tag Team Champions.[71] On the April 26 episode of Impact!, Drake and Steiner defeated LAX in a rematch to retain the Tag Team Championship.[72] Two weeks later, Drake cashed in his World Championship briefcase against Pentagón Jr., but failed to win the title.[73] On the May 17 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake and Steiner lost the titles against D&E (DJZ and Andrew Everett).[74] After some tensions between the two partners, on May 31 at Under Pressure, Drake won a match against Steiner after a chair shot.[75]
On the June 7 episode of Impact Wrestling, during his Fact of Life segment, Drake ranked Moose number one in his top five dummies in Impact. Moose confronted Drake later and challenged him for a match to determine the number one contender to the Impact World Championship at Slammiversary XVI. Drake accepted the challenge and attacked Moose.[76] The following week at House of Hardcore, Drake lost to Moose.[77] On June 25, Eli Drake signed a new contract with Impact Wrestling.[78] On the July 12 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake flirted with Grado's girlfriend, Katarina, during a backstage segment. This led to a match between Drake and Grado later that night, which was won by Drake. After the match, he tried again to flirt with Katarina, but Drake was stopped by Joe Hendry.[79] On the August 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake aligned himself with the Cult of Lee (Trevor Lee and Caleb Konley) and defeated Hendry and Grado.[80] Drake issued various open challenges by this time, including one at Bound for Glory.[81] At the event on October 14, Drake defeated James Ellsworth. After the match, Drake asked for a new challenger, a "Hall of Fame material" which resulted in Abyss, the newest Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame member, showing up and hitting him with a chokeslam through a table.[82]
Feuding with hardcore wrestlers and departure (2018–2019)
On the October 18 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake "sued" Impact Wrestling management for "unsafe working environment" after the attack of Abyss at Bound for Glory.[83] On the November 8 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake betrayed his lawyer Joseph Park after a low-blow. The following week, Drake criticized hardcore wrestling before being confronted by Tommy Dreamer.[84] Two weeks later, Drake lost to Dreamer via count-out after walking away from the match. However, the match was restarted by Impact Wrestling management, and become a No Disqualification match, which Drake won.[85] On the January 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake was confronted and attacked by Dreamer and Raven.[86] At Impact Wrestling Homecoming three days later, Drake defeated Abyss in a Monster's Ball match.[87]
On the January 11, 2019, episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake confronted Eddie Edwards, talking down about his hardcore style. On the February 22 episode of Impact Wrestling, Edwards defeated Drake with a roll-up.[88] Two weeks later, Eli saved Edwards from the Desi Hit Squad.[89] Now having formed a tag team, on the April 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake and Edwards defeated LAX with the help of the Lucha Bros.[90] Two weeks later, Drake and Edwards challenged the Lucha Bros for the Impact World Tag Team Championship, but failed to win the titles.[91] During this time, a match was booked between Drake and Tessa Blanchard at United We Stand. However, he legitimately refused to partake in the match and criticized intergender wrestling, and was replaced in the match by Joey Ryan. After his comments, as well as statements he had made disparaging Impact's booking of him, Drake was fired via email on April 7, ending his four-year tenure with the promotion. Following this, Impact tried to lock him into a non-compete clause due to breach of contract.[92][93][94][95] On June 4, Drake released a statement speaking positively about his time at Impact and announced that he was now a free agent.[96]
On February 14, 2021, it was reported that Ricker had re-signed with WWE.[100] At NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day later that night, he debuted as a heel under the new ring nameLA Knight.[101] It was later revealed that despite WWE’s interest in re-signing him after his initial release, Ricker’s negotiations with WWE broke down the next year, and their interest towards him and attempts to sign him continued throughout the next four years he was in IMPACT Wrestling, and in NWA for about three years before finally returning to the WWE in 2021 after Triple H was contacted.[102] He made his in-ring debut on the March 17 episode of NXT,[103] defeating August Grey.[104] On the first night of TakeOver: Stand & Deliver on April 7, he participated in a Gauntlet Eliminator for a future NXT North American Championship match but was eliminated.[105]
