Kevin Knight explains why he’s done more in one year with AEW than five with NJPW
Kevin Knight says AEW is “the land of opportunity.”
The current TNT Champion signed with AEW in March 2025 after spending nearly five years with New Japan Pro Wrestling.
During a recent interview with David Shoemaker of The Ringer, Knight compared the opportunities he has received since arriving in AEW to what he was given in New Japan.
Knight said:
“New Japan is definitely a system. They bring you up from a Young Lion to your excursion, and then after your excursion, you get the superstardom treatment or whatever. So it’s definitely a system, and it’s been like that for the longest [time], and that’s why it’s so successful, and that’s why some of the best wrestlers come from New Japan, because no matter how good you are, they’re going to keep you in the system until you’re more than ready to ‘graduate.’”
“But then you come to a place like AEW, it’s the land of opportunity. There’s so many great wrestlers at AEW, and if you just stand out in whatever it is that you do, and if Tony likes you, if the fans are gravitating to you, and if you’re having good matches, then there’s no system to keep you down.
So you have to make the most of the opportunity, is the best way that I can say it. And once you’re given that opportunity, you keep elevating and boom. I’ve done more in one year in AEW than I ever did in five years in New Japan. And it’s not anything bad with New Japan. That’s just how the system is set up. AEW is the land of opportunity.”
Kevin Knight to defend TNT title at AEW All In
Coming up next for Knight, he is scheduled to defend the TNT Championship against Darby Allin in a Falls Count Anywhere match at AEW All In on August 30 in London.
Knight won the then-vacant title in a Casino Gauntlet match at AEW Dynasty on April 12, 2026. He has since successfully defended it 12 times, most recently against Chris Jericho on the August 12 AEW Dynamite from the Pearl Theater at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
Knight’s full appearance on The Ringer podcast is available below. The video is queued to the comments referenced above.
Ian Carey
Ian Carey is the Managing Editor at F4WOnline and a writer based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His work has appeared in award-winning publications including NOW Magazine and The Huffington Post. He joined the F4WOnline team in 2019 and was named Managing Editor in the summer of 2026. Born in Calgary, Alberta, Ian has covered professional wrestling for more than 15 years.
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