Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Lexis King Isn't Brian Pillman Jr Anymore

Episode Date: January 16, 2024

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! Quote I'm thinking about: "What you know is limited. What you don't know is limitless." - Tom Brady Sponsors: MUDWTR: Get 15% off with the code CVV15 at http://mudwtr.com/cvv MAGIC SPOON: Get $5 off with the code CVV at http://magicspoon.com/cvv ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and experience financial freedom: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv FITBOD: Get 25% off when you use the code INSIGHT at http://fitbod.me/INSIGHT MYBOOKIE: Bet on WWE! Get up to $200 cash bonus when you use the code CVV and sign up at http://mybookie.ag BLUECHEW: Use the code CVV to get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at http://bluechew.com GHOSTBED: Get 40% of your purchase with the code CVV at http://ghostbed.com/cvv MIRACLE MADE: Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to http://TryMiracle.com/CVV and use the code CVV to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF PLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at http://plunge.com BONCHARGE: Go to http://boncharge.com/CVV and use coupon code CVV to save 25% For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.  Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are go. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Blele. Okay, my friends, welcome back to another one here on Insight. I'm CBV, Chris Van Fleet. Thank you so much for being here. And thank you for making Insight. One of the top wrestling podcasts on the planet.

I appreciate you coming back each and every episode. And before we dive into this today, could I ask for just one teeny tiny, tiny, favor. If you're one of the thousands of people who, according to the analytics, listen to the show, but don't follow the show, could we change that right now? Like, it's one of the easiest things you could do. It doesn't cost you any money. It takes like two and a half seconds. And it's such a great way to support, not just me and my podcast, but to support any creator or any podcaster that you like. It is, again, free to do and super easy. So could you please,

just hit that follow button. It helps the show more than I could possibly imagine trying to explain to you. That's why I've been saying it on the show for the last few months, because it is that important that you just hit that follow button. I go way back with today's guest. We used to live in the same city in the Cincinnati area in northern Kentucky, who used to work out together. You know him as Lexus King in NXT, but of course his real name is Brian Pilman Jr. son of the legendary WWE superstar. Brian Pillman. Well, Lexus King says he is nobody's junior anymore. He is no longer Brian Pilman Jr. He's finding his own way in pro wrestling. And if you think about his career,

he made a name for himself in MLW, signed to AEW, and he spent three years there. And then in October of last year, he signed with WWE. And he's been crushing it in NXT since he got there. And he just looks like a star. Like when he comes out, He's on the throne. They give him the big entries. He's on the throne. It slides out. There's the fog machine.

Looks like a million bucks. And he wrestles like a two. And he's just getting started in NXT. I can't wait to see what's next for Lexus King. Oh, and by the way, a lot of people tweeted this and asked me this. Does Lexus King drive a Lexus? We get down to that in this conversation. But I will tell you this.

The answer is yes. And we took a ridiculous photo. in front of his Lexus. It looks like the cover of the hottest album that's going to be dropping in 2024. Take a screenshot, tag us so we can share it out as well. He's at Lexus King, W.E. I'm at Chris Van Vleet, and here we go. Enjoy this conversation with Lexus King. Oh, it's been far too long. It's been far too long. Yes, it has. I can't believe it. Here we are. Here we are. You believe we used to live. live in the same city. Yeah.

Northern Kentucky. My hometown. I'm actually going home this weekend. For Christmas? Yeah, Christmas Eve. I'm going to fly up there. Nice. Spend a week there.

There's some snow going on. Oh. I feel that lovely winter chill. The best thing about snow is leaving it. Yeah. No, but it's nice to visit and see it. That's what I mean. It's like, oh, it's like, you touch it and it's like, oh, it's real.

But when it's like when you live there? Yeah, when you have to shovel it and that's the worst. What the worst is, it's when you're walking around and it's like sloshing around and the bottom of your jeans. It tears up your shoes too. You know what I mean. Or when you open the car door and like you've brushed off the windshield. You open the car door and then the snow just comes on your seat and you're like, no! Yeah, it's terrible. And then like also the salt russes out your cars. Like what I love about Florida is like cars are more valuable here because they don't rust. Yeah, it's so true.

Because there's no salt and snow. You would move down here. You were in Florida. So we were in northern Kentucky, like Cincinnati area. During the pandemic, yeah. Yes. Wow. And we were.

And they told us we couldn't work out anymore at the crunch. So crazy. Yeah. Yeah. That was funny. Then you moved to Florida. Yeah. Then you moved back.

Yeah. What made you move back? And now you're back here, but what made you move back? Well, you know, I moved to Jacksonville, Florida. I had some family there already. And, um, you know, AEW, which was the company I was with at the time, they were based out of Jacksonville, Florida.

So it was cool. All of our legal staff, medical staff, all the resources for the company were through the Jacksonville Jaguars. So, and we ran out of the arena there. So I went. Daily's place, yeah. This is when, like, all the shows were being run out of daily's place, right? Yeah, yeah.

Okay. So pandemic era wrestling. Yeah. where you don't have fans or and then later on we did have fans at the arena at Daley's place but we were uh I was like how can I you know shorten this commute because I was flying there every two weeks I thought well I'll just move there yeah and I was 10 minutes from the building yeah I moved in with my buddy uh bear boulder as you know from he's in the iron savages the tag team yeah on AW so was my first like wrestling buddy roommate you know and uh that was great. We were 10 minutes from the venue every two weeks. Everybody would be flying in and we'd be just getting a good night's rest and just heading over to the venue and performing our best. And we lived about 20 minutes from the beach. And then after a while, I met a girl that lived on the beach.

I moved in with her and he moved his girlfriend into our place. And things just kind of took off quick, you know. But it was a pretty easy decision to move back home once my lease was up because you know, we were back on the road. AEW was back on the road, so, you know, we didn't have to be, we didn't have to be in Jacksonville. It was just being close to an airport. Yeah, it was just be close to an airport. Cincinnati's great airport. Obviously, my hometown, I live right by there too.

And I just kind of needed to get a nice little reset. I needed to get my stuff together. Being down there was a very important experience in my life. I learned a lot about my self. Learned a lot about, you know, the wrestling business, but also I needed a place I could train. There wasn't a great place to train in Jacks. I went back to the local school in Cincinnati, the NWF,

the Bone Crusher's Academy, and I started going every week and just, you know, just getting my mind right, getting everything back in order. Because, you know, the wrestling business takes a toll on you. Sure. You're traveling a lot. And, you know, I was living on the beach. was partying a lot and, you know, just kind of got ahead of myself there, you know, and then I moved back home and so like a reset on it. Yeah, yeah, it was great. It was the best thing

ever. And, you know, here I am back in Florida. You know, I thought about going from Jacksonville to Orlando and just being like, all right, I'll just, I'll set up base in Orlando. Yeah, that'd be like three hours, right? Yeah, yeah. And like, I was like, all right, I'll just go from here to Orlando in that way you know if anything comes up I'll already be in Orlando but I was like you know what no I need a head home hit the reset button and best thing I ever could have done I feel like I know Brian Pilman Jr. pretty well yeah we go way back right he was a good kid I don't feel like I know Lexus King at all well I'm here to introduce you please to Lexus king this will be our first interview that's right the other two interviews were with Brian Pilman Jr who's that guy I don't know who he is

So I don't know who he is anymore, but Lexus 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 a lot of enemies too. Made a lot of enemies too. And that kind of comes with the lay of the land, you know? The more you succeed, the more people you piss off. And then it's just a never-ending cycle, you know.

