Shaun Ricker
Biography
Shaun Ricker is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE, performing on the SmackDown brand as a manager under the ring name LA Knight. Ricker is also known for his time with Impact Wrestling (2015–2019, as Eli Drake). Ricker has also worked extensively on the U.S. independent wrestling circuit, and has been signed by prominent promotions like Championship Wrestling from Hollywood (2010–2013, under his real name) and the National Wrestling Alliance (2019–2021, as Eli Drake). Ricker began his wrestling career in 2003 on the independent circuit. He later joined the then-NWA-affiliated Championship Wrestling from Hollywood (then called either "NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood" or "NWA: Hollywood") in 2010. After leaving CWFH in 2013, Ricker signed a developmental contract with WWE and performed on NXT (then, a minor production with a hybrid, reality TV/wrestling format) as "Slate Randall." WWE released him in 2014. Ricker signed with Impact Wrestling (then called Total Nonstop Action Wrestling [TNA], until rebranding in 2017) in 2015. Ricker found great success in Impact/TNA, holding the Impact Global Championship, the TNA King of the Mountain Championship, and the Impact World Tag Team Championship (with Scott Steiner), once each. He also won Impact's Feast or Fired briefcase twice. After leaving Impact in 2019, Ricker signed with the recently-rebooted NWA, and held the NWA World Tag Team Championship (with James Storm) once. Ricker left the NWA in 2021 to re-sign with WWE. His character name changed to "LA Knight," and he was again assigned to NXT (which, while he was gone, had developed into a major production on par with WWE's top 2 TV franchises: Raw and Smackdown). He is considered one of the best promo cutters of the modern professional wrestling era Outside of wrestling, Ricker appeared as a cast member on the TNT reality series The Hero, hosted by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He also appeared in an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine in 2015.
