NXT North American champion Keith Lee was a recent guest on Lilian Garcia’s Chasing Glory podcast to talk all things pro-wrestling. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
Recalls Dusty Rhodes saying he had improved from tyrout to tryout:
I had a talk with William Regal, Dusty Rhodes and Jim Ross and that kept me afloat. It lite a fire under my bum. It was maybe my second tryout, or the first one. One of those tryouts I spent a lot of time with Dusty Rhodes. He told me how terrible I was. From my posture to my confidence, to my projection, all of those things were horrible. In this tryout, he let me know how much I had improved, and how my presence was completely different from anything he had seen from me previously. This is exactly where the bask in my glory was created. He said that I had a presence that he could literally bask in. It was something that meant a lot to me because it was part of my personal growth.
William Regal and Jim Ross advocating for him:
William Regal has always been kind of an advocate for me. He always believed in what I’m capable of bringing to the table, and he just reaffirmed that. Jim Ross told me that he believes in me 100 percent and that I’m a million-dollar talent. He said it wasn’t up to him, but he hoped that someone would see the light one day.
Making it in WWE on his fourth tryout:
It was weird for. I’ve gone from yes, I have this following, and yes, I have a lot of fans in different places, but this is a completely different platform. Now, things stepped up another notch. At first, it was like finally, they have seen the light. I showed them the error of their ways. Then when I got there, it was like oh my goodness, how do I handle this? How do I process this information right now? I don’t know! Now, I’m alongside Triple H, and Matt Bloom and Shawn Michaels. I’m like is it ok for me to be me? It took me a while to breathe.
Full interview below. (H/T and transcribed by Wrestling Inc.)