WWE Star Filled With Self-Doubt During AEW Run

WWE NXT star Lexis King has explained how his time in AEW left him crippled with self-doubt and is amazed at the change in his fortunes.

Lexis King is best known to AEW fans as Brian Pillman Jr. – a name he so famously shed himself of when he joined his new employer. As Pillman Jr., the star teamed with Griff Garrison as the Varsity Blonds and they were accompanied to the ring for much of that run by current TBS Champion Julia Hart.

Ultimately, the Blonds were lower on the pecking order in AEW and eventually went their separate ways. Pillman Jr. had his last match in AEW in May 2023 before he jumped ship and signed with NXT in August.

Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on his Insight podcast, Lexis King explained how his time in AEW left him feeling a lot of self-doubt:

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].

Lexis King Fueled By WWE’s Confidence

King then contrasted his AEW career with how he was received on his WWE debut and says the company’s confidence in him fuels him to succeed and prove the doubters wrong:

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.

Lexis King has spoken candidly about his abusive stepfather, whom he took the King name from for his own WWE moniker.

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