LA Knight (Eli Drake) on WWE return, why he was fired from Impact, intergender wrestling
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- Eli Drake (LA Drake) sits down with Chris Van Vliet at his home in Hollywood, CA a month after he was fired from IMPACT Wrestling. Eli gives his take on why he was fired, why he turned down an intergender match with Tessa Blanchard, talks about whether he would return to WWE, how he came up with the catchphrase "Dummy Yeah" and much more!
🔵 Get awesome CVV t-shirts and merch here:
prowrestlingtee...
🔴 SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE WRESTLING INTERVIEWS!!!
/ chrisvanvliet
Listen to this interview on my podcast, THE CHRIS VAN VLIET SHOW: bit.ly/2FGFWi3
Follow me on Instagram: / chrisvanvliet
Like me on Facebook: / chrisvanvliet
Follow me on Twitter: / chrisvanvliet
Email me: chris@chrisvanvliet.tv
#WWE #ImpactWrestling #LAKnight #NXT #EliDrake
4 years ago he didn't know what the future held, now he's one of the biggest stars in WWE, LA Knight Yeeeaahhh!!
Big announcement.... I now have a podcast!! (Link below)
If you'd prefer to just listen to this interview with Eli Drake or any of my other interviews, check it out on my podcast which has the very creative title "THE CHRIS VAN VLIET SHOW".
And if you like it, please leave a review!
APPLE:
apple.co/2IGzIAt
SPOTIFY:
spoti.fi/2X3de0h
OTHER PLATFORMS:
bit.ly/2FGFWi3
That's great, I look forward to listening to your podcast! 😁👍 *GREAT WORK!*
Chris Van Vliet Dummy Yeah
@@genoalpha4524 Was he a dummy?
@@TheeKingRayzor YEAH!
@@JCWLA86 That didn't answer my question.
I remember I watched this when this came out, not too long before Covid. I'm glad to see where he is now in 2023 after seeing that he was questioning his wrestling career earlier. Hard work sometimes pays off.
That 2K mocap thing was a bombshell to me, that's super cool! The animations really have improved in a major way in the past several years and it's really cool to know that Eli had a part to play. I've seen Eli wrestle live in Windsor on multiple occasions and he's always one of the highlights of the shows. I wish him nothing but the best!
Honestly, when you made the comparison to The Rock’s voice I now hear it and cannot stop hearing it lol
I'm hearing Ryback more
I don't hear it 😕
I'm officially a fan of Eli Drake. He's down to earth as hell. Close your eyes and you might mistake him for The Rock
Mistake him!?
He sounds literally like the rock
Down to earth?!
Who's the Rock? YAH!
He weirdly sounds just like The Rock 😂
Right?! We talk about that! haha
That's mad crazy, I never noticed that before
And that's one of his favorite wrestlers. They were on his show together some years ago. I think it was called "The Hero" or "Hero" or something like that
the rock is awesome but i actually like eli drake more. i just like everything about him. eli is definitely the man.
Steroids
The Rock should hire Eli Drake to do stunt voice work. 🤣
2 minutes in, I don't know how you do it but I love how you make your interviewees so chill and comfortable and talk/treat to you like you've been friends for a long time. Makes for a very chill conversation and that's why I love every one of your interviews. And we always get to learn and know more stuff from them.
I was an honor to be invited into Eli's home for this interview!
It helps that he's so engaged the entire time.
Motion capture was so good I thought they got the actual people to do it. Right on man. Eli really does sound like The Rock. That's insane
Eli is that popular Jock in school that you really want to hate but he's so damn cool you end up hanging out with him.
Right? 😁
@@dil09ful YEAH
I got to meet Eli Drake/LA Knight after an indy show he was preforming at him Central California while he was GFW/TNA Global champion, and i caught him as he was leaving the building and just wanted to tell him how big of a fan of his I was.
