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Kevin Knight (wrestler)

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Not to be confused with Kevin Knight, American soccer player.

Kevin Knight
Knight in November 2023
Born (1997-01-01) January 1, 1997 (age 27)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Jet Knight
Kevin Knight
Billed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Billed weight200 lb (91 kg)[1]
Trained by
DebutAugust 2, 2019[2]

Kevin Knight (born January 1, 1997) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a two-time and reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion.

Professional wrestling career

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Early career (2019–2020)

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Knight made his debut on August 2, 2019, wrestling for a range of Canadian and American independent promotions for the majority of late 2019 and early 2020.[3]

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2020–present)

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Young Lion (2020–2022)

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Knight entered the New Japan Pro-Wrestling LA Dojo in 2020 as a Young Lion, training under Katsuyori Shibata. Knight made his NJPW debut on December 12 at Super J-Cup, replacing an injured Karl Fredericks, where he teamed with Ren Narita, losing to Bullet Club's Hikuleo and Kenta.[4][5]

In 2021, Knight competed on NJPW's American-based show Strong, commonly teaming with fellow LA Dojo members, such as Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors and Alex Coughlin, often losing most of his matches, which is common for NJPW Young Lions. In July, Knight entered the Tag Team Turbulence tournament, teaming with The DKC, however, they were defeated in the first round by the West Coast Wrecking Crew.[6] Knight continued to wrestle on Strong for the remainder of the year. In May 2022, Knight made his debut for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), teaming with The DKC, in a losing effort to The Factory's Aaron Solo and Nick Comoroto, after the match The Factory attempted to attack the duo, however, they were saved by their LA Dojo stablemates. This led to a match the following week, where NJPW's Knight, Connors, Fredericks, Coughlin and Yuya Uemura, defeated The Factory's Q. T. Marshall, Solo, Comoroto, Blake Li and Brick Aldridge, in a ten-man tag-team match.[7] At Capital Collision, Knight was defeated by Comoroto in a dark-match.[8] In June, Knight competed at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door on the Buy-In, teaming with Coughlin, Uemura and The DKC, in an eight-man tag-team match, losing to The Gunn Club (Billy, Austin and Colten Gunn) and Max Caster.[9] In October at The Night Before Rumble on 44th Street, Knight and The DKC, defeated Forever Hooligans (Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov), who had reunited for one-night only.[10] The following night at Rumble on 44th Street, Knight and The DKC teamed once more, losing to The Motor City Machine Guns and Aussie Open in a three-way tag-team match for the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship, which The Motor City Machine Guns won.[11]

Teaming with Kushida (2022–Present)

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On November 20, Knight made his debut in Japan for NJPW, at Historic X-Over, teaming with Connors, Coughlin and Gabriel Kidd on the pre-show, to defeat Kosei Fujita, Oskar Leube, Ryohei Oiwa, and Yuto Nakashima.[12] It was also announced that Knight would compete in the Super Junior Tag League, teaming with Kushida, who was often a trainer at the LA Dojo, whilst also making his debut in an annual NJPW tournament.[13] During the tournament, Knight dropped the traditional black trunks worn by NJPW Young Lions, instead wearing bright orange gear and sunglasses, in order to better match his partner Kushida, whilst also signaling his graduation as a Young Lion. The duo ended the tournament with 4 points, failing to advance to the finals.[14]

Following the tournament, Knight and Kushida continued to team together, with Knight debuting for Impact Wrestling on January 14, teaming with Kushida to defeat The Good Hands (Jason Hotch and John Skyler).[15] On the January 18 episode of Dynamite, Knight and The DKC returned to AEW, where they accompanied Kushida to the ring, during his TNT Championship match against Darby Allin.[16] On January 20 in Impact Wrestling, Kushida and Knight lost to Bullet Club's Chris Bey and Ace Austin. On February 25, Knight lost to Kenny King.[17] On March 30, at Multiverse United, a co-produced show between Impact and NJPW, Knight competed in a Six-way Scramble match for the Impact X Division Championship, but the title was retained by champion Trey Miguel.[18] In April, Knight and Kushida began teaming under the name Jet Setters. On April 27, Knight and Kushida won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships, from Catch 2/2 (T. J. Perkins and Francesco Akira), marking Knight's first NJPW championship.[19]

The following month, Knight competed in his first Best of the Super Juniors tournament, competing in the B block.[20] Knight finished his tournament champaign with 6 points, failing to advance to the semi-finals.[21] On June 4 at Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall, Jet Setters lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships back to Catch 2/2 in a rematch.[22]