You can't move up in the world without, you know, rubbing a few people. wrong. What an entrance you have. Ever since your debut, like with that throne coming over with the fog machine. Yeah. It was great. I mean, it was just, I'm just sitting in it and I'm backstage

and I'm thinking like, is this real? You know what I mean? You know, I spent, you know, and this isn't a knock on anybody, but you know, I spent so many months of my career at the previous company just second guessing myself. Like, 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, you know? I went from just sitting in the back and filming a few dark matches in Orlando here and there, you know, six-minute tag matches, you know, barely getting in the ring and feeling the canvas to now I'm sitting at a throne and I'm making my entrance in the, in the biggest wrestling company in the world, you know what I mean? And 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 know what i mean you can't you didn't get any better than that you know what i mean so just to to feel that 180 and and and to go out there and and perform with a certain level of grit and attitude

like you know i'm going to prove everyone wrong that that didn't believe in me it's a it's a true it's a dream come true i don't feel like you'd be in the spot that you're in right now though if it wasn't for the three years that you spent in the way. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, there's, there's no, uh, like I said, there's no ill will, but it's sort of just that, that mindset, you know, I put myself in that mindset. You know, nobody else, you know, put me in that. It's just, I put myself in that mindset of, of like, you know, what's going on here. Like, you know, that's that sort of that self-doubt of like, and then I kept grinding. 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

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What went into the decision to sign with WWE? You know, I mean, it wasn't so much of a decision as it was just a necessary, you know, 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, you know, just that sort of that self-doubt of not knowing the future, you know, 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 resign me that I wasn't going to be doing anything there anymore. So God bless agents and attorneys that, you know, they picked up the phone.

The day my contract was up and got the conversation started. I would say I think I got a paycheck from both companies in the same. same month. That's how quickly, that's how quickly the ball got rolling, you know, because you're so worried, it's like, oh, my God, like, are they going to pick me up right away? Like, am I going to be able to go there? But, no, the ball got rolling and the king was crowned pretty quickly. Yeah, how'd you come up with the name? So, it's funny, the name, like, you know, it was never supposed to be this, like, royalty come out on a throne kind of thing. And it kind of still isn't, you know what I mean? I would say I have a little bit more of a rock and roll, you know,

kind of guy, but. I mean, look at what you're wearing. You look like you could be in Nerval. Yeah, like, yeah. Like, I'm not going to come out, you know, I mean, I do have a cane, but, you know, I'm not going to come out and, you know, be cosplaying as a king, but the name has a lot of meaning behind it. And I'm sure, there's little things that we can play off of, but the true meaning was,

it was my stepfather's name. It was my little sister's last name. And the first name is my older sister's name. So my older sister, Alexis, was actually an indie wrestler on the scene. She was going by the name sexy Lexi Pilman. 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 Pilman.

But she took on that name as she was traveling, 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 honor her. She died when I was about 15. And then my little sister, Skyler, I thought, oh, I'll 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. It was as soon as I got out of training, it's funny, Lance Storm, my trainer, he was like, I don't know about you using the name Pilman.

It's a lot of pressure. and, you know, maybe you should throw on a mask and go by, you know, some gimmick name for a while. And I'm thinking, shit, I ain't wearing a mask. Hiding this face? This is all I got going. Yeah, this is all I got going from me. You know what I mean? I can't do a bunch of flippy doze and cartwheels.

So I got to show my face. Flippy dues. And I was like, well, maybe no one don't know who I am. I'll just use a fake name. No one will know who you are. You look just like the man. I know, I know. So I'm like, all right.

I'm going to have my first match. It was with Cody Hawk, the trainer of, uh, Dean Ambrose trainer. John Moxie's original trainer. I actually did a little training with him prior to going to Canada. Got a little head start with him and Rip Rogers and OVW before I did my initial training. But yeah, I was like, what can I do? So I was like, all right, I'll go by the name Alex King, you know.

And I came out to pretty handsome awkward by the used. And I came out and I was Alex King, had my leather vest on. and I literally think I went in there. I gave him a drop kick, and then he like threw me outside, beat me up a little bit, rolled me back in, gave me a package pile driver, and that was it.

It was like a two-minute match. That's the end of Alex kick. But I just got it out of my system. And I was like, you know what? Nobody cared that my name, you know what I mean? Like, I'm just going to go by Brian Biltman. After that, after that, I was like, screw it. You know what I mean?

Like got it out of my system, you know, the match happened, you know, Nobody crucified me. So let's just get on with it. It started wrestling as my real name, which is Brian Pilman. Did I see you rolled up in a Lexus today? Yes, I did. Is this just irony that Lexus King has a Lexus?

Yeah, I'm actually a car guy. So I'm big into cars. I grew up on the fast and furious movies, need for speed, you know, all that stuff. So I love cars. I love Japanese, my automobiles, you know, particularly. between 1999 and 2005. So when I got the name Lexus, I thought, man, we got a creative thing here. Live in the Givoc.

I could be Lexus in a Lexus. What years are your Lexus? So my Lexus is 2004. That thing looks like it's in mid-condition. Yeah, it's an IS 300 with 30,000 miles on it. Wow. So the previous owner took great care of it. It's an immaculate condition.

And I traded in my Toyota FJ Cruiser for it, and it had like a hundred, 137,000 miles. So I ended up making money and like getting a really good deal and lowering my payment and insurance and everything. And now I have a car with 100,000 less miles than the previous one. And you're driving a Lexus. And I'm Lexus and Alexis. I mean, it doesn't, you can't beat that. You know what I mean? I just thought it'd be funny. Honestly, I'm the type of person to go do that. Like I'll go out and make a huge financial decision just to rib everybody. Like, oh, it's Lexus. You know what I mean? It's Lexus and Alexis. So kind of nice ring to it. Pretty good.

Was there any talk of you being Brian Pilman Jr. in NXT? Yeah, I mean, I don't want to get into details. But like when I first got there, like everything was just, I mean, it is your name. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Brian Pullman Jr., yada, yada, yada. And I had some talks, you know, 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, you know. And honestly, I coming into it.