30 minutes later we finally wrapped up our conversation and he left, great guy, he deserves everything he's gotten in his career, I just wish he could have got it a few years sooner so he could enjoy it longer.
The Part of the Interview Where They start to talk his departure from Impact Wrestling begins @ 9:00
bigdaddyreese11 that’s the whole point in Chris bringing a performer on. To know him more as a person..
Amazing work, as always CVV. Truly an inspiration for people who want to get into podcasting or interviewing sports figures and celebrities.
Eli Drake deserves to be in the main event no matter where he goes.
He's got the look, the character, work rate and the mic skills.
35:40 I'm sure to a lot of people you just turned heel with this statement.
Instablaster...
Impacts loss is another company’s gain.
I don't really watch much Impact, but in the occasional clips I've watched, this guy has always stood out.
Impact has the tendency to create or at least showcase a new guy and allow them to grow and become gold!!
Eli EC3 Gail Kim Bobby Lashley Drew McIntyre and many others including Eddie Edwards who was an established wrestler now is an awesome maniac! And Killer Kross is deadly! Moose is a son of a bitch and I love it
I agree. Eli Drake shoulda been the face of Impact like Ec3 was. Eli had a very brought future in wwe or aew. Whoever's luckier to sign him
Nwa gain
bigsexylouis3 he won every title in impact except x divison title
I thought Eli Drake was a great heel in IMPACT. He will be a great asset to wherever he ends up.
I had lunch in Baker, California back in 2005 - my one experience with In-N-Out Burger.
And now we know - Eli Drake is the newest member of the National Wrestling Eliance... Alliance. th-cam.com/video/2V5_L6s5ncc/w-d-xo.html
It's so refreshing to hear the real LA Knight, Eli Drake.... As always Chris Van Vliet a natural and the Barbara Walters of the interview but, with wrestling.... The best talk I've heard in a while; So entertaining and knowledgeable... Thanks from a real of both you gentlemen. Yeah!
Sure hope he sticks with wrestling. Pissed that Impact didn't keep him. This guy needs to be a big-time World Champion!
After watching Sami vs Tessa, the match is great but there is still 50-50 reception on intergender matches, WWE suck on it but Impact gave justice on it.
@@rdu239
There is no reason to have it. It's 100% pandering and unrealistic. WWE stopped doing it after Chyna for a reason.
@@joebenson528 agreed 👍
Eli Drake would shine in AEW imo
While I agree, I'm not sure they would sign him.
I think they would be idiots to pass on him because he has the ability to do it all.
The dude is the total package and would be a great addition.
@Gurps Bains they are
Cody has said in interviews that he is looking into some big guys, but yeah he would be great
@Antonio Cortes I've never considered him a wwe guy tbh.
Let's hope he goes somewhere. He's too good to just retire.
So would "CallMeKevin" 😃🤣
I agree and I feel like they could use some guys who look like Drake does. Just a big jacked powerhouse
He Actually Does Sound Like The Rock now that you mention that.
You know, I just read someone else write that. So I tried to close my eyes and hear, give it a chance. I dont know. I hear more Ryback than Rock
to me he sounds more like RVD.
Man, when he was talking about how he doesn't know what's next, I could sense he was feeling the pinch of being so good at what he does for so long but just not getting the kinda break that would push him to the next level. That is something all of us who come from nothing really can feel and relate to. I hope to see LA Knight in the bright lights of WrestleMania soon, lifting the WWE Championship and fulfilling what he has deserved for a long long time.
I've always loved Elis promos. Would love to see him on a big stage allowed to do his own thing.
Funniest part of this interview
Chris - "...nobody wants to be Kevin"
Eli - sad face looking down at shoes.
Eli and MJF tag would be the most powerful heel promo machine 🤖 currently on the whole globe 🌍
Im glad Im not the only one who has thought the exact same thing
This is one of those observations that was not obvious until someone says it, and then you want that to shine to the tops of the mountains.
