Lexis King has detailed his decision to embrace his wrestling lineage through the BirthRight faction on “WWE NXT,” and explained why he chose to acknowledge he is the son of the late Brian Pillman.
Earlier this year, King began to lead the BirthRight group, which features the children of former wrestlers Charlie Dempsey, Uriah Connors, and Ariana Grace, along with her partner, Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo. During his appearance on “Busted Open,” he explained the rationale behind embracing their wrestling lineage.
“It’s like, [WWE said] ‘Hey, we’ll touch on it [their lineage]. We want you to make your own character, create your own path,’ which I thought I did successfully as Lexis King. I’ve made a very original, unique character. But for them to go and say, ‘You know what, we’re just going to lean into it. Everyone knows who you are. Everybody knows you’re Brian Pillman’s son. Everybody knows this is Regal’s son. This is Fit Finlay’s son, that he is a fourth-generation wrestler, Uriah Connors. Why are we not leaning into that?’ And I think that was the ultimate powder keg for us to just say, ‘Hey, you guys already know who you are. You don’t need to come up with some, you know, fictional gimmick. The fans know who you are,'” he explained.
King feels the criticism wrestlers like him receive is not justified, as wrestlers who come from wrestling families often have to work twice as hard.
“People hate nepotism. They cry nepotism. [They say] ‘Oh, they only got this because of that.’ You know what? We did. Thank you. It opened the door. And what did we do when we got through the door? We started working harder than anybody in the room, because it’s also doubly true that you have to work harder because you carry that shadow,” King added.
The “NXT” star believes wrestlers like him are held to a greater scrutiny from their peers and have a family name to live up to. He rounded off by stating that it’s a myth that it’s easier for stars with a wrestling lineage.
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