I actually, I've always sort of fantasized 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 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. You know what I mean? There's not much I can add to it. And he's a man you don't really know.

And that's true too. And it's like, and I thought to the point where I felt like I was sort of. of subtracting from it. 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 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 tell me, oh, no, like, don't let them change your name. You want to keep all the intellectual, yada, yada, yada. And I thought, you know what, screw it. Like, I'm not going to try to swim upstream. I'm going to go with the flow. I'm going to go with

what the company wants. I'm going to 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, you know, it shows the, you know, the creative capacity for the company to work with its performers and build brand new, you know what I mean? Sure, they could have just said, all right, he's Pilman Jr. and to play the clips of my dad playing football and boom, boom, and then it's like, where do we go from there? Yeah. But with Lexus King, and I say that with a lot of emphasis.

I see that. Lexus King. Lexus King. With Lexus 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 this dark, story where, you know, I am the son of my stepfather, right? Like, he influenced me. He raised me all by terribly, you know, 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. Yeah. And whether that means I have certain habits or tendencies that a guy like him would have, then that's, that's who I am, you know, it would be more, I'm a lot less of a pillman. You know what I mean? I would be more of a pilman if my father was around, but he wasn't. So internally, I am a king. You know, I am Lexus King. So my little sister's family has invited me to their Christmas this year.

So I'm going to be spending Christmas Eve with the King family. Wow. They're going to be dining with Kings. Yes, I am. And it's cute because a lot of them have kids now. My cousin, Tyler and Travis, they all have kids. And even my stepfather has another young kid. Does I make them princes and princesses?

I guess it does. But they're all super excited because, you know, they see me on TV. And they're like my biggest fans because I'm, you know, I'm using their name on TV. And so I have all these young kids that are excited to see me for Christmas. I'm going to bring them some autographs and things like that. Do you have a new autograph? Yeah. I do.

I do. Did you know, did you sit there and like figure out, okay, like, L and a K? Yeah. I mean, that's exactly like how it goes. Like, I was just sitting around the back one day and the merch guy's like, hey, you know, you just did Halloween have it. You just did all these things. Like, we need to get all these posters signed so we can sell them off. I'm like, oh, crap.

I'm like on the spot. I had to like come up with a new autograph because for five and a half years, I was just scribbling BP and I'm thought. Your whole life, really? Yeah. Because if it was me, it was just B. BP and then if somebody wanted me to sign something of my dad's, I was just like, oh, I'll just put BP. And like

a million times I'd get people wanting me to sign my dad's merch, like his action figure, his cards. So I just BP, BP, BP. Now I don't know what I'm going to do because I'm just like, maybe I'll save the BP for his stuff and then put the LK on my stuff. But basically it's an

L, big L, big K, and it has a cute little crown in the middle. I like that. Oh, that's all good. How well do you feel like, Like you knew your dad. I don't know if everybody knows the whole story here. You were very young when he passed away. Yeah, I didn't know him at all.

You know, I remember, as a kid, I remember seeing the bolts and the, in the weight that would hold his ankle together. I remember seeing that sticking out of his leg. And you were how old? And like the scabbing and the oil and just the grossiveness of it. You know what I mean? It was like a Frankenstein movie. And I was like three or four, but I vaguely, vaguely. remember it you know what i mean like because i'm just like this tall and he's sitting in a chair like

like this or like the ankles like right in my face you know what i mean i'm just like oh my god like my dad's a cyborg you know like i vaguely remember that but that's it that and his voice you know maybe but i don't remember much about him so you know about it's much about brian pillman as fans do like from watching you know old footage yeah well that's my that's my education on my father and and again don't get me wrong there's a lot of that in-ring influence you know what i mean just from watching his stuff and having the same genetics and mannerisms that that i can't ignore you know but as far as i but as far as my personality and who i am and my values you know i didn't i don't really know that much about him and he didn't have

that much influence on me growing up you know sure you know i would say my i have my uncle mike to thank for you know the very well put together man i am you know but i also have my mother and my stepfather to thank for, you know, some of the other traits of my personality. You know what I mean? So, like I said, I'm a lot more of a king than I am a pillman. I feel like you've, you have matured a lot in the last, I've known you almost six years, I think. When was your, when was your wrestling debut? Um, so I had my first match, like I said, with Cody Hawk. I'll call that my first dark match. Okay. So I think that was December 18th. 20th. 2017. And then I had my first match as Brian Pilman Jr. on December 31st. Well, happy

wrestleversary. Thank you. Six years this week, basically. Yeah, yeah. Wow, that's crazy. I feel like you've changed so much since that. Yeah, I've definitely evolved as a performer. You know, you start off in this business. I had access to a lot of the old timers, you know, as they say. because of my father, I would go to conventions and I would see all the old school guys and they would be giving me their advice and this, that, and the other. So there was just so much information overload when I first started that it was just kind of hard to like, you know, and then you got the new guys and they're doing all these crazy spots and like, oh, that's fucking cool. And they're like, that's getting over. And then it's like, oh, the old guys are like, you know, go out there and walk and talk and, and, you know, I ain't bumping and I have a shit. And it's just like, what the hell?

So it was hard to like decipher all that, you know. And then you got the people that actually made money. And then I got lucky to meet up with Jericho and do a podcast on his tour bus with Fosy and stuff. So it was like that kind of got me a little bit of buzz going early on. I just got out of training with Lances, but I got hurt early on. So with training with Lance Storm and then touching base with Chris, it was like, okay, now I have like two guys that really did it. They really get it. highest level and they are in their friends and they both kind of helped me get started in my

career so so i would go to chris a lot early on and then it was like okay now i can kind of weed out like what's important and like in the people that have been there done that and then even come into now it's like a whole other world at the nx t performance center it's like i don't even have to think you know they do all that for you it's like you pick your coach then you just stick with them you know right now my my coach is fit finley So it's like I don't really have to, I don't have to ask, you know, what brother thought about my match. Like if I come to the back and my coach said it's good. Yeah.

And it's good. And I'm in the habit of it too. I'll go to other coaches and see what they think. And but they, you know, they'll tell you there too. It's like, hey, you know, stick to your coach. We don't want to give you too much feedback. And so it's just so much easier from them from having to sift through all the noise and figure out what makes this business tick. I now have just a very streamlined, you know, this is what we want out of you in the ring.

And then the creative team is this is what we want out of you when you're in front of the camera doing vignettes and stuff. So it's once you, you know, I know there's benefits to different styles and companies, you know. Some people thrive in AEW with a lot more freedom. You know, the House of Black are doing incredible stuff over there because, you know, they have that creativity, they have that direction that they want to go in. I'm a little bit different. I thrive more in the structured environment. You know, I like working in collaboration with the writers, letting them tell me, you know, how to act and what to say.

