Dexter Lumis recently opened up about the dramatic transformation he underwent for the Wyatt Sicks, revealing how WWE asked him to change his appearance ahead of the group’s 2024 debut.
During an appearance on the latest installment of the INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet podcast (full episode below), Lumis said he was aware that WWE was developing something designed as a tribute to Bray Wyatt and believed there was a strong possibility he would be involved.
“Well, I knew something was coming that was going to be related to a tribute to Bray Wyatt, like a crew of misfits,” Lumis said. “Unwanted guys and girls that maybe fell by the wayside, and now they have something to prove, and now they’ve seen the light, and they’re gonna progress their careers because of the spirit of Bray Wyatt.”
Lumis eventually received a call from Rob Fee asking how quickly he could dramatically alter his appearance.
“I got a call one day. I was just sitting at home. I was doing some yard work, I believe, and a gentleman named Rob Fee called me,” Lumis recalled. “He’s just like, ‘Hey, it’s happening. What can you do to dramatically change your appearance right now?’”
Lumis initially suggested shaving his head and removing his trademark mustache, but those ideas were put on hold while Fee spoke with Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
“Then it just turned into, well, just grow your beard out,” Lumis continued. “Keep growing your facial hair out. Grow your hair out.”
Lumis said he had several months to prepare for the transformation. When his natural hair had not grown long enough by the time WWE began holding meetings about the group, he ultimately decided to use extensions.
“I was like, I need to probably get this done soon. My hair is not long enough, so I pulled the trigger, got some extensions,” Lumis said. “But by the end, almost all the extensions were gone.”
Lumis and the rest of the Wyatt Sicks were released by WWE in April 2026. Following his departure, Lumis appeared in a vignette with his storyline WWE wife, Indi Hartwell, in which he shaved his head.
Lumis explained that he felt it was important to properly shed the Wyatt Sicks character after committing himself completely to the role.
“I think that was important to shed that character and do it right. There was a story there,” Lumis said. “I wanted to do it day one as soon as I got that call, because I was all game for this character initially and saw it through to the end. I was committed.”
Lumis compared his approach to method acting, noting that he takes pride in immersing himself in the characters he portrays.
“I take a lot of pride in how I carry myself and get into a role, almost like a method actor in a way,” he said. “I hear this a lot. I take acting lessons and from acting coaches who warn me of the dangers of method acting.”
Elsewhere during the interview, Lumis reflected on an early encounter with former WWE executive John Laurinaitis that helped lead to a 2009 FCW tryout.
Lumis recalled waiting until the end of a WWE Raw show in Jacksonville before approaching Laurinaitis, believing that would give him the best opportunity to speak with him.
“I waited, and I saw my time to take advantage of the situation, and I talked to him,” Lumis said. “He actually put me over and said, ‘I’ve noticed you waiting for the right time. It tells me a lot about your character that you waited till the end of the show and everybody’s gone, and you want this. I’d like to see what you can do.’”
According to Lumis, Laurinaitis then told him, “I’m going to send you to FCW for a week and just get in that system and see how you do with them.”
Lumis would eventually make his NXT television debut against Bronson Reed in the Breakout Tournament on July 17, 2019. Reed won the match, but Lumis drew a memorable reaction when he licked his opponent during the bout.
“Yes, it did because people were unsure. What’s this guy all about? What’s going on here?” Lumis said when asked whether licking opponents helped establish his character.
Lumis recalled grabbing Reed’s head during the match before unexpectedly licking his face.
“The whole crowd was just like, ‘Oh!’” Lumis said. “Sometimes you pinpoint somebody in the crowd and you just watch them. Garner a reaction. I was taught to always go above and beyond, we can always pull it back. That was pulled back a little bit.”
Road Dogg has previously said Lumis would also lick people during WWE training sessions. Lumis confirmed that was the case, explaining simply, “Yeah. So again, trying to stand out, trying to be different.”
