Do I smell something burning?

Knuckles isn't this dumb in the main Archie comic.

I think he's just being written this way because this is just how dumb Knuckles is in the Boomverse. There's no Master Emerald for him to guard, and Amy's the one with the knowledge about ancient civilizations, and Sticks is the one who grew up isolated, so all Knuckles has left is being the guy who punches stuff.