And like, but also, you know, there's a lot of that in me too. You know, it's not just a completely new character. It's a lot of my own personality. But I just thrive in an environment where there is that sort of direction and structure. Fans just see the show on Tuesday night, but what's the rest of your week look like? Yeah, I mean, we don't, you know, this is a real deal. This is not a 15 minute a day, you know, show up and do your match and leave type of job. I mean, we train every day.

So there's always something to do here at NXT, whether that's training. We're training Monday through Friday. We're doing shows on the weekends. We're all there all day for TV, getting everything ready. So it's a machine and it doesn't stop. except for Christmas. So you've got a holiday break, holiday break, go home, see some snow, reset.

Yeah. And then it's right back to it. Yeah. Yeah, this very much is like Monday to Friday. Like, it's a job. Yeah. It's a job. And even your growth from your NXT debut

to where you're at now has been incredible. What are some of your favorite matches you've had so far? Yeah, I was really, just going back to my debut, it was like you can kind of see it in my eyes. from that first match until my match the other night in the NXT breakout tournament, I was just still in that kind of like deer at headlights, like, oh my God, like they're putting me in a throne and I'm coming out and they want me

to do good. And this is my fog machine. And this is my first match here. And it's in the WW, the biggest company in the world. And we just spent, you know, time, like making sure everything's good. And so I was still, I didn't know who I was too. And they're telling me, all, you're going to be a bad guy or a heel, as we say. And I'm like, oh, what if they like cheer?

What if they don't make it? You know what I mean? Like, so there's so many little questions going on and I kind of came out. And again, it was like going back to like my first match. It's like I just got it out of my system. I was like, okay. I know what I'm doing. I've had over 350, 400 matches.

Like, why did I make such a big deal out of that? And now it's every week. Now we're going and we're flowing and I'm comfortable and I'm coming out. And I'm sitting in my chair and I'm relaxed. And I just know how the crowd's going to react. I know I'm going to come out and they're going to make noise. I know they're going to be into my match. It's just the confidence from that first match.

Like you said, it's just day and night. You know, and that's what a system like NXT does. They prepare you to become a star. They make sure you work and you earn it. You know, there's no days off. We're all working hard. We're all setting up the rings every weekend. It's a process, and it's a process that I really enjoy.

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I glazed over that one. I rephrased it. Well, you know, next week I have a big match coming up with Riley Osborne. Really looking forward to that one because he's,

I don't know when this is going to air, but I like two weeks. Oh, okay. So this, so it would have already happened. I'm sure the people will have already seen it. Yeah.

Cool. So then we can just edit on this out. But I had a really, the breakout tournament has been, a great string of matches for me because the breakout tournament is we're showcasing all these incredible athletes, Division I, some former NFL, pro sports players. And so to go out there in the round one with Dionne Lennox, which is a huge, huge athlete, just an incredible, incredible monster powerhouse of energy. And to go out there and wrestle him in his first TV match

was like really big for me you know to be able to go out there and um and obviously be victorious but also to sort of break in a young new talent with a ton of potential and for the company to have that trust in me that I can go out there and deliver with a guy that's you know been training for you know six to eight months you know what I mean like just hey you know here you go you know so they've been giving me the ball you know and I've been running with it and then on the flip side of that coin is the second round of the breakout tournament, I go out there with a guy with tons of experience with Riley Osborne, just an incredible British wrestler, incredibly technical, incredible finisher with the shooting star press. So having the confidence to go with a guy at the

high level, but then having a confidence to elevate someone else that's still learning and to make it easy for them. It's like I feel like, I feel like, I'm just becoming such a well-rounded performer. Yeah. And then don't even get me started on my first pay-per-view match ever. That was great. T-L-E match with Carmelo Hayes. I mean, talk about something full circle.

You know, me and him go back to the Indies and stuff. We never actually wrestled each other, but we would see each other in passing. And I always had a lot of respect for Carmela Hayes, formerly known as Christian Casanova. So to be able to kind of go full circle. with that and the company to go, oh, these guys have great chemistry, great chemistry, you know, on the mic with each other and now great chemistry in the ring. That was only, I think we had a house show match before that just to kind of like feel each other out. And it was just amazing. I just felt like working with somebody like him who's already, you know,

at a high level in NXT and then just to show that, hey, I'm right here with you. Like, I'm getting the same, you know, level of reaction. I'm, I'm, I'm working at the same rate as you. You know, it's clear that, you know, nobody's out working each other. We're out selling each other. We're selling for each other and making each other look like stars. And then we already are stars. So it's just like, it was just a match made in heaven.

Yeah. I mean. And that was the first time I ever had a singles match on a pay-per-view. Wow. Yeah. So I think the whole world was just, you know, I have my detractors and my haters. And I think they were just like, oh, they just couldn't wait for me to fail. You know what I mean?

They just couldn't wait for me to go out there. and shit the bed and don't get wrong, I have in the past. You know, I mean, I've had some matches in the past on TV, live TV that were far from spectacular. But now that I look back and I go, okay, like, there's this process here that prepares and grooms people for these big moments where in the past I was just sort of thrown to the wolves. You know what I mean? So it's like I don't feel as bad about, as about, bad about matches that weren't as great in the past because I was just a young guy getting thrown out there. You know what I mean? We're here.

It's like, okay, they're setting me up to succeed. If I fail now, it's like, all right. Now, what am I missing here or what did I mess up? But like just the process and being sort of groomed for success, you know, they don't, you know, they don't set you up to fail here, which is a great thing for me. Now, you know, I know there's a lot of performers that, you know, prefer the freedom and sort of the own the free schedule of living at home and stuff. but I definitely thrive in this culture here. You know, Lexus King's beard makes you an instant heel. People hate that beard.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's something that really worked out for me because it's all about engagement and getting the fans interested. And it's funny, I moved down here, and there's a little backstory to this. Everybody joked, they were like, oh, you know, trick and mellow must have hooked them up. with their barber but like that's actually what happened so that was like a comment on twitter but they actually i moved to orlando and i thought well i need to hit somebody up and see who the best barber is so i've texted mellow i had him on twitter i didn't have a cell phone number at the time but

i said hey man like where's the best barber in orlando he's like don't worry man i'll hook you up with charlie so i hit up charlie and i've never had this happen like i've never had it done before all i asked for was like a haircut similar to what i'd have like you know AW or previous, you know, just like, line me up. You know, I mean, line me up sharp, make me look good. And he adds all the color. Like, he adds all the whatever it's called, the brown and like the really dark in your beard and really bring it out.

But I didn't know he was going to do that. This is my first cut with this guy. And I get out of the chair and I look in the mirror and I'm like, I'm like, yeah. I'm like, that's it. Like, I loved it. Like, so people that are shipping on it, man, I loved it. I got out of their chair and I was like, Hell yeah.

