Lexis King explains why he took the last name King.
Brian Pillman Jr. surprised many fans when he showed up in NXT under the name Lexis King and not Brian Pillman Jr. Instead of taking the name of his father, he took the name of his stepfather.
Speaking to Booker T on Hall of Fame, Lexis explained why he took the last name of King.
"There is a lot of emotion behind that last name. That was my stepfather's last name. He came into the picture pretty much as soon as my father passed. My mom needed to be with somebody that helped keep the lights on. She was already one foot out the door, I'm pretty sure, before [my dad] passed. She was looking for some stability, and she met a guy with the last name King. 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 shit. 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. As much as he was a piece of garbage to me, I'm not doing this to bring him any glory or fame, I'm doing this for me. I'm going to take that name and make it something.
"In a way, he had much more influence on my life than my own father did. I was four years old and I lived under this man's roof until I was 13. I packed up my bags and moved out on my own when I was 13. This man berated me, neglected me, and abused me for about eight or nine years. I am a King. I called him Dad. There was part of my life where I looked up to this stepfather as my father. He never officially adopted me and gave me his name, but I have every right to use that name because what I went through made me who I am today. I'm more a King than I am a Pillman if we're quite honest. As much negativity and stuff that name carries in my life, it's who I am. If that means when I step into the ring with you that I'm going to be a vile piece of shit and beat the crap out of you, that's what it's going to be. All of that has been built up. I've taken a beating, I've taking a whooping. I've been thrown down a flight of stairs by a grown man. Nothing can stop me on this journey to take what I want from NXT. This is who I am. I'm Lexis King. people want to talk crap about the name, but they're going to chant it before long."
King was in the middle of the story between Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes on Tuesday's NXT, egging on Trick to the point where Trick swung, but King moved and Trick ended up decking Carmelo.
Elsewhere during the interview, King discussed the decision to go this direction with his character. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
