WWE's Lexis King Shares His Takeaways On The NXT Breakout Tournament
Reflecting on his favorite matches so far in the short time he's been on "WWE NXT," Lexis King pointed straight to his matches in the "NXT" Breakout Tournament as at or near the top of the list since his debut on the first of two "Halloween Havoc" episodes in late October. Appearing on "Insight With Chris Van Vliet," King spoke fondly of his matches in the tournament and is grateful to WWE for showing enough trust in him to face two very different superstars in terms of their level of experience: Dion Lennox and Riley Osborne.
"To go out there in Round 1 with [Lennox]," King said, "Just an incredible monster powerhouse of energy, in his first TV match was really big for me — to sort of break in a young new talent with a ton of potential. And then on the flip side of that coin, I go out there with a guy with tons of experience [in Osborne]."
King came up short against Osborne, who would go on to lose in the final to Oba Femi, now the "NXT" North American Champion after cashing in his guaranteed title shot. Results aside, it was the experience and the confidence instilled in him, pitted against those two competitors, that was most important to King.
"Having the confidence to go with a guy [already at] a high level," he explained, "but then having the confidence to elevate someone else still learning and to make it easy for them, I feel like I'm becoming such a well-rounded performer."
'Full circle' with an old friend
Aside from the tournament, King singles out his "NXT Deadline" match with Carmelo Hayes as the fondest memory of his run so far.
"Don't even get me started on my first PLE match with Carmelo Hayes," he said. "Me and him go back to the indies. To be able to kind of go full circle with that, it was amazing."
King looked back on the match and feud with Hayes as a true measuring stick in his career as he tried to keep pace and compete with the former "NXT" Champion and a professional whose body of work has been met with enough trust and confidence that he's helped rehab wrestlers returning from injury in the past, such as Cody Rhodes.
"Working with somebody like him, who is already at a high level in NXT," King said. "I'm right there with you, I'm getting the same level of reaction, I'm working the same rate as you. It's clear that nobody's outworking each other. We're selling for each other and making each other look like stars. It was just a match made in heaven."
Through all of his "NXT" experience thus far, the former Brian Pillman Jr. seems appreciative for the change in environment and continues to reap the benefits
"There's this process here that prepares and grooms people for these big moments," he said. "Where in the past, I was just sort of thrown to the wolves, if I fail now, it's like, 'Alright, what am I missing here or what did I mess up?' They don't set you up to fail here, which is a great thing for me."
If you use quotes in this article, please credit "Insight" and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.