Like, I started looking Dominican myself. I mean, I was like, I mean, he's Peruvian, but I started looking like, I got it was Hispanic and I thought, man, this is it. Like, this is just so, it's just like the lines are so sharp and they're kind of, it looks like it's drawn on, but I was like watching it. And this was my first, like, I think I was getting my photos done. You know, it didn't even have a segment or anything. So I got the spray tan and then my beard's all, you know, done up.

And I go there and it was just an instant hit with the locker room. everybody was just like, you look like the most evil villainous heel and the history of like, so once it caught on online, I just, because obviously I hadn't seen the reaction yet, but once I went out there and it just started catching on. And so I just lean into it. And now I just, I have a routine, you know, and the routine hasn't changed. You know, every Tuesday before TV, Charlie does me up real nice. Urban barber, for those of you in the Orlando, Florida, Tampa.

I mean, he drives around. He's got a bus. He drives a bus around. Yeah. What a production. Yeah, he'll go around town and cut people's hair. I mean, it's the best haircut I've ever had. I mean, he's truly phenomenal.

Um, and he's added a layer of my character. You know what I mean? Like, and that's what I appreciate so much about this business is working with people. You got your barbers and your seamstresses and the people that, that work on your gear and like the people that do your hair and everything. And, um, it's such a collaborative effort from the people that set up. up your entrance. I mean,

I got people that, like, are throne people that, like, work on my throne, you know, they have to, like, pull it out and shit.

Like, there's just so much, police? I, I think they might have added an engine to it or a motor recently. I don't know. It might have its own drive now, but, like,

for the first couple weeks, it was just like, they were pulling that shit out, you know? There's, like, a team of guys. There's, like, four of them.

They're, like, making calls and, you know, hold and pull. And I'm like, Jesus, like, they're doing a whole,

on salary just to pull my throne you know what i mean so there's so much that goes into it with production and and you just don't have to worry about anything else because everybody works together but even not in gear this is a look oh look at this is just this is just how i dress what's what's on your chain this is uh i think that's the lord i think that's the holy that's holy spirit right there my friend no i actually uh it's funny you know i have some other chains and jewelry and stuff but i found this in that car. So the previous owner left this chain in that car. Wow.

So like, it was just like I found Jesus. Like I found quite literally. Like literally it was the other day I had some guy come in detail it. And he goes, I left the chain in your glove box for you. And I was like chain. I don't have a chain in there, but he must have found it under the seat or something. And I go

in my glove box and I pull out, you know, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And I thought, man, this must be the car for me. You know what I mean? God gave me this car you found jesus and alexus yeah i found jesus and alexia but i feel like with the headband with the hair with the nirvana shirt i said it earlier but yeah i feel like you could be in nirvana yeah i'm starting to come into my own you know and this is just sort of my style maybe turned up a little bit but uh but yeah it's rock and roll baby and just the way you just the way you sit in that throne

yeah it's like this is it's like i care i don't really care I like that. I mean, I mean, you know what I'm talking about. It's pretty great. I'm just here because I have to be. You know what I mean?

I'm just here because I got to kick your ass. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry to you. Another day at the office, you know. Who are some of the dream matches that you have in mind in WWA? You know,

people always ask that question of dream matches. And I look at it as a bigger picture than that. You know, I look at the match. You know, the match is the mean. to the end, but I look at the end result and I look at the story that built up. You know, I mean, one of the best things to happen in my career was being put into that

storyline with Trick and Carmelo Hayes. This is the first time in my career where I had an opportunity to get some attention on me and to get some storytelling happening. You know, at the end of the day, you know, this story is about those guys, but to be able to put myself in a high profile setting and have, you know, have. sort of a payoff blow-off match at the pay-per-view, you know, it just goes to show how much more important wrestling is when there's a story, you know what I mean? Like, for my, throughout my career, I never really had that, you know what I mean? 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, you know, so you go out there and you're having this match and the crowd's super into it. And you're like, man, like, what's so different about this match and the 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, but the story thought you were the payoff of that angle. And then it wasn't, and then the story. So it's like, I'm not like, oh, what's my dream match? It's what's my dream story? You know, what stories am I looking forward to telling? And the whole process of it. Sure, like we're going to have a match.

You know, the match will be great. But, you know, you go out there and you can either do a bunch of crazy spots and moves and chairs and barbed wire and all this stuff. Or you can tell a really good story leading up to it and almost get the same reaction on a normal match that you would doing all this crazy stuff because the people are so much more invested in that story. So I don't think about dream matches. I think about dream stories.

And a dream story for me would definitely be. to work with Cody Rhodes, having been spent some time at AEW with him, he's someone I always looked up to, you know what I mean? He was a great leadership figure there. He definitely gave me a sense of direction and purpose when I was there. And I don't know what it is about me, but I just have this thing with other second generation wrestlers that I always just, whenever I'm in the ring or working with them, I always rise to the occasion and I have some of my best work, some of my best work ever.

I had a match with Carrie Morton, Ricky Morton's son and Raleigh, North Carolina at Steamboat's last match. You know, some of my best work is when I'm in there with another second generation wrestler. You know, again, I wrestled Ricky and his son Kerry at Rick Flair's last match. And then for those you don't know, Brooks Jensen, who I wrestled on TV several weeks ago, one of the best matches I ever had. It's just because there's a certain level of respect and like understanding when it's in your blood and you've kind of come from this business. And again, I wasn't quite raised around it. But I was quickly, you know, I quickly gained a lot of respect for it from seeing that the level at which my father reached and the amount of people that he, you know, connected with and stuff.

So when you have that level of, you know, respect and it's in your blood, it's like, something about me. It's like my father like takes over for the match and he like does the match. You know what I mean? Like it's almost like he's like his spirits with me and I put on some of my best work ever. So I've just always dreamt of like me and Cody just having that like final like big match, you know, where it's like a big story where we talk about, you know, maybe some of the similarities and the differences of our journeys and how he got to where he is and then, you know, his relationship with his father versus mine and the differences in polarity. he's there and like how we both ended up here, you know, at the WWE.

He's, he's the best version of himself that he's ever been. And I'm the best version of myself that I've ever been. And we could talk about the journey and how we got here and obviously have a great wrestling match. You guys have never worked together. No, never even locked up with him, nothing. Wow. Spoke to cigar with him. I mean, hung out on his tour bus.

He used to have a tour bus. He still does. He still has the tour bus. It still does. So, yeah, I mean, Cody's just a cool guy, you know, and I've always wanted to tell a good story with him. And very similar to you, there's a work ethic for both of you. Cody works his ass off.