Or mjf Vs la knight
Another amazing video Chris, love it
Eli Drake gets it. I love this guy. I hope he gets a big push somewhere. He could be a big star if given the right circumstances.
You see how they treat ec3 Eli? Stay away from WWE. Far away.
From the main roster you meant to say. He should go to NXT.
EC3 is only treated bad because of the Ambrose/Moxley situation.
I wanted him to come but after thinking of that ur right
@@coreyauer2125 that's absolutely stupid if that is true. EC3 doesn't deserve to be punished for something like that which he had no control over, in a dark match too..
Ec3 is garbage.
great way to start the day with a solid CVV interview
Here early cause Chris was up earlier working. Support the grind. Good vibes and much love. ✊🏽🙌🏽
Are you the smelly Spider-Man?
Much love. Thanks man!
Trippy Raspo nah I’m a Spider-Man from Brooklyn in a alternate universe. Don’t let my fitted hat and timbs fool you, B. I’m friendly but when I wanna be. Also over here the Knicks are actually equivalent to the Lakers if they had MJ and Shaq, but Shaq can shoot 3’s. It’s wild crazy over here son. Earth 5289. Everyone is basically from New York. Breakfast is a beaconeggncheese with an Arizona. Lunch is a chopped cheese. Dinner is typically Indian food. We don’t have Chinese food. They didn’t take kindly to Trump and stopped giving us goods. Also the year is 2068 so we already living post Trump. There’s 5 universes where he was actually the best president ever and 2 where he was the first. So smelly Spider-Man I am not. Have I seen the multiverse? Come take a walk in my timbs.
Eli would be a great addition to AEW's roster. I hope he doesn't go to WWE and ruin his career, he's way better than that.
Haha he will thrive in wwe
@@bloonsfamguy and thats not an insult that is just the fact of life
Well He’s doing excellent in NXT right now.
@@Jackholiday1025 eh i wouldn’t say excellent but better than expected, just hope he gets booked to win more
Nah nah
I knew the first time I saw Eli he was basically mimicking stone cold and the Rock..And now he confirmed it. He is still one of the best in the biz today.
As a full-time drummer, learning that Eli Drake is a drummer as well makes me very happy!
Seems a genuinely nice cool guy , be nice to see him get the push he deserves
Frr , he's my most fav he deserves to be the champion 😍
And Now He's 100% OVER in WWE as L.A. Knight
This was a great interview. Super refreshing to see a guy be appreciative to a place that got him to a point and not bury them to get himself more exposure. Seems like a really cool guy so all the best going forward... Hope to see you in WWE soon
I am not sure why exactely, but this has to be one of my favorite interviews yet. Eli seems like such a nice guy and I couldnt help but smile through most of the thing. Fantastic job once again Chris!
What is so cool? Is that Eli Drake/L a night was once on the triple H WWE powers series DVD! And you could hear him say “everybody“ and “Yeah!”
Binge watching the interviews, my fav channel :D
Tully should be incredibly proud, Tessa has his charisma and that mean streak that he possessed. Thinking about it, A lot of the old NWA/WCW stars of the 80's, have children that have either influenced, are influencing or are completely changing the face of Pro Wrestling today. Not to many WWF/WWE stars from the past, can say that about their offspring.
never thought i could like this guy, apparently i was mistaken. thanks for humanizing him.
I just started watching wrestling again and this guy is entertaining me. YEAH!
Am I the only one who wants a segment between Eli Drake & Elias if he ever went to WWE?
I want a promo battle with MJF and Eli Drake! AEW needs to sign him.
This is awesome Chris! You're the Steve Nash of interviewers!
And we're both Canadian! haha
He said he sounds like the Rock and now I can't unhear it lol
After hearing that first story I'm appreciating even more the fact that I have a manual transmission
Thats a thing in 'murica? Thought all your cars are automatics
@@HellBrYnger Sadly 98% of them are. I hate it. Too boring to drive. I wouldn't give up the third pedal unless I was getting an electric car.
