Kevin Knight has identified patience as the defining lesson he took from training under Katsuyori Shibata at the LA Dojo, explaining that it remains a principle he uses both inside and outside a wrestling ring.
Before arriving in All Elite Wrestling, Knight spent time developing at the LA Dojo under Shibata. The experience placed him under the guidance of one of wrestling’s most intensely respected trainers and competitors, and Knight said the most lasting message was a deceptively simple one: slow down.
Speaking on the Battleground podcast, Knight described how different that guidance felt after coming from a football background, where speed and urgency were central to his athletic approach.
“I would say patience. He would always say be patient, whether that’s in the ring or out the ring, and I always think about that because I came from a football world where you got to do everything fast, fast, fast, fast, you know? So being able to be patient and slow everything down was so foreign to me.”
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Knight’s comments offer a clear look at the adjustment involved in moving from one sport to professional wrestling. Athleticism can provide a foundation, but wrestling requires a performer to manage far more than physical bursts of activity. Timing, pacing, communication, positioning and the ability to make each moment register all demand control. Knight said Shibata’s instruction helped him understand that he does not always need to operate at maximum speed.
“I always tell myself that I don’t have to move at a thousand miles per hour. I can slow myself down whether I’m talking, wrestling, whatever it is, and yeah, just having that patience has gotten me to where I’m at and it’s paid dividends.”
Shibata’s Guidance Extended Beyond the Ring
Knight was careful to stress that Shibata’s lesson was not restricted to wrestling mechanics. The instruction to be patient applied “in the ring or out the ring,” making it a broader approach to handling his career and daily life rather than simply a note about match pacing.
That distinction matters for a wrestler continuing to establish himself on a major roster. Professional wrestling asks performers to develop in public, adapt to changing opportunities and find consistency through a demanding schedule. A patient outlook can be just as important when waiting for the right opening as it is when deciding when to accelerate during a match.
For Knight, the lesson appears to have become a personal check on the instincts he developed through football. His description of that earlier environment as “fast, fast, fast, fast” highlights why Shibata’s message initially felt foreign. Football often rewards immediate reaction and explosive movement. Wrestling certainly has room for speed and athletic urgency, but it also requires performers to understand when not to rush.
In Knight’s own words, slowing himself down can apply to “talking, wrestling, whatever it is.” That wide-ranging answer suggests he views patience as part of his overall professional development. It is not simply a technique to be deployed during a sequence in the ring. It is a mindset that has helped him process situations with greater control.
The LA Dojo Connection
Knight’s time at the LA Dojo remains an important chapter in the route that eventually led him to AEW. Training under Shibata gave Knight access to guidance from a fellow member of the AEW roster, and the connection has clearly remained meaningful as Knight continues his career.
Shibata’s reputation as a direct, disciplined presence makes Knight’s recollection particularly fitting. Rather than point to a complicated technical detail or one isolated drill, Knight named a core idea that can shape every part of a wrestler’s work. Patience may sound basic, but it is also an enduring challenge for a performer with the physical ability and competitive background to move at a rapid pace.
The lesson is especially relevant to the transition from athletic prospect to polished professional wrestler. It can be tempting for emerging wrestlers to emphasize every visible strength at once: speed, agility, impact and intensity. Yet those attributes tend to have greater effect when they are balanced by restraint. A wrestler who can control a crowd’s attention, allow a sequence to breathe and choose the right moment to increase the tempo has more ways to shape a match.
Knight did not claim that Shibata removed his natural urgency. Instead, he explained that the training taught him that constant high-speed motion is not necessary. That is an important difference. The goal is not to abandon athletic traits, but to use them with greater awareness.
Patience as a Wrestling Skill
Wrestling fans often discuss timing as an intangible quality, but Knight’s comments put a simple word to it. Patience can affect how a wrestler builds anticipation, reacts to an opponent, delivers a promo or navigates the pressure of a major opportunity. It requires confidence that not every second needs to be filled by movement or noise.
In-ring patience can mean allowing a reaction to develop before moving into the next moment. It can mean choosing a more deliberate pace before a sudden change in momentum. It can mean recognizing that a faster sequence will land more effectively when it has been set up properly. None of those ideas diminish the value of explosive offense; they help give it context.
Outside the ring, Knight’s comments also point toward the importance of growth over immediate gratification. Wrestling careers are rarely linear. Performers must learn new styles, adjust to new opponents and make the most of the opportunities they receive. Knight’s belief that patience has “paid dividends” indicates that he sees the value of taking that process one step at a time.
That perspective is notable because Knight openly acknowledged that it was not his natural starting point. Rather than presenting patience as something that came easily, he explained that it had to be learned. The football-to-wrestling transition required a recalibration, and Shibata’s repeated instruction gave him a way to make that adjustment.
A Lesson Knight Continues to Carry
Knight’s reflection is ultimately less about one piece of advice from the past than it is about an ongoing habit. He said he still thinks about Shibata telling him to be patient, and he continues to remind himself that he does not have to move at “a thousand miles per hour.”
That makes the message a continuing part of his approach as an AEW wrestler. The influence of the LA Dojo has not been reduced to a training memory; Knight has carried it into the next stage of his career.
There is a straightforward power in the lesson Knight chose. In an industry built around urgency, ambition and the desire to stand out, patience can be difficult to embrace. It asks a wrestler to trust preparation, recognize the value of timing and resist the urge to force every moment. For Knight, that adjustment began under Shibata and has remained a guiding principle.
As Knight put it, the ability to slow down has helped bring him to his current position. The advice was simple, but its application has been extensive: be patient in the ring, be patient out of it, and understand that control can be every bit as valuable as speed.
Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.