Impact Wrestling / Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2023–2024)

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On June 29, 2023, it was announced that on July 15, 2023, at Impact Slammiversary that Kevin Knight will be facing Mike Bailey, Kushida, Jonathan Gresham and Alan Angels in a 5-way Ultimate X match to determine the #1 contender to the Impact X Division Championship.[23] Later on Jake Something was added to the match making it a 6-way. During this match, Kevin Knight was not successful as Kushida was victorious at winning the match.[24] In a September 2024 interview with Fightful, Knight claimed that he was no longer in TNA's plans in potential storylines and matches and that he would be moving forward in NJPW.[25]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Kevin Knight - La Dojo | New Japan Pro-Wrestling". njpw1972.com. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  2. ^ "Kevin Knight « Wrestlers Database « Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database". cagematch.net. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  3. ^ "Matches « Kevin Knight « Wrestlers Database « Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database". cagematch.net. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  4. ^ "Karl Fredericks injured; to miss Super J-Cup 2020 【NJoA】 | New Japan Pro-Wrestling". njpw1972.com. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  5. ^ "2020.12.12 Super J-Cup 2020 (11/7発表) | New Japan Pro-Wrestling". njpw1972.com. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  6. ^ "www.f4wonline.com/news/new-japan/results/njpw-strong-results-tag-team-turbulence-kicks-347191". f4wonline.com. July 17, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  7. ^ "NJPW LA Dojo Members & More AEW Debuts Announced". May 9, 2022.
  8. ^ "2022.05.14 Capital Collision | New Japan Pro-Wrestling". njpw1972.com. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  9. ^ "AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door Buy-In pre-show results: Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado, Max Caster, Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn, and Billy Gunn vs. The DKC, Kevin Knight, Alex Coughlin, and Yuya Uemura, and Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi vs. QT Marshall and Aaron Solo - Pro Wrestling Dot Net". prowrestling.net. June 26, 2022. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  10. ^ "2022.10.27 Night before | New Japan Pro-Wrestling". njpw1972.com. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  11. ^ "NJPW Rumble On 44th Street Results 10/28/22". wrestlingheadlines.com. October 28, 2022. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  12. ^ "2022.11.20 Historic X-over | New Japan Pro-Wrestling". njpw1972.com. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  13. ^ "NJPW Announces Lineup For Super Junior Tag League 2022 | Fightful News". fightful.com. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  14. ^ "www.f4wonline.com/news/new-japan/results/njpw-world-tag-league-super-junior-tag-league-live-results-winners-crowned". f4wonline.com. December 14, 2022. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  15. ^ "KUSHIDA and Kevin Knight make major IMPACT against Good Hands | New Japan Pro-Wrestling". njpw1972.com. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  16. ^ "AEW Dynamite 1/18/23 Results". January 19, 2023.
  17. ^ "SPOILERS: Results From Saturday's Impact Wrestling Tapings 2/25/23". wrestlingheadlines.com. February 27, 2023. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  18. ^ "Multiverse United: Only the STRONG Survive 2023 Full Results". IMPACT Wrestling. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  19. ^ "www.f4wonline.com/news/new-japan/kushida-kevin-knight-win-iwgp-jr-heavyweight-tag-titles". f4wonline.com. April 27, 2023. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  20. ^ "Complete lineups for Best of the Super Juniors tournament". May 3, 2023.
  21. ^ "Finals Set for NJPW 2023 Best of the Super Juniors Tournament". May 26, 2023.
  22. ^ "NJPW Dominion live results: Seven title matches". June 4, 2023.
  23. ^ IMPACT Wrestling Staff (June 30, 2023). "Ultimate X Returns at Slammiversary, Winner to Earn X-Division Title Shot Any Time of Their Choosing". Impact Wrestling. Archived from the original on February 25, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  24. ^ LAMBERT, JEREMY. "KUSHIDA Wins Ultimate X At IMPACT Slammiversary 2023, Jake Something Returns". Frightful.com. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  25. ^ "Kevin Knight Says He's Not In TNA Plans Right Now, Is Moving Forward With NJPW And MLW | Fightful News". www.fightful.com. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  26. ^ "Titles « Kevin Knight « Wrestlers Database « Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database". cagematch.net. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  27. ^ Ruth, Sondra (September 14, 2023). "Complete 2023 PWI 500 List Revealed, Top NJPW Star Absent". tjrwrestling.net. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
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