Former AEW Star Makes WWE In-Ring Debut Over The Weekend

This former AEW talent made their WWE in-ring bow this weekend.

by Andrew Pollard
Lexis King Brian Pillman Jr.
WWE

Formerly known as Brian Pillman Jr., Lexis King made his WWE in-ring debut this weekend at an NXT house show.

Having already appeared on NXT TV to explain why he won't be using the Pillman Jr. name, Lexis defeated Brooks Jensen on Friday at a live event from the Largo Event Center in Florida. That was followed on Saturday by King scoring a win over Riley Osborne at the Winter Haven Armory, also in Florida.

Advertisement

For those who may have missed it, Lexis King recently proclaimed how he's nobody's "junior" and detailed how the wrestling business took his father from him. As such, his new moniker will honour the man who raised him - that'd be the King part - and the 30-year-old's late sister Alexis.

The second-generation star exited AEW this past July upon the expiry of his contract. It didn't take long for BPJ to be spotted at the WWE Performance Center, and he now finds himself signed to the market leader and working under the NXT banner.

Advertisement

Under that Brian Pillman Jr. moniker, Lexis last wrestled for AEW on the 13 May House Rules event, where he and Brock Anderson lost to the Gunns. Prior to that, the star's final televised AEW appearance was on the 1 February episode of Rampage, in a losing effort against Swerve Strickland.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.