You work your ass off. And that's why both of you are in the positions that you're in right now. And it's been amazing watching both of your journeys. Yeah. I mean, my first interview with Cody was when he was Ring of Honor champion. I guess I did one with him at WrestleMania 27, but the first long interview was when he was in Ring of Honor. My first interview with you was MLW. Yeah.

the journey you've had since then, from MLW to AEW to where you're at now. Yeah. Do you remember, you mentioned it earlier, but when we went to the gym, Crunch Fitness, we would go there a lot. Do you remember that day we went with like a group of us? We did shoulders? Yeah. Like the most insane shoulder workout, I think I've ever done. We did like nine sets of different things.

Yeah, yeah. And then there was like five of us. And the manager of the gym came over at some point. He's like, hey, some people are complaining. You guys are too loud. like yeah what they're at a gym yeah we're at a gym like what's the what's the problem here you're a maniac in the gym yeah i don't know what it i don't i don't know what it is like you bring this intensity to the workouts that you have like obviously you have this natural charisma but like

you step into a gym and your charisma goes from a 10 to like a 14 yeah where does that come from it's funny i actually had uh one of the managers he was like he was like he was talking about like wearing the masks and stuff. It was at that same crunch. And he was like, you know, I need you to wear your mask. He's like, you know, I know, I know that you're very expressive when you work out. You know what I mean? Like he was trying to find a way to say what you just said. Like he's like, because after sets, you'd be like, woo. Yeah. Okay. No, because like sometimes I'll have my headphones in too. And I do like to make like noise because there's something to it like with you when you exhale. It's like the same thing in boxing. Like,

You know what I mean? Sure. You know, anytime you exhale with a little bit of noise and you release that energy, it helps your body, like, propel weight, you know, forward. So, no, I am a loud ass dude in the gym, for real. But no, I think it's just the vibe, you know what I mean? I've been working out since I was 12 years old. So I've been. Is that how wide?

Like, that's why you're so wide? I think that's part of my father's genetics. I've had wide shoulders since I was a baby. You know what I mean? I've always had just these wide shoulders. But I've been in gyms, you know, bench press, like doing heavy lifts since I was 12. When I was a freshman or eighth grade going into freshman high school football, you know, we had a, it was a public school, but it was a really big public school. We had a good, like, football team, you know, like it was a very serious organization.

And they started us weight training as soon as we were like on our way at a ninth grade to the summer before freshman year. Oh, wow. And I was a year, I was a bit younger than everybody because I'm a September. birthday. So I'm 12 and I'm swatting and I'm fucking benching. And I just, I just built on it from there. I'm 30 years old now. So it's 18 years of working out. And, you know, I've had my breaks and stuff here and there. But for the most part, I've worked out. Like, it's just, it's an enjoyable experience for me. You know what I mean? We've been, we have, we've had a pretty busy schedule recently. So it's like, I need to get back in there. But I belong to a place now called Iron

religion, which is like a nice bodybuilding gym here in Orlando. But yeah, I've always just had a lot of energy in the weight room. I think it goes back to being on the football team and that competitiveness and everybody working out trying to get each other's maxes up and just, you know, you got all the mirrors there, you know, you can check out your, check out your physique and stuff. All the angles. You lift a lot of weight. Like, you know, when we were squatting some days, I'd be like, just maybe remove one one of

those plates. I'll be fine. I mean, I think I can lift a decent amount, but you're on another level. Yeah, thank you. And maybe that's just from doing it since you were 12. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, and it's just like you get into the repetition of doing the same workouts and over and over, but you got to mix it up every now and then.

And I remember you sent me some workouts on the, there's like, there's pictures. Those are old workouts. Those were from Will Osprey. I used those forever. So the very first interview I did with Will Osprey, we were chatting after the interview was done. I'm like, man, I'm just so impressed by how much. size you put on. Because when you look at Will Osprey's before and you look at him now,

they're like two completely different people. Yeah. And he goes, oh, I'll send you some workouts. And I thought he was going to like send me like a word document or like some text files was just those photos. Yeah. And they're fantastic workouts. And great. I use them all the time. I'll go through our messages to find them. I'll send them over to you like. Yeah. I balked up quite a bit. And then I got down. I just turned 40 in May and I wanted to get in the best shape of my life. Congrats. I can't barely tell.

I appreciate it. I mean, I can't tell, honestly. I look very young. So I wanted to be in the best shape of my life for turning 40 and then my daughter was born a week later. So it was like, I mean, it's time to dial this in. And I use so many of those workouts that he sent me. That's amazing that years later you're still doing.

Well, there's like a lot of supersets on there and stuff. And that's a big fan of supersets and that and just going from one thing to the next and not like, you know, taking too much rest in between. So it's like it was a good little setup for you. I've been using that for a while. The start of your entrance theme says, my way, my life.

What does that mean to you? You know, it was funny. They called me up one day. They're like, hey, I need you come up to the PC to film a, film a little sound bite for your entrance.

And I'm like, okay, cool. Because before it was just your music. Yeah. Yeah. And it was like, what is it? And he goes,

oh it's just something quick it's going to be like my way my life and I'm like all right you know that's what they want so I said it like five or six different ways like my way my life my way my life my life you know like I changed it up each time and then they finally settled for my way my life and then the music hits and that was the first thing I said to the camera after my debut match too And I think it's it's a cool little, you know, it's like saying like, you know, this is my life now. You know, this isn't Brian Pilman's life. This isn't my father's life. Yes, I have him to thank for being brought into this world, you know, both physically into the physical world, but also being sort of grandfathered into the pro wrestling business.

You know, let's just get that out of the way. Obviously, I probably wouldn't be doing this had it not been for such a great, um, you know, the accomplishments of my father to have given me the opportunity to break in. You know what I mean? But with that said, I've definitely fallen in love with it. I didn't take any, any free lunches on the way here. You know, I did my indie stuff, you know. Dude, before that, you moved to Calgary.

Yeah, I moved to Calgary. You moved to another country to trade. I did Indies for several years. And I worked for various television companies, OVW, MLW, AEW. you know, I didn't even just walk into the NXT door and say, give me a job. You know what I mean? I tore my shoulder. I tore my knee.

My hips tore. You know what I mean? I paid a lot of dues to get here. And so it's kind of just a way of saying, you know what? Like sort of disparaging his name and getting away from it is my way of saying, you know, I'm doing things my way. This is my life. I want people to respect my work and stop comparing me to him or stop assuming that I'm only, you know,

I only got this opportunity because my last name, you know. I think maybe at the beginning, you know, sure, I got a lot of extra indie bookings and a lot of recognition, but I mean, shit, five years of working my ass off. So, and then now you have NXT giving me a shot, you know, I don't think that I didn't earn it. You know, we got guys that have been training there for a year and they're, you know, coming out of college, you know, D1 and all this and they're getting, you know what I mean? Like so everybody pays, you know, everybody plays, you know, everybody plays. a different role and everybody takes a different pathway.