Knight aligned himself with Ted DiBiase on the May 25 episode of NXT after attacking Cameron Grimes during their segment.[106] This culminated in a ladder match between the two for the re-introduced Million Dollar Championship at TakeOver: In Your House on June 13,[107] which was won by Knight.[108] During the championship ceremony on the following episode of NXT, Knight turned on DiBiase, attacking him before being driven off by Grimes.[109] On the June 29 episode of NXT, Grimes challenged Knight for the title at The Great American Bash, which he accepted on the condition that if Grimes lost, he would become Knight's personal butler.[110][111] At The Great American Bash on July 6, Knight retained the title against Grimes, who became Knight's butler per the stipulation.[112] On the August 10 episode of NXT, Knight agreed to defend the championship against Grimes at NXT TakeOver 36 on the condition that DiBiase would replace Grimes as Knight's butler if Knight won.[113][114] At the event on August 22, Knight lost the title to Grimes following interference from DiBiase, ending his reign at 70 days.[115]
On the September 14 episode of NXT, Knight lost to the debuting Bron Breakker.[116] Later that night, he failed to win a fatal four-way match for the vacant NXT Championship.[117] In October, he began a feud with Grayson Waller. On the November 23 episode of NXT, Waller turned heel by berating the fans and Knight turned face by confronting him; before his match with Joe Gacy, he was attacked by Waller.[118] At WarGames on December 5, Knight teamed with Johnny Gargano, Pete Dunne, and Tommaso Ciampa as Team Black & Gold,[119] where they were defeated by Team 2.0 (Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller, and Tony D'Angelo) in a WarGames match.[120] On March 8 at Roadblock, Knight faced Waller in a Last Man Standing match,[121] which he lost.[122] The following week on NXT, he unsuccessfully challenged Dolph Ziggler for the NXT Championship.[123] After this, he started a brief feud with Gunther, who had taken offense at Knight getting an NXT Championship match simply by calling out Ziggler. The next week, Knight confronted Gunther after his match with Duke Hudson and challenged him to a match at NXT Stand & Deliver on April 2,[124] which he lost in what would be his final NXT match.[125]
Main roster beginnings (2022–2023)
Knight made his first main roster appearance on the January 24, 2022 episode of Raw, participating in a backstage segment with The Dirty Dawgs (Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode).[126] In a dark segment before the April 15 episode of SmackDown, Knight appeared as a heelmanager by announcing his new stable, "Knight Model Management", and became the manager of Mace and Mansoor.[127][128] The angle went to television on the May 20 episode of SmackDown, when he made his televised debut on the brand under the ring name Max Dupri, adopting the character of a talent agent.[129] On the July 1 episode of SmackDown, Dupri announced Mace and Mansoor, under the tweaked names "ma.çé" and "mån.sôör", as Maximum Male Models.[130] Later that month, he was joined by his storyline sister Maxxine Dupri.[131] Dupri ended his relationship with Maximum Male Models on the September 30 episode of SmackDown.[132] The following week, he beat down Mace and Mansoor and reverted to his LA Knight persona.[133]
After a brief feud with Ricochet,[134] Knight became involved in a feud with Bray Wyatt in November and lost to Wyatt in a Mountain Dew Pitch Black match at the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2023; this was Wyatt's final WWE match before his death 7 months later.[135][136][137]
Popularity rise and United States Champion (2023–present)
Over the next few months, Knight's popularity with fans began increasing despite his poor win record and his on-screen heel character.[138][139] On the June 2 episode of SmackDown, Knight defeated Montez Ford to qualify for the men's Money in the Bankladder match.[140] At the namesake event on July 1, the match was won by Damian Priest, who threw Knight off the ladder to grab the briefcase.[141] On the July 28 episode of SmackDown, Knight was confirmed to be an entrant in the Slim JimBattle Royal match at SummerSlam on August 5,[142] which he won by last eliminating Sheamus.[143] Two nights later on Raw, after months of performing as a tweener, he turned face when he began a feud with The Miz.[144] At Payback on September 2, he defeated Miz with John Cena as the surprise special guest referee.[145] Two weeks later on the September 15 episode of SmackDown, Knight defeated Miz in a rematch, ending their feud.[146]
On the September 29 episode of SmackDown, Knight assisted Cena against Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa of The Bloodline, replacing AJ Styles who had been injured by Jimmy and Solo.[147] At Fastlane on October 7, Knight and Cena defeated Jimmy and Solo after Knight pinned Uso.[148] Three days later, Knight returned to NXT as the special guest referee for the NXT Championship match between Ilja Dragunov and NXT North American ChampionDominik Mysterio.[149] Knight would then enter into a feud with Undisputed WWE Universal ChampionRoman Reigns, leading to a title match being announced for Crown Jewel on November 4,[150][151] where Knight lost to Reigns after interference from Jimmy.[152] At SmackDown: New Year's Revolution on January 5, 2024, Knight faced Randy Orton and Styles in a triple threat match to determine who would face Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Royal Rumble, which ended in a no contest after The Bloodline took out all three competitors. SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis then announced that Reigns would defend his title in a fatal-four way match against Knight, Styles, and Orton at the Royal Rumble on January 27,[153] which Reigns won by pinning Styles.[154]
