Lexis King (@lexiskingwwe) is a professional wrestler signed to WWE and appears on NXT. He is also known for his time in MLW and AEW where he wrestled under his real name Brian Pillman Jr. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Orlando, FL to talk about leaving AEW and his decision to sign with WWE, what the meaning behind his name “Lexis King” is, what his goals are in WWE, why he considers Cody Rhodes a dream opponent for him, living the gimmick by driving a Lexus, being coached by Fit Finlay, the hatred that he gets for his beard, memories of his father Brian Pillman and much more!
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Who is Lexis King:
“I don’t know who he [Brian Pillman Jr.] is anymore. But Lexis King is starting to establish himself on the NXT roster, I would say I’ve already made quite a few waves. I’ve proved a lot of doubters wrong, made lot of made a lot of enemies too. And that’s kind of comes with the lay of the land, you know, yeah, the more you succeed, the more people you piss off, and then it just, it’s a never-ending cycle. You know, you can’t move up in the world without robbing a few people wrong.”
On the epic entrance:
“I was just sitting in it [the throne]. I’m backstage and I’m thinking is this real? I spent, and this isn’t a knock on anybody. I spent so many months of my career at the previous company just second-guessing myself, am I really any good? Am I worth it? A lot of self-doubt. And just to see how my career has done a total 180 since then, it went from just sitting in the back and filming a few dark matches in Orlando, here and there, six-minute tag matches, barely getting in the ring and feeling the canvas. Now I’m sitting on a throne, and I’m making my entrance in the biggest wrestling company in the world. They have this confidence in me and it kind of fuels me, I now have confidence in myself. Hell, they gave me the name King. You can’t get any better than that. So, just to feel that 180 And to go out there and, and perform with a certain level of grit and attitude. I’m gonna prove everyone wrong that didn’t believe in me. It’s a dream come true.”
On AEW:
“Like I said, there’s no ill will but it’s sort of just that mindset. I put myself in that mindset, nobody else put me in that. It’s just I put myself in that mindset of like, what’s going on here, that sort of that self-doubt. Then I kept grinding and like I said, I moved back home, I kept grinding going to the local school, trying to find out what makes me tick as a performer. And just the experience living there, the experience I gained, and travelling with AEW made me the performer I am today.”
Signing with WWE:
“I mean, it wasn’t so much of a decision as it was just a necessary transition. I think my time came up at AEW, and it was a great, great run, a great deal financially, I did very well there. But like I said, just that sort of that self-doubt of not knowing the future, not knowing if I’m going to be used, or if I’m going to do anything? Well, it was pretty apparent when they didn’t re-sign me that I wasn’t going to be doing anything there anymore. So God bless agents and attorneys that picked up the phone that day, my contract was up and got the conversation started. I think I got a paycheck from both companies in the same month. That’s how quickly the ball got rolling. Because you’re so worried. It’s like, Oh, my God, like, are they gonna pick me up right away? Am I gonna be able to go there? But now the ball got rolling and the King was crowned pretty quickly.”
How did you come up with the name?
“So this funny, the name, it was never supposed to be this like royalty come out on a throne kind of thing. And it kind of still isn’t. I would say a little bit more of a rock and roll, you know, kind of guy. I mean, I do have a cane. But I’m not going to come out and be cosplaying as a king. But the name has a lot of meaning behind it. And then sure, there are little things that we can play off of, but, the true meaning was that it was my stepfather’s name. It was my little sister’s last name. And the first name was my older sister’s name. So my older sister Alexis was actually an indie wrestler. She was going by the name Sexy Lexie Pillman. My father adopted her when she was young. Her real name was Alexis Reed. But my father did adopt her. She wasn’t biologically a Pillman when she took on that name, and she was travelling, and she was also a dancer. That’s how she made most of her living with dancing. And she passed away in a tragic car accident, so I wanted to honour her, she died when I was about 15. And then my little sister Skyler, I thought I’d just put their names together and make a cool name. I actually wrestled my very first indie match as Alex King. So this is an idea and a creative thought that has rested in my mind for six years. For as long as I’ve been wrestling, as soon as I got on a training. It’s funny Lance Storm, my trainer, he was like, I don’t know about using the name Pillman, it’s a lot of pressure, maybe you should throw on a mask and go by, you know, some gimmick name for a while. I’m thinking sh*t I’m not hiding this. I can’t do a bunch of flippy spots and cartwheels. I got to show my face. But I was like, well, maybe no one will know who I am. I’ll just use a fake name.”
Was there ever talk of Brian Pillman Jr. in NXT?
“I don’t want to get into the details. But like when I first got there, like everything was just Brian Pillman, Jr, yada, yada, yada. And then I had some talks, they gave me the whole, you know, we can’t keep your name kind of talk. And I thought, well, I don’t want to make it seem like that’s a bad thing. Honestly, I’ve always sort of fantasised about having my own wrestler name. Because my whole career I’ve had his name. My whole life I’ve had someone else’s name I’ve been I’ve been walking around for 30 years with someone else’s name. Brian Pillman is a name that my father made. He made that name on his own. There’s not much I can add to it.”
