LA Knight didn’t suffer a pinfall. That matters. If WWE didn’t see him as a future top name, they wouldn’t protect him like this. Knight losing clean, especially on the RAW after a huge PLE, would’ve killed momentum. But a disqualification caused by Punk? That keeps him hot, even in defeat.
And in a landscape where fans have been screaming his name at every arena, WWE likely couldn’t ignore the buzz anymore. Knight’s rise was inevitable, and it just needed the right story. Punk interfering makes Knight look like a threat who needs to be “handled,” not someone who came up short.