After this, Knight began a feud with United States ChampionLogan Paul.[163] On the June 30 episode of SmackDown, Knight defeated Paul and Santos Escobar in a triple threat match to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match with Knight pinning Paul,[164] but the match was won by Drew McIntyre.[165] At SummerSlam, Knight defeated Paul to win the United States Championship.[166] On August 9th, it was announced that Knight re-worked his contract to extend his time with the WWE and increase his pay.[167] He would embark on a winning streak while successfully retaining his United States Championship, some of which took place at Crown Jewel on November 2, where he defended against Andrade and Carmelo Hayes in a triple threat match.[168] On the November 15 episode of SmackDown, Knight defended his United States Championship against Berto, after which he was attacked by a returning Shinsuke Nakamura.[169] At Survivor Series: WarGames on November 30, Knight lost the United States Championship to Nakamura, ending his reign at 119 days.[170]
Professional wrestling persona and popularity
Many fans have favorably likened Knight's brash gimmick and promo style to that of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson or "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, complimenting his recognizable catchphrases and considering his charismatic trash-talking character a throwback to the Attitude Era. The same comparison has also been made in a negative fashion, notably by former wrestler Kevin Nash.[171]
Knight began to gain a notable amount of popularity in early 2023; despite his feud with Bray Wyatt being written to re-establish the returning Wyatt as a monster character, Knight's ability to hold his own verbally throughout the feud led fans to start siding with him. In an interview with Chris Van Vliet, he stated that he first noticed how fast his popularity was growing when the crowd cheered loudly as his entrance music began upon walking out to confront Drew McIntyre and Sheamus on SmackDown on March 3, 2023.[172]
Since early 2023, fans and critics alike have been vocal about WWE's poor booking of Knight; this includes his high rate of losses since joining the main roster, not appearing at WrestleMania 39 despite WWE promising an "LA Knight moment" at the event, and losing the 2023 Money in the Bank ladder match after WWE acknowledged him as the clear favorite to win by allowing him more promo time than the other competitors in the weeks leading up to the match. Many former wrestlers and wrestling personalities, such as Konnan[173] and Jim Cornette,[174] have been critical of WWE's poor treatment of Knight and failure to capitalize on him despite his popularity continuing to grow among fans. Paul "Triple H" Levesque, WWE's chief content officer and the head of its creative team, acknowledged Knight's popularity during the Money in the Bank post-show press conference and said that "great things come to those who wait".[175] Cornette named Knight his "Wrestler of the Year" for 2023.[176]
In 2015, Ricker appeared in the Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode "Boyle-Linetti Wedding" in a non-speaking role as Mario, a male bodybuilder who is getting married in a gym with Detective Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews) officiating.[177]
In January 2020, Ricker shot scenes for the fourth season of the Netflix dramedy GLOW as a character named DJ Henderson, but the show was cancelled before the season could air.[178][179]
In 2021, Ricker appeared in a CarShield commercial as The Overcharger, a heel wrestler dressed like an automotive repair technician and defiantly bragging about how nobody can stop him from unfairly charging used-vehicle-owning customers for repair work. He is instantly struck down by Ric Flair, the ad campaign's star and pitchman.[180]
As well as voicing "Paragon Jay Pierce" in the MyRise mode of WWE 2K22, he performed the motion capture for other WWE wrestlers in many of the WWE 2K games.[181]
^ abSchelle, Crystal (June 5, 2013). "Holding out for 'The Hero'". The Herald-Mail. Herald-Mail Media. Archived from the original on May 12, 2023. Retrieved May 11, 2023. Hagerstown native Shaun Ricker believes he might be the next American hero.
^"LA Knight". ESPN. November 1, 2022. Archived from the original on October 13, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
^Garretson, Jordan (June 15, 2021). "WWE NXT results, June 15, 2021". WWE. Archived from the original on June 16, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2023. The coronation of the new Million Dollar Champion ended in a way no one expected: with LA Knight savagely attacking "The Million Dollar Man." Cameron Grimes ran out to fight off Knight, but not before Knight appeared to do significant damage to the WWE Hall of Famer.
^Garretson, Jordan (July 6, 2021). "NXT Great American Bash results: July 6, 2021". WWE. Archived from the original on July 13, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2023. With Grimes barely able to stand, Knight landed a soul-crushing BFT to ensure his rival would now suffer the unenviable fate of being his butler.
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