What do you do when you have an uber-athletic, charismatic, budding talent that you want to introduce to your audience in the most extravagant way possible? You put him in showcase matches alongside your biggest stars.
That is exactly what All Elite Wrestling did in March, 2025 when they signed former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Kevin Knight.
Knight began his AEW tenure in a 10-minute match with former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Jay White in a losing effort. Immediately after, he was fighting alongside Will Ospreay in a tag team match on Dynamite, defeating Blake Christian and Lee Johnson. It was then that AEW figured out a perfect way to ensure fans would realize Knight is someone they have big plans for.
After the tag team win, a graphic appeared showing that Ospreay and Knight would square off at Dynasty in the opening round of the Owen Hart Foundation Memorial Tournament.
“[My mindset was] I’ve got to come in and make a statement,” Knight said. “AEW is where the best wrestle. You’ve got to show and prove yourself against literally the best in the world, in-ring wise, in my opinion. Like, there’s no way you can flub that. So to come into the company, I had to show I could go step-for-step with the best [Ospreay].
Knight and Ospreay put on an instant classic in their match at Dynasty, earning a match rating of 4.5 stars from Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer. And while Knight didn’t come out the victor, he left with something equally as important in professional wrestling – fans wanting more of him.
In the ensuing year, The Jet has become a focal point on AEW television, becoming a two-time AEW World Trios Champion alongside JetSpeed teammate “Speedball” Mike Bailey.
“I can’t say enough nice things about Mike Bailey,” Knight said. “Speedball has been nothing but a blessing ever since I stepped foot into AEW because he has such a great mind for pro wrestling [and] how to put people in the best situation possible. He knows everybody’s moves like the back of his hand. He speaks four different languages.
So whether we’re in Canada, speaking French, Mexico, speaking Spanish, or Japan, speaking Japanese, he can speak their language so well and connect with so many different types of wrestlers. And I think that is such a strong point for me in shadowing him. Just seeing how he works, he just knows how to put things together. His mind is so crazy, forward-thinking. And just witnessing that has elevated my game so much.
Their first reign came alongside two-time AEW World Champion “Hangman” Adam Page, and they won the titles for a second time with Mistico at Revolution, defeating Kazuchika Okada, Kyle Fletcher, and Mark Davis of the Don Callis Family.
The biggest win of Knight’s career, though, would come at the same Pay-Per-View in which he introduced himself to the AEW audience one year after his show-stealing performance against Ospreay. This past April at Dynasty, a Casino Gauntlet match was held to crown a new AEW TNT Champion following Kyle Fletcher vacating the title due to injury. Knight came out victorious, earning the first singles title of his career and officially becoming the face of TNT.
“It’s such an honor [to hold the TNT Championship],” Knight said. “But the best thing I can say is a Russell Westbrook quote – who better but me? Who better but the J-E-T? Why not me? And that was my mindset going into Dynasty. There were how many? 10 other wrestlers in there with me? I see myself at the top of this [industry]. So I’m gonna take this opportunity to be the new face of TNT. And I think there’s no better candidate than the Jet?”
Dating back to its inception with Cody Rhodes becoming the inaugural winner, the TNT Championship has largely been the title of personalization. From Scorpio Sky’s Gold strap with purple accents to pay homage to his hometown of Los Angeles, to Miro giving it a white strap with green and gold accents during his reign as The Redeemer, to the late great Brodie Lee’s red and gold aesthetic that is retired by the company, this championship is about standing out, and Knight has taken steps to make it his own, as well.
“I brought back the diamonds [on the title],” Knight said. “You know, we need the diamonds back on there to shine for their Knight in shining armor. So I think everybody’s had their own individual, unique reign. I just want to show that I’m the flyest TNT champ of all time. I bring my own flavor. I do it in the way that only I can while still putting on great matches.”
Since winning the title, Knight has had notable defenses against the likes of Claudio Castagnoli, Hook, and Brian Cage. And in the midst of those great matches, Knight found himself in a program with the man who has become the face of All Elite Wrestling – Maxwell Jacob Friedman.
Knight challenged for MJF’s World Championship back in March, losing in a 17-minute barn-burner of a contest. However, nearly two months later, MJF eyed Knight’s TNT championship in the midst of his world championship feud with Darby Allin. Perhaps Friedman wanted the title simply because he is the only one of the “Four Pillars” of AEW to never hold the title. Or maybe it was deeper than that. Allin made a name for himself by defeating Rhodes for the championship and holds the title in high regard. MJF winning the title and holding it hostage would have been a great way to get Allin to give in to his rematch demands.
The reasoning didn’t matter, though, because The Jet outsmarted The Devil, hitting MJF with a low blow before the two-time World Champion could clock him with the Dynamite Diamond ring, rolling MJF up for the pinfall win and a signature win to establish himself as one of AEW’s top rising stars.
“Max is a staple in this company,” Knight said. “And to be able to get in the ring with him, verbally spar with him, physically whoop his ass by any means necessary, and get on the level of the devil – I don’t think he’s ever been in the ring with somebody like myself. Whether it’s someone physically as handsome as me, who dresses as good as me. I think he’s a little bit intimidated, and that’s why he tries to always micromanage things. “And that’s how Max is, and since I haven’t been there since day one, I kind of have a different perspective of Max. So I’m attacking him at different angles and doing things that he doesn’t see coming. And I think that gets under his skin.”
Knight is one of the few black champions across the world of professional wrestling, which is something that he doesn’t take lightly.
“I think my main goal is [former AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland’s] main goal, as well as many other black talent,” Knight said. “Not only in AEW, but just in wrestling in general, is to make that normalized. That is the standard now. Nothing is holding us back, and there aren’t many barriers holding us back as there once were, blatantly at least. And there are going to be more black world champions. This is going to be the standard. Hopefully, it will be a black world champion vs a black challenger to main event a pay-per-view.”
Though he’s only been in AEW for just over a year, Knight has established himself as one of the company’s rising stars and a future world champion. And even after one of the quickest ascents in recent wrestling history, he is sure the best is yet to come:
“2026 is the year of The Jet,” the TNT Champion said. “I’m just going to keep peeling back layers, revealing who I am. Not only inside the ring, but outside of the ring. So I think people are just going to see all of those different things that make me who I am and why I am so different every time you see me on your screen.”
Knight certainly has a claim to be the fastest rising star in professional wrestling over the last calendar year. And in that year, it has become very evident that The Jet has taken flight – and he’s not landing anytime soon.
