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Lexis King (Brian Pillman Jr.) says his career has done “a total 180” since leaving AEW for WWE

Aaron Rift

During an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Lexis King (Brian Pillman Jr.) commented on his transition from AEW to WWE NXT…

“It [his WWE NXT TV debut] was great. I was just sitting in it and I’m backstage thinking ‘Is this real?’ I spent, and this isn’t a knock on anybody, but 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]. I 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 to now, I’m sitting on a throne, making my entrance. In the biggest wrestling company in the world, they have this confidence in me. And it fuels me, now I have confidence in myself. Hell, they gave me the name King! It doesn’t get any better than that. So just to feel that 180 and go out there and perform with a certain level of grit and attitude. You know, I’m going to prove everyone one wrong, everyone who didn’t believe in me, It’s a dream come true.”

“There’s no ill-will [towards AEW] but it’s just sort of that mindset. I put myself in that mindset. Nobody else put me in that. I just put myself in that mindset of ‘What’s going on here?’ That self-doubt. And I kept grinding. Like I said I moved back home. I kept grinding, going to the local [wrestling] school. Trying to find out what makes me tick as a performer. And just the experience living there, the experience I gained traveling with AEW made me the performer I am today.” (quotes courtesy of SEScoops.com)