Over the past months, Lexis King has started to earn more opportunities on “WWE NXT,” as he’s currently the leader of one of the brand’s newest factions, BirthRight, along with being the WWE Speed Champion. However, the success that King built for himself today has been a work in progress over the last year, with a specific match being a turning point for the former AEW star.
On the April 29, 2025 edition of “NXT,” King stood toe-to-toe with Ricky Saints in a clash over the North American Title, but after being disappointed by his performance in the match, the 32-year-old shared on “Busted Open After Dark” that he began a weight loss journey in order to improve in the ring.
“I had a match with Ricky Saints and I was really looking forward to it, he’s a guy I really respect and I remember during that time, that match was coming up, I weighed 237 pounds … I went out there and I didn’t put on my best performance and it got to me in a good way, it got under my skin and I thought there’s got to be something wrong here. There’s something with my shape or my cardio because we train every day, we train harder than anybody in any company ever,” he explained. “I knew I was working hard enough but something needed to change. So, I started taking into consideration some lifestyle decisions and to this day I’ve lost 40 pounds.”
Lexis King reflects on the support he received while getting in shape
After his match with Saints, King followed through on his goal to improve his physique, and it wasn’t long before “NXT’s” locker room and higher-ups started to support him on his journey.
“‘I talked to [Matt] Bloom and Shawn [Michaels] and even the locker room here we have some great guys that are very encouraging and every single progress I made whether it was five pounds, ten pounds, I just kept getting rewarded for it … I went from 237 to 194 and it improved everything about my game, my ability to think, my ability to move and it’s been a wonderful journey to finally become the fastest man alive.”
Arguably the biggest opportunity King received while he was starting to be rewarded for his hard work was getting to wrestle in TNA at the end of last year, as he stepped inside the ring with the likes of The Hardys, Matt Cardona and Mike Santana. Overall, once King was several months into his journey, he was determined to lose as much weight as possible while riding the momentum of having better matches and being featured on TV more often.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Busted Open After Dark” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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