"There's LA night give me a yeah"100%🎯💪🤑👍
YEAH!!
I've been saying for a long time he sounds identical to The Rock.. They laugh the same & everything.
Honestly never noticed how jacked he really is like chris is not a small guy at all but Eli makes him look skrawny like it's mad
My favourite wrestler and interviewer, my man E-LI-DRAKE has got his longest interview by about 10 seconds
really got into this interview, not like i havent with previous ones, but some just really pull me in and imagine at the time of stuff going on
as always great interview
This interview was awesome
And that is just a Fact of Life!
Brandon Jones he posted this like 7 min ago how you watched a 55 min interview in 7 min
Seeing Eli and Chris is enough to know
2x speed^
Dummy, yeah!
nothing like a monday morning, than to have a chris interview.
good day
Don't watch Raw, it will ruin your day.
CVV interview, BTE and then useless RAW to close Monday
My wife was in the next room and asked "who is interviewing The Rock". Dummy Yea
Haha Dummy YEAH
this was a most excellent interview. i'm a big time eli drake fan. shame impact didn't push him more and make more of an incentive to keep him. i feel like he has the potential to be a big star. he has star written all over him, and he walks the walk, talks the talk, freaking oozes charisma. whatever "it" is eli drake has it and i hope he is given the opportunity to shine wherever he goes. he deserves it.
Another great interview, as always. Thanks again, Chris. I'm pretty new to Eli Drake, but I'll definitely be on the hunt for some Eli stuff following this interview.
Johnny Impact Vs Eli Drake BFG
TheSupineSmokey13 Thank you, but I actually meant Eli promos more so than matches.
He sounds like The Rock. Also the humility and down to earth attitude in real life resembles him as well. He seems very appreciative, and grateful for his success. Hoping to see him more in NXT
Great interview from both sides, had me smiling the whole time. Great job guys!
Totally heard The Rock when Eli said it 😂😂
Eli Drake carries a gallon of water to the ring instead of a bottle water to make Triple H moves..😂
or say there's a match and he smashes the gallon of water on his opponent and drenches them, or he could take a quick sip and then smash the gallon over them.
You gotta keep wrestling! Too many crappy promos nowadays. Yours are the best!
The white ROCK gotta love this guy
Wwe needs this guy, fantastic on the mic
I don’t trust wwe to use him right bc they didn’t make him same shit w EC3
They don't have creative freedom in WWE
Do you know why Eli's whole thing works so well? Most of what he does is off the top of his head/unscripted as he said in the interview. WWE doesn't really give their talent the option of doing unscripted promo's anymore, they would ruin him. He even said he don't know if he can even do a scripted promo because it feels so unnatural for him. He needs to go somewhere that he can do his thing without being limited by scripts. MLW, AEW, NWA Championship Wrestling, ROH, NJPW, ICW, Progress, WoS, anywhere but WWE. I'd even go as far to not include ICW and Progress since their WWE partner's, but since they aren't ran by WWE, Eli would have the option to not sign a WWE contract and stay with them.
WWE didn't utilize him the first time around, just like EC3. Eli Drake needs to look at EC3's 2nd stint in WWE.......they are still are not doing anything with him. McMahon wants to script everything his way......this would hinder Eli's creativeness. He needs to go to AEW so he can shine!!!!!!
@@emmantrajano9997 EXACTLY!!!! Eli needs to go to AEW
He tell the story and I thought it was like early 2000s or something but its 2009! Man, no wonder he so good, he's been through a lot.
Loved Eli when I lived in Florida and was able to go to the Impact tapings. He will keep being successful, and that IS JUST A FACT OF LIFE. DUMMY, YEAH!
Best interview of your career Chris. Bravo. It's way overdue for Knight to get a solid push in WWE.
Everyone's going on about Eli Drake going to AEW or NXT and while I do think he probably will, I think he'd possibly be a nice fit for the NWA.
