Ricker was then repackaged as a manager and renamed Max Dupri in 2022 but later reverted to his original ring name and gained increased popularity in early 2023: he then won the WWE United States Championship at SummerSlam.

[7] Ricker moved to Cincinnati and began training at the age of 20 on March 17, 2003, supporting himself with work at a lumber mill and a Ruby Tuesday restaurant.

[11] On May 5, 2013, Ricker won the 30-Man Red Carpet Rumble for the CWFH Heritage Heavyweight Championship in homage to his late friend and manager Percy Pringle.

However, he made one more final television appearance, defeating Sky's fellow Experience members Big Duke and Xtian Cole.

[5][13] He had previously made sporadic appearances in WWE over the years; he teamed with Jonathan Good in a losing effort against Big Show in a dark handicap match in May 2006,[4] teamed with Gene Snitsky in a losing effort against Cryme Tyme (JTG and Shad Gaspard) on ECW in 2008,[4] and played a security guard during a segment featuring CM Punk and Kevin Nash on Raw in August 2011.

[14] Upon signing to WWE, Ricker was given the ring name Slate Randall and made his debut by defeating Yoshi Tatsu in a dark match during an October 2013 taping of NXT.

[22] On the March 27 episode of Impact Wrestling, he joined Drew Galloway and Micah to form The Rising, defeating The Beat Down Clan in his debut.

[24] On the July 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake turned heel when he cost Galloway a match against TNA World Heavyweight Champion Ethan Carter III.

[31] On January 26, 2016, Drake won the Feast or Fired match and the briefcase that contained a title shot for the future TNA King Of The Mountain Championship.

[38] On the July 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake defended the King of the Mountain Championship against Storm, but intentionally disqualified himself to save the title.

[40] Drake then entered the Impact Grand Championship tournament, defeating Jessie Godderz in the first round,[41] but lost to Aron Rex in the semi-finals.

[45] On the November 10 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake cashed in his Bound for Gold opportunity, but failed to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Eddie Edwards.

[50] On the February 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake cashed in his Race for the Case briefcase for a match against Ethan Carter III, but lost.

[69] Then, he challenged Moose for his World Championship briefcase on the April 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, which he won, thanks to an intervention of Ohio Versus Everything.

After his comments, as well as statements he had made disparaging Impact's booking of him, Drake was fired via email on April 7, ending his four-year tenure with the promotion.

[96] On June 28, 2019, Ricker (as Eli Drake) appeared at the Ring of Honor event Best in the World, being revealed as the mystery partner of Nick Aldis and the newest person to sign an exclusive deal with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).

[125] Knight made his first main roster appearance on the January 24, 2022 episode of Raw, participating in a backstage segment with The Dirty Dawgs (Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode).

[138][139] On the June 2 episode of SmackDown, Knight defeated Montez Ford to qualify for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match.

[141] On the July 28 episode of SmackDown, Knight was confirmed to be an entrant in the Slim Jim Battle Royal match at SummerSlam on August 5,[142] which he won by last eliminating Sheamus.

[158] The following week on SmackDown, Knight participated in the Undisputed WWE Championship Eliminator Tournament, defeating Bobby Lashley and Santos Escobar in the semifinals.

[160] In May, Knight entered the King of the Ring tournament, defeating Santos Escobar in the first round at a live event in Chattanooga but lost to Tama Tonga in the quarterfinals.

[167] He would embark on a winning streak while successfully retaining his United States Championship, some of which took place at Crown Jewel on November 2, where he defended against Andrade and Carmelo Hayes in a triple threat match.

[168] On the November 15 episode of SmackDown, Knight defended his United States Championship against Berto, after which he was attacked by a returning Shinsuke Nakamura.

[169] At Survivor Series: WarGames on November 30, Knight lost the United States Championship to Nakamura, ending his reign at 119 days.

Many fans have favorably likened Knight's brash gimmick and promo style to that of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson or "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, complimenting his recognizable catchphrases and considering his charismatic trash-talking character a throwback to the Attitude Era.

In an interview with Chris Van Vliet, he stated that he first noticed how fast his popularity was growing when the crowd cheered loudly as his entrance music began upon walking out to confront Drew McIntyre and Sheamus on SmackDown on March 3, 2023.

Many former wrestlers and wrestling personalities, such as Konnan[174] and Jim Cornette,[175] have been critical of WWE's poor treatment of Knight and failure to capitalize on him despite his popularity continuing to grow among fans.

Paul "Triple H" Levesque, WWE's chief content officer and the head of its creative team, acknowledged Knight's popularity during the Money in the Bank post-show press conference and said that "great things come to those who wait".

[177] Knight's overall presentation began to improve when he was elevated to main event scene following SummerSlam in August of 2023, as he entered a program with then-reigning Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and his family in the Bloodline.

Following his and John Cena's victory over Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa, Knight would unsuccessfully challenge Reigns at both Crown Jewel and Royal Rumble, the latter of which also featured AJ Styles and Randy Orton.