LA Knight, real name Shaun Ricker, built his WWE persona around crowd interaction after earlier runs as Eli Drake in other promotions. His YEAH chant took off during his 2023 rise on SmackDown, when live audiences began shouting it back unprompted and clips spread across social media. Crowd cheering became part of the act itself, not just background noise, turning every appearance into a chant-along. The phrase stayed popular because it is simple, rhythmic and instantly recognisable, even for fans who use it outside wrestling as a hype reaction.