On his father’s legacy:
“I got to the point where I felt like I was sort of subtracting from it. And I was sort of drawing away from his legacy because I am using his name and I was tired of being compared and everything. So it’s like, as much as it was the company’s initial push for that. I was already kind of on board with that. And I was excited for that. And I wanted that to happen. And I had people telling me oh, no, like, don’t let them change your name. You want to keep all the intellectual yada yada and I thought, You know what, screw it. Like, I’m not gonna try to swim upstream. I’m gonna go with the flow. I’m gonna go with what the company wants. I’m gonna put the company first and foremost, and if this is how we can not only benefit me by rebranding me and giving me a whole new identity to work with. But also, it shows the creative capacity for the company to work with its performers and build brand new [stars]. Sure, they could have just said, Alright, he’s Pillman, Jr. and we play the clips of my dad playing football. But then it’s like, where do we go from there? But with Lexis King, we have so many places that we can go and explore my true personality, which is not my father’s because he didn’t raise me. And we have this sort of dark story where I am the son of my stepfather, right? Like, he influenced me, he raised me all by terribly, he abused me and neglected me. But that’s what makes me a King. Right? I am a King because I was raised and influenced by that man. And whether that means I have certain habits or tendencies that a guy like him would have and that’s who I am. I’m a lot less of a Pillman, was more of a Pillman if my father was around, but he isn’t. So internally, I am a King, I am Lexis King.”
On Brian Pillman:
“I didn’t know him at all. I remember as a kid, I remember seeing the bolts in the weight that would hold his ankle together. I remember seeing that sticking out of his leg, the scabbing and the in the oil and just the gruesomeness of it. It was like a Frankenstein movie. And I was like, three or four. But I vaguely remember it. Because I’m just like, this tall. And he’s sitting in a chair like this, like the ankles like right in my face. I mean, I’m just like, oh my god, like my dad’s a cyborg. And I like, vaguely remember that. But that’s it. That and his voice maybe, but I don’t remember much.”
On NXT dream matches:
“You know, people always ask that question about dream matches. And I look at it as a bigger picture than that. I look at the match, the match is the means to the end. But I look at the end result. And I look at the story that built up. One of the best things to happen in my career was being put into that storyline with Trick and Carmelo Hayes is the first time in my career that I had an opportunity to, to get some attention on me. And to get some storytelling happening. You know, at the end of the day, you know, the story is about this about those guys, but to be able to put myself in a high profile setting, and have sort of a payoff blowoff match at the pay-per-view, it just goes to show how much more important wrestling is when there’s a story. Throughout my career, I never really had that. I did have some moments and some stories that led up to some matches, but not to the degree where it was built up that well. So you go out there, and you’re having this match and the crowd super into and you’re like, man, like, what’s so different about this match than any other match I’ve had? It’s like, oh, wait, we did weeks and weeks of television and building up and building the character. And then now this match has a story.”
On imposter syndrome:
“I’ve really like, had to deal with my whole career, the imposter syndrome am I really that good? I’m not really worth it or am I just marketable because of my name, and then to finally just be able to just throw it to the wayside and become Lexis King. And this is my I’m doing things my way. This is my life. You know, I’m gonna wrestle how I want to wrestle. I’m gonna wear what I want to wear, I’m gonna be myself. And people can make comparisons to him all day if they want, because I’m not using his name anymore. So it’s like, you can love Lexis King, you can hate Lexis King. But Lexis King is his own man. He’s doing it his way. And it’s his life, and that’s just like the best thing that could happen. You know, and I love that little sting. I love that little line. And every time I come through that curtain, it’s like, I’m doing it.”
On advice from John Cena:
“He actually came in did a seminar with us at the PC. And I thought, okay, I’ll go and see what see what’s going on. But man, I’m so glad I went. And it was the most enlightening. Like, it wasn’t just like, little questions that people would ask, like, Oh what’s your favourite food? No, we were getting into it, we’re talking about, contract negotiations all this different stuff, I’m so glad I went. Yeah, it was, it was amazing, and the amount of questions that we were able to ask and get to answer it. And one of the coolest things he said, you can’t control the booking, you can’t control who’s wearing what belt or this, that or the other. He’s like, but you can be the best version of said character. And if you’re the best, like he was the rapper guy, if you’re the best rapper guy on the roster. And creative goes, Oh, we want the rapper guy to take on a huge monster. Then they’re gonna pick the best rapper guy they have and put them against the best monster character they have, and then go, oh what does the match look like? So it’s like, people say I’ll never pitch an idea again, let’s put it that way. He said, There’s no point in pitching anything. Because if you pitch something and they don’t use it. Now, you’re disappointed. Now you’re upset. But if you just be the best version of your character. And then they decide to choose you for these things that they created because they’re the writers, they’re going to come up with the ideas. And it’s like, they don’t want you pitching them stuff. They want to come up with it, because it’s their job. So I think it’s kind of a contrast from the company I was at before where that was where our success came from because there was not as much of a writing team there. So anytime I would pitch out and I’ve had successful pitches in AEW I pitched Julia Hart to join The Blondes and I pitched the name, so I had Oh, like, my pitch was successful. I must be doing something right. But it’s like, here in WWE, we have people for that we have right we have creative we don’t have to pitch ideas. We just have to be the best in-ring performers on the mic performers. And be the best f*cking rock and roll sleaze ball, conniving, pick me, look at me kind of guy. And then if I’m the best dirtbag that they have, yeah, that dresses like a rock and roll wannabee, then they’re gonna pick me for those roles. You know what I mean? They’re gonna go, you know what we really want the sleazeball guy to take on our top babyface Carmelo Hayes and then he’ll prove them wrong and prove all the haters wrong, and it’ll be a good story.”
What is Lexis King grateful for?
“My coaches, being here in NXT and my girl.”
