Former WWE Superstar Mike Knox revealed how he was offered a return to WWE in 2016, but turned down the role due to injuries and wanting to “live an awesome life”.
The wrestler had spell with WWE between 2006 and 2010 and received a stop-start push and one of the biggest men in WWE. His huge physique, long bearded and iconic “10:15” arm pose made him a memorable character for WWE fans and has now been immortalised by the boys at OSW Review.
Mike Knox recently appeared in an interview with Paltrocast to talk about a number of topics which included him rejecting a WWE return in 2016. Talking about a potential Mike Knox WWE return, the former WWE star said;
“I was a realist, I always have been. Back then, especially then, I was 330 pounds, 320, you know what I mean? I hadn’t worked and my knees were freaking really bothering me, my back, my neck was kind of screwed up, you know what I mean? Like, I was starting to forget shit.”
“I still want to live an awesome life, you know what I mean? I don’t want to be, you know, have a head full of mush and two broke legs … I want to be able to run the streets and howl at the moon.”
The offer from WWE came at the time of the brand split in 2016. After Shane McMahon’s return to the company, WWE reinstated the brand split and brought the fan-favourite WWE Draft. During this, the two brands – Raw and Smackdown – were split into two and given their own rosters exclusive to each show.
Shane McMahon was given control of Smackdown whilst Stephanie, his sister and wife of Triple H, took over the running of RAW. They each picked a GM to help them choose their WWE superstars – Daniel Bryan and Mick Foley respectively – and set out choosing their rosters.
However, WWE did not have the numbers in order to facilitate such a split. Therefore, they went on a hiring spree and brought back many former WWE wrestlers to help make up the numbers. Jinder Mahal, Curt Hawkins and The Spirit Squad were just a few who made their comebacks, but many others were rumoured to be singing with the company after some time away.
Reportedly, WWE offered deals to MVP, Carlito and Stevie Richards about re-joining the company in 2016, although neither of the three men signed a new deal with the promotion. While it wasn’t reported at the time, Mike Knox has since confirmed he was part of that group 6 years after his release from the company.
His time with the WWE was mixed but Mike Knox had some memorable moments. He famously competed against Team DX at the 2006 Survivor Series. He was chosen by Randy Orton and Edge to be part of “Team RKO”. However, he was unceremoniously dumped out of the match by Shawn Michaels, who super kicked Knox before asking Triple H “who is that?”.
He also engaged an angle with in-storyline girlfriend Kelly Kelly. He would run in to stop Kelly’s weekly striptease segments, named “Kelly’s Expose” on ECW TV, which led to a short feud with CM Punk that Mike Knox lost.
He also competed for the World Heavyweight Championship at No Way Out 2009, just prior to Wrestlemania 25. He appeared in the Elimination Chamber match, competing against Champion John Cena and challengers Kane, Edge, Chris Jericho and Rey Mysterio. Edge would walk out the winner of the match while Mike Knox was eliminated second in the match.
He would be released a year later in 2010. Despite being offered a role in the company in 2016 he has never returned to the WWE. He did have a brief run in TNA at Knux, although the less we talk about that the better.
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