Mike Knox Talks Losing His Push In WWE

The Elimination Chamber event had some heart-racing moments throughout the show. The live crowd in Houston was at the edge of their seats on several occasions during the main event match, when Kofi Kingston was able to last until the very end before getting defeated by Daniel Bryan. The crowd heavily cheered for Kofi during and after the match, with fellow New Day members Big E and Xavier Woods coming out to congratulate him for his valiant effort. WWE continued to let Kofi have his shine by having the New Day stand at the top of the ramp while the fans cheered.

Although Kofi did not win, it certainly gave him the feeling of being a main-event star for the company, and a top star on SmackDown Live. I discussed the feeling of main-eventing an Elimination Chamber during this match with former WWE star Mike Knox, who was among the list of names along with Edge, Chris Jericho, John Cena, Rey Mysterio, and Kane to main-event the 2009 Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out. Knox shared his thoughts on how that moment felt for him.

"It was a huge honor to be placed in that match," said Knox. "Not too many people can say they got to participate in something that iconic. Do I wish I had time to showcase what I was about? Do I think I could have killed it in there? Could it have been a huge turning point in my career? Of course, but that also wasn't my call, and 'what might have beens' can drive ya nuts."

Knox also commented on why his push came to a halt.

"The wrestling game is kind of like a roller coaster," said Knox. "Sometimes that slow build is like the start of every great coaster, when they slowly pull you up just to pull the bottom out and send you rushing down with the big drop. I was asked by a few guys to write for my own character, but at that time I had no clear vision of what they expected from me with all that. Character-wise, I just never had a path. They were always switching me around with one thing or another. I believe the writers had the same problem. I am sure that didn't help."

The Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out was nearly a decade to the day, airing on February 15, 2009. Interestingly, Kofi was scheduled to be a part of the match, but was attacked by Edge and subsequently replaced. Edge won the match and became World Heavyweight Champion for the fourth time.

During this time, Knox went through a character change, debuting on Raw from ECW with a different look just a few months before the Elimination Chamber match. Knox was the fourth person to enter the match, but was the second person eliminated following Kane after being pinned by Chris Jericho.