When Brian Pillman Jr. officially debuted in NXT under the moniker Lexis King, it created more questions than it answered.

Now sure, technically, Pillman attempted to preempt any issues with the name before they could arise, explaining online that the moniker was a combination of his Stepfather's last name and his late sister Alexis Pillman's first name, but still, when Lexis King appeared on NXT television in a series of vignettes before his debut at Halloween Havoc, it started the questions all over again, as fans who watch Brian Pillman's Darkside of the Ring know all too well that the man in question was downright abusive to a young BPJ.

Why, you may ask, did Pillman decide to take the name of someone who, by his own admission, robbed him of his childhood? Well, King decided to answer that very question in a conversation with Booker T on his Hall of Fame podcast, and needless to say, it was interesting indeed.

“There is a lot of emotion behind that last name,” Brian Pillman explained via Fightful. “That was my stepfather's last name. He came into the picture pretty much as soon as my father passed. My mom needed to be with somebody that helped keep the lights on. She was already one foot out the door, I'm pretty sure, before [my dad] passed. She was looking for some stability, and she met a guy with the last name King. He came from a great family, but he wasn't great to me. He was an abusive piece of work, and he put me through some s**t. It made me stronger, and in a way, it's like, this man robbed my childhood, I'm going to rob his name. I'm going to take his name because it's a cool name. I'm going to make it mean something positive. As much as he was a piece of garbage to me, I'm not doing this to bring him any glory or fame, I'm doing this for me. I'm going to take that name and make it something.”

Huh, interesting takeaway, right? King wanted to take on his stepfather's name instead of his biological one's name despite the fact that he was arguably more damaging to his life than the man formerly known as the “Loose Cannon?” Fortunately, King had more to say on the subject, and it's very interesting indeed.

Lexis King holds special weight to Brian Pillman Jr.

Continuing his conversation with Booker T, Lexis King attempted to explain why he feels as though he can reclaim his stepfather's name in a way he never could as Brian Pillman Jr.

“In a way, he had much more influence on my life than my own father did. I was four years old, and I lived under this man's roof until I was 13. I packed up my bags and moved out on my own when I was 13. This man berated me, neglected me, and abused me for about eight or nine years,” King noted.

“I am a King. I called him Dad. There was part of my life where I looked up to this stepfather as my father. He never officially adopted me and gave me his name, but I have every right to use that name because what I went through made me who I am today. I'm more a King than I am a Pillman if we're quite honest. As much negativity and stuff that name carries in my life, it's who I am. If that means when I step into the ring with you that I'm going to be a vile piece of s**t and beat the crap out of you, that's what it's going to be. All of that has been built up. I've taken a beating, I've taking a whooping. I've been thrown down a flight of stairs by a grown man. Nothing can stop me on this journey to take what I want from NXT. This is who I am. I'm Lexis King. people want to talk crap about the name, but they're going to chant it before long.”

Huh, so King opted against using his famous father's last name because he wasn't there for him but is instead cool with using the last name of a man who actively abused him and was a piece of garbage? Is that really the reason why WWE made the decision, as opposed to, say, having the merchandising rights to the character, which they likely wouldn't have been able to secure due to Pillman using the moniker in AEW, MJW, Warrior, and beyond? I guess we'll never know.