Your name can only get you so far. Yeah. Like maybe you can get you in the door, but after that, it's up to you. And that's something I really had to deal with my whole career, like the imposter syndrome. Am I really that good? Am I really worth it? Or am I just marketable because of my name? And then finally just be able to just throw it to the wayside and become Lexus King.

And this is my, I'm doing things my way. This is my life. You know, I'm going to wrestle how I want to wrestle. I'm going to wear what I want to wear. I'm going to be myself. People can make the comparisons to him all day if they want because I'm not using his name anymore. So it's like you can love Lexus King. You can hate Lexus King.

But Lexus King is his own man. He's doing it his other way. And it's his life. And that's just like the best thing that could have happened. 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. This may be an interesting question, but is Brian Pilman your favorite wrestler?

He's definitely up there. You know what I mean? Like, uh, I, I, I really liked his, like, his horseman run, you know? I really liked when he was just sort of that, like, cocky, you know what I mean? Like, and he was such a ring general, too. Like, he was such a good worker that, like, didn't really matter who he was out there with. Yeah. Like, with great people, he'd have great matches.

Yeah. But with guys that were not considered great workers, he would carry them to great, like, good match. So it's like he was just so good anywhere you put him. Yeah. And obviously he was such an innovator with the flying and then like later on with the loose cannon. But my favorite is like the in between of that. Like everybody's like, oh my God, Liger. And then oh my God, he was loose cannon.

But like I just like all the cool shit in between, you know, when he was kind of like just dressing like a star and was like with the horsemen. And like, you know what I mean? like the middle the middle of the career kind of the meat and potatoes of it yeah he was just like super respected for his work you know what i mean like yeah and he was just a cocky heel you feel like you have a little loose cannon in you yeah i would say so you know maybe in real life too yeah i uh haven't quite snapped yet you know and hopefully not like in real life you know i mean i would say you know his career and his life ended the way it did because he was living on that edge, you know, and maybe the character and the injuries and everything

just all came to a head. So I hope that if I ever do become, you know, a loose canon, you know, in K-Fabe that like my real personal life is like super like boring. You know what I mean? Like I hope I'm just like super chill at home and like my kids are fed and everybody's like money is saved and like the bills are paid and then like I can go to work and be a psycho. Because that was not the case for you. Yeah, yeah, because I don't want it to be like, oh, I'm crazy. And then it's like, I come home and then there's chaos at home. You know what I mean?

I want to make sure there's that balance. Yeah. Right now it's kind of just like a building stage of like getting my shit together. I think it's together. But also like building my stock in NXT and WWE and like building up that person of who I am, you know. But I think at some point, you know what I mean? There might be a little, you know, I don't know, maybe never. You know what I mean?

Again, everybody's like, oh, he's going to be a loose canon one day. But it's like maybe Lexus King doesn't go down that road. And if he does, you know, it'll be its own reason for it. It'll have its own twist. You know what I mean? Like Lexus King is Lexus King. You know, if I'm crazy, it's because of how, you know, my childhood went and how my stepfather abused me and how I was neglected by my mother and how I have all this built.

up hatred towards the world that I'm going to take out on everybody in the ring. You know what I mean? That's my crazy, right? I'm not crazy because my dad was like a loose cannon crazy. I'm crazy based on my real life, you know what I mean, and how that plays into my, into my wrestling, you know what I mean? So I have all my own reasons for wanting, you know, to snap at some point. But like, maybe I will, maybe I won't.

You know what I mean? Lexus King has a lot of composure, you know, he has a lot of... He's a king. Yeah, he's in control. You know what I mean? There's probably a little sadistic mind in the back there. But right now I'm just soaking up all the attention and having some of the best matches of my career. You told me a great story years ago about Stone Cold, randomly calling you and being like, I've got your dad's weight belt.

Yeah. You still got that? Yeah. So I've got three now. Cardillo weight belt? Yeah, they're all Cardillo. Shout out to Cardillo weight belt, best weight belts on the planet. Steve Cardillo.

And then I got another one later that he made for me, orange and black. The first one said flying on it. It was in purple, black belt, purple and white letters. That was the one Steve gave me. And then Cardillo reached out. He saw me wearing it. I'm going to send you to your own. So he sent me a black and orange one, black with orange letters.

It says Pilman. I brought that for a while. Well, now my last name's king. So I just recently, in the mail from Cardillo, had a brand new black belt with gold letters, matches my, my new gear and it says king and it's got two crowns on it that's so it's you know just to have support like that you know because he knew my father too i believe uh cardillo that goes and going back to like i meant to get into this but going back to what you're talking about with the bodybuilding and the

and the weightlifting like like my father was also a great influence in that world too he was a huge bodybuilder and he actually worked with the developers of hammer strength and developing their machine. Wow. So like being in a gym and working out is also something that's kind of in my blood. You know what I mean? Like because, you know, having he having played football at Miami of Ohio and then playing for the Bengals and having the relationship he had with the strength coach there. You know what I mean? It's kind of similar like I played football, but then I played college lacrosse. So it's like I've always been in a weight room. You know, I've always had that in me as well, you know. When you talk about loving stories and building stories,

I feel like it. I feel like your story is going to lead to you being anxed champion one day. Lexus King, NXT champion. Is that a goal that you have? Well, I say it all the time.

My journey is to be, you know, the king of NXC and every king deserves a crown. So, um, I think it's a long time coming for me to have some singles recognition. Um, and to,

to, to showcase a star. that can represent the brand very well. You know, I think I would be a very good face of NXT. You know, I think that I would bring a lot of eyes to the product as a champion. But also, too, it's just, you know, it's just playing my part.

You know what I mean? It's being the best version of myself. You're buddies with John Sina, right? Sure. We were texting the other day. Yeah, you were texting him. He actually came and did a seminar with us at the past. PC. And I thought, okay, like, you know, 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 the, you know, what do you think about, you know, what's your favorite food? Like, no, like, we were getting into it. Like, we were talking about, you know, contract negotiations and like how to, you know, all this different stuff, how to get, like, I'm so glad I went. Like a master class. Yeah. It was, it was amazing. Like, you know, and the amount of like questions that we were able to ask and get answered. And one of the coolest thing he said was it like, it was just like you can't control the booking.

You know, you can't control who's wearing what belt or this out of 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. You know what I mean? like then they're going to pick the best rapper guy they have and put them against the best monster character they have and then go oh that's what does the match look like you know what i mean so it's like people get all i'll never pitch an idea again let's put it that way he said there's no point pitching anything because you know if you pitch something they don't use it now you're disappointed now you're upset because your expectations haven't been yeah yeah but it's like If you just be the best version of your character and then they decide to choose you for these things that they've 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. You know what I mean? So I think, and it's kind of a contrast from the company I was at before where that was where that was where our success came from because there was not as much of a writing team there. So anytime I would pitch, and I've had successful pitches in AEW. I pitched Julia Hart to join the blondes and I pitched the name and the, you know what I mean? So I had, oh, like, my pitch was successful. I must be doing something right.

