Eli Drake Appears At NXT TakeOver With New Name

Former Impact Wrestling World champion Eli Drake made his return to WWE on Sunday night, appearing late in the NXT TakeOver Kickoff show.

Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported shortly before the segment that Drake had returned to WWE, signing a new deal to be a part of the NXT brand.

Drake's new WWE name is LA Knight.

Knight previously worked for WWE from May 2013 to August 2014, wrestling in NXT under the name Slate Randall.

In 2015, using the Drake name, Knight debuted for Impact Wrestling, joining a stable with Drew Galloway (McIntyre) and Micah (Tanga Loa) called The Rising. He later portrayed an arrogant, self-absorbed heel who referred to himself as "The Namer of Dummies".

During his four years with Impact, Drake held the World title, King of the Mountain title, and held Tag Team gold with Scott Steiner.

After departing Impact in April 2019, Knight later moved on to the NWA, where he held the World Tag Team titles with "Cowboy" James Storm for most of 2020. it was reported that he was quietly released from the NWA shortly before the end of last year.