"WWE NXT" star Lexis King has gone to great lengths to separate himself from his father, Brian Pillman's, pro wrestling legacy, despite wrestling under his real name,BrianPillman Jr., before signing with WWE. However, King is still naturally following in his late father's footsteps, and during an interview on "The RichEisen Show," he explained how he deals with this responsibility.
"It's always very, very difficult to follow in the footsteps of a great man," King said. "As great as my father was, it didn't quite end so well for him, and I think because of that there was a lot of pressure from my family, my teachers, and my coaches to pursue more of a mundane lifestyle and to go to college and get my degree." King then added that he had put wrestling in the back of his mind for years before getting to college, where he shifted his focus on finishing school instead since neither his father nor mother did.
"I quickly realized that, that wasn't for me, you know? I was spending more of my day at the office on YouTube watching wrestling videos and figuring out there's actually a world outside of WWE," King called, noting how all the American wrestlers going over to NJPW inspired him to try a different route. "As a second-generation wrestler, you know, you do have some advantages but they're gonna make you work for them, and they're gonna make you pay, you're gonna have to pay (...) almost twice the amount of dues."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The RichEisenShow" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