But it's like here at the WV, we don't have, you know what I mean? We have people for that. We have rival. We have creative. We don't have to pitch ideas. We just have to be the best in ring performers on the mind. performers and be the best fucking rock and roll sleaze ball conniving fucking me pick me look at me kind of guy insert myself into every you know what i mean and then if i'm the best dirt bag that

they have yeah that dresses like a rock and roll wannabe then they're going to pick me for those roles you know what i mean they're going to go you know what we really want this sleaze ball guy to take on our top baby face, Carmelo Hayes. And then, like, you know, he'll prove him wrong and prove all the haters wrong. It'll be a good story. Well, there you go. Yeah. I'm not going to go to the office.

Like, you know, I really want to do a program with someone. Like, I'll never do that again. And John Cena told me, he said he's never pitched an opponent in his entire career. John Cena said something to me during one of our interviews that I'll never forget. It's great wrestling advice, but it's just great life advice. Control or controllable. Yeah. You don't have control over what people do or what other people say.

But what you do have control over is how you react to those situations. And he talks about the same thing. Like people forget that John Sina before the Thuganomics gimmick was on the cusp of getting cut. Yeah. And he took that gimmick, it became a gimmick because Stephanie McMahon heard him rapping on the back of a bus one day. And she's like, oh, that was really good. Where'd you come up with that? He's like, oh, I just, you know, off the top of my head.

She's like, would you want to do that on TV one day? And he's like, sure? Yeah, I guess. And that saved his career. Yeah. So it's so interesting that you can, there's only a few things you can control. Yeah. Matt Cardona said this to me recently.

You can control how you look in terms of like how jacked you are. You can control the color of your gear. You can control the intensity in which you work. Yeah. It's about it. Yeah. And if you have control of all those things, no one can stop you. Yeah.

That's exactly what you're saying. Yeah. And I like that. I like not, you know, I used to ride on my own prone. I used to do this. And it's like now it's like, they write it up for me. I can see it. I can digest it, you know.

I have to be myself. I have to be the best version of that character. But a lot of the heavy lifting is done, you know. And that's what makes a great production. I think that's what makes a great show. The more you can collaborate, the better, I think. You're turning a lot of heads in NXT. Thank you.

A lot of people are noticing what you're doing. Yeah. And every week you're putting on fantastic matches. I feel like 2024 is going to be something else for you. Yes, it will. 2024, the year of the beard. So you can control, you can control the way your beard looks. Control the way your beard looks.

You can control the way your hair looks. Which it's just sad to say because for most of my career, the highlight has been my hair. I mean, it's fantastic hair. And now it's taking a back seat to the beard. Like, I didn't know it can get any better. you know what that's better i don't know i think the beard is like surpassing the hair look a lot of people can grow a beard yeah not everybody has a main like this but like now they're they used to be like pilman's mullet it's not really a mullet well no like i'm saying it used

to be of these accounts it would be pilman's mullet yeah and they would like retweet and now the new accounts are lexas king's beard or lexas king's riz my riz has been off the charts yeah you got a lot of Riz, which I just found out what it means because I'm old, well, you're old to me, but I'm old too. We're both old. I also just found out Riz. So I looked it up, so it's short for charisma. Riz, charisma. But, like, it's used in, like, to describe a man's, like, game.

You got a lot of Riz. You're overflowing. You were oozing with Rizzing all over the place, you know? Maybe not so much with that one. That could be your shirt. Yeah, yeah. Riz on you. All Riz on you.

All Riz on you. All right. Jesus. Sorry, that came out weird. Riz, Riz, Riz, Rizmon. I've had some opportunities to showcase my Riz on NXT TV. I'd say it's been quite successful. So good to be able to catch up with you.

Really good to get to know Lexus King. And we weren't doing this before. So I'm so excited about this. Gratitude is such a huge part of my life. I wake up every day. I say out loud three things I'm grateful for. It sets the tone for the day. We do it.

my wife and I before we go to bed every night, and now we end every interview with that. So what are three things you're grateful for, Alexis King? Well, I was going to want to say this earlier, so I guess I'll throw it in now. So the first thing I'm very grateful for is my coaches. So I follow a lot of the kings and conquerors of the past. I read about them in nonfiction books.

And Alexander the Great was a huge example of someone that went and disparaged his father's legacy to create his own. And that's someone I've been studying. And one of his quotes was, I am indebted to my father for living, but I am indebted to my teacher for living well. Wow. And so that kind of describes my life in a nutshell where it's like, yeah, I, you know, I owe it to my father for reproducing and creating. me and giving me this great name. But I owe it to, you know,

Fit Finley, I owe it to Matt Bloom, Lance Storm, Sean Michaels. I owe it to all these guys from making me who I am as a performer so that I can live well

and put food on my table. Love that. So it's something I'm very grateful for, especially just being new here in NXT and seeing how is it. It has done a complete 180 on my career. I'm also very grateful for for the girl I've been with seeing lately.

Her name is Emma. She's been a great rock for me and helping me, you know, maintain my place, keep everything clean. We train together, you know, we've been staying a lot together. So she's a good positive influence in my life. And I'm very grateful for my Aunt Linda.

As you all know, Linda Pilman, I wouldn't even be wearing these clothes right now. It wasn't for her. She took care of me, you know, brought me in when I was young and made it, so that I could finish high school and into college and gave me a foundation, like a home, you know, which I'll be going to this Christmas.

So, yeah. What a great way to wrap things up there. Thank you. Brian Lexus could be able to spend some time with you, man. Thank you. It's been a pleasure to reconnect, my friend. Good to see you, man. And congrats on everything.

Thank you. Oh, man. So good. Catch it up with my friend Brian Pilman, Jr. and getting to know who Lexus King is. He's only been in NXT for a few months, but man, he's just tearing it up there. And I think it's just a matter of time

before he's the North American champion, the NXT champion, and who knows what happens after that. The guy has superstar written all over him. I am so grateful to be able to call him a friend, and it was just so good to be able to just chat with him and just to be able to hang out. And before the interview, during the interview,

and after the interview, just so good. And I'm so excited for everything that he's been doing in his career. And I can't wait to see what's next. If you enjoy this, please snap a screenshot. Tag us. He's at Lexus King, WWE. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. And I heard this quote from Tom Brady during an interview recently. And I'm like, is that a Tom Brady quote? Is that a quote from somebody else? Turns out it is a Tom Brady quote. And my goodness, is this good. I don't care if you like Tom Brady or not or if you watch football or you don't. This is a quote, live by. What you know is limited. What you don't know is limitless. Be great. Be grateful, my friends. We will see you on the next one for some more insight with EC3.

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