Jeff Jarrett Weighs In On Recent Criticism Of WWE Star LA Knight

L.A. Knight is getting over with WWE fans, and drawing comparisons to legends like The Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin along the way. But not everyone is a fan. Kevin Nash declared Knight "an absolute rip-off of The Rock," but is that a common sentiment? Conrad Thompson took that criticism to Jeff Jarrett on "My World."

"When did he start, Conrad? Because I think that goes into — he's not a young guy," Jarrett said. "Because when he worked for us during this era, okay so six years ago he's 35 ... And they had told me, 'Yeah, he actually was in the WWE developmental and it didn't work out,' I'm like, 'Well that's interesting, where did I miss, you know, this guy?'"

Knight performed as Eli Drake in Impact Wrestling between 2015 and 2019, but he and Jarrett didn't see too much of each other.

"He's been around," Jarrett added. "And by osmosis, and trial and error, and sometimes the almighty word 'timing,' it doesn't work out."

At some point, wrestlers ask themselves how they're going to get over. It could mean an entire repackaging. Maybe they'll borrow from past greats. Knight, who was almost lost to obscurity due to the short-lived Max Dupri character, went back to what made him popular. Jarrett knows plenty of wrestlers who have borrowed from the past and been successful.

"To your point, absolutely everything is inspired in a certain way," he continued. "The folks that can take a little inspiration here and a little inspiration there and mash it up, and make it authentic to themselves? Well then, they're not just uber-successful, but innovators, if you will."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "My World with Jeff Jarrett" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.