Good shout, I thought TJPs best chances would be in ROH but I guess impact ain't bad for him either
Your comment came to fruition 😃 he's with the NWA
one of your best interviews yet, Eli is an incredible dude
TNA/Impact has done so well creating stars out of people that aren't really too big in pro wrestling that it is beyond shocking how hard they failed with Eli Drake.
The guy could have easily replaced main event guys like EC3/Lashley once they left. For whatever reason, Impact always kept him in the midcard for others like AA, Del Rio, and Johnny Impact.
How can anyone defend Impact when this guy got a chance to go to the WWE and their first thought was to make him lose to a women on the way out?
Very cool to get this suggested to me now that he is really, really starting to pop. And the fact that he is such a cool, nice guy makes you hope he really becomes a megastar. Add in the fact that his crowd reaction has been purely organic and it's that much more fun to watch.
So glad hes in NWA now. Have always loved his promos and in ring work.
you know who the best in the business when it comes to producing the best interviews ever?
CHRIS - VAN - VLIET! 🤘🏼💯💯
Eli is such a talent, it would be a shame if we never see him on TV again, some one sign him please!!
p9okkoolok l mm??mz9😅😅like ww see re a we e.w.w
s.w.w.ss.wsws.w. w..ws.ww..w.
.w..w
www.w2 m
.w.w2. lm lm p
l m
l.ln
l lm lm. lmm l. m l😮ll😅on
Yeah now WWE signed him Yeah 💪😁
Great interview ! Huge Eli fan now
Amazing show!! And thank you Chris for showing us the view 🎉🎉
Awesome interview man great Eli Drake fan
Been watching this in 5 or 10 minute spurts for the past week, I could watch you guys talk forever lol.
I love this interview just had me sucked into the stories every time
Who’s game is it? It’s LA Knights game!!!
Its insane they decided not to have him appear on Wrestlemania in L.A.
Its quite pathetic.
I mean considering who he was gonna face in hindsight kinda disrespectful
@@aztecwrrior1997 who?
@@himan_shuu23 Bray
Some interviewees are just true entertainers, and an interview this long with someone that isn’t truly entertaining, would be like getting a tooth pulled. Eli Drake is the man, great job CVV.
*"One Eyed Wonder Weasels"* 😂😂😂 *GREAT!*
Much respect to eli drake man, love this interview , thanks CVV
Fast forward 4 years and he's that guy, YEAH!.
I think Eli Drake would be good to share a book or video on weightlifting or keeping your health and talk to us... I'd buy it! Yeah!
this is a real star, you dont get this too often nowadays in wrestling
Great interview,as always...u brought Eli in directions he wasn't planning to go w you.ur awesome chris.i find myself watching ur older interviews,u u have a knack for this.
Hopefully he gets pushed to the moon I absolutely love his character
Great interview as always, dude. Thank you!
Here four years later just to say YEAH
Another awesome interview Chris, great Superstar choice. ✌🏼😃
Eli was one of my favorite wrestlers to watch on impact wrestling he’s so good on the mic 🎙 I hope to see him more on ROH now that he signed with NWA
This guy is a lot cooler than 47k views in a few days!!! And to the host,, a fellow chris.. LOVE THE VIDEOS MAN!
Elias without beard and long hair with exactly same voice like the rock.
Great interview. Love the format. You really get your guest to open up,and we get to know them better.
I'm impressed that he can afford to live in Hollywood
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Impact must pay better than people think
24:50 might be a clue as to how.
wonder if he and Miz were neighbors
Hannibal vs Eli Drake would of been a great match.
ur right lmao I hear The Rock when Eli talks now hahahaha 😂😂😂🖒😎
Now this is the one I’ve been waiting for! Eli Drake! The bet free agent out there! Stay away from WWE tho
pretty cool dude, a lot more chill about the Impact situation than I expected and yeah, I never heard the Rock until you mentioned it
The 2k mocap tibit was pretty cool, hell, there were a lot of interesting stories dropped in this