Current WWE Superstar had lots of self-doubt from AEW stint
A current WWE superstar opened up about his stint in AEW, and it was not particularly pleasant.
Lexis King, formerly known as Brian Pillman Jr., was mostly an enhancement talent in AEW for the majority of his tenure there. He was a regular on Dark and Dark: Elevation before his contract expired on July 11, 2023.
The son of the legendary Loose Canon immediately got a tryout with WWE and was signed to a developmental deal. He stopped using his real name and adopted the Lexis King ring name in one of his NXT vignettes.
In an interview on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Lexis King discussed what it was like to work in AEW for about four years. King was particularly fond of his time under Tony Khan's promotion, and it gave him a lot of self-doubt:
"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 (is incredible)," King said. [H/T TJR Wrestling]
Lexis King made his NXT debut at Halloween Havoc, beating Dante Chen by pinfall. He most recently failed to capture the NXT North American Championship after losing to Dragon Lee.
Why did Lexis King use his adopted father's name in WWE?
Some fans were baffled by the decision of Lexis King to drop his father's name and use something from his abusive stepfather. King explained to WWE legend Booker T on his Hall of Fame podcast back in November why he wanted to have a different name:
"He came from a great family, but he wasn’t great to me. He was an abusive piece of work and he put me through some sh*t. It made me stronger, and in a way, it’s like, this man robbed my childhood, I’m going to rob his name. I’m going to take his name because it’s a cool name. I’m going to make it mean something positive," King asaid. [H/T - Fightful]
King was just four years old when his real father passed away from a heart attack at the age of 35. He grew up distant from his mother Melanie and was raised by his aunt Linda Pillman.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy are you with Lexis King's progress in WWE? Share your answers in the comments section below.