When Brian Pillman Jr. left AEW and the familiarity of his famous family name to take a go at professional wrestling under a new moniker, Lexis King, on WWE's NXT brand, it felt like a big swing.

Sure, King had worked on television before, even if he wasn't with much regularity, but how would he work sans his famous name and everything that went along with it, from the Hollywood Blondes-inspired-Varsity Blondes in AEW to the New Era Hart Foundation with Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Teddy Hart in MLW. Would he be able to start brand new and shine as his own man instead of having to constantly rely on his famous father's routine? Well, Shawn Michaels certainly thought so, as he was willing to throw the young Superstar into the deep end to see what he could do in NXT, as he explained in the Deadl1ne Press Conference.

“As you mentioned, tossing him in the deep end, and we've been doing that since day one. Look, I'll say this, I think he's been doing a great job. I think he understands he's gotten tossed in. He's been doing everything he can, he's been working well with us. He asks a lot of questions, he's a hungry kid, and he's somebody that's adapted and adjusted to the structure that we have in NXT in a real positive way. I think he's somebody that will be a prime example of what NXT can do for you because he's somebody that did need that structure,” Shawn Michaels said on the NXT Deadl1ne Media Call via Fightful.

“He's gonna be out there with Carmelo Hayes, gonna have a hell of a dance partner to be out there with. I won't lie, we're looking forward to it as much as you are, we want to see what he's got. We believe there's a lot of potential there, and again, not to say that his whole career rests on this performance by any stretch, but I think we all know the lineage, right? He's got a little experience but I don't know that he's got experience on this level yet, and to be honest, there's only one way to find out, and that's to rip the bandaid off. That's what we're doing. I'm with you, I'm looking forward to seeing how he does. I like the young man a great deal. He's embraced the help and the coaching that we have in NXT. I'm happy for him because when you see him and how he came in, you could see that was someone who needed our structure, who needs what we do at the Performance Center. It's just nice when those work together, and we'll see what a taste looks like of it on Saturday.”

Will King shine as a member of the NXT universe now that he knows he doesn't have to worry about when his next bit of television time will come should a segment fall flat? Maybe yes, maybe no, but considering everything going on in the WWE Universe right now, it's nice to see that King has a chance to work on his craft with regularity on television, regardless of the final outcome.

Shawn Michaels celebrates NXT's women's division.

Elsewhere on the NXT Deadl1ne Press Conference, Shawn Michaels was asked about his brand's women's division and how they have been developing over the year. With the Iron Survivor Challenge rapidly approaching, HBK believes the women of NXT are in a great place right now and will be for the foreseeable future.

“It's just amazing to me, our women in ‘NXT,' and the depth of the roster that we have. You can see it in the Women's Iron Survivor [Challenge] match, we have five unbelievably talented women, but they weren't in it last year, so that speaks to the depth,” Shawn Michaels said via Wrestling Inc. “As you mentioned, the Women's Breakout Tournament, we still have people like Lola Vice, Izzi Dame, Dani Palmer, so we have so many other women that are not even a part of this PLE. Kiana James [vs.] Roxanne Perez, [is] the second women's match on this, inside of a steel cage. The depth of NXT's women's division is better than it's ever been, and it's only getting deeper … We've always had the most talented women in the world in WWE performing on the main roster, and I think that's going to continue in the future because the ‘NXT' women's division is so incredibly stacked top to bottom.”

In 2022, a win at the Iron Survivor Challenge propelled Roxanne Perez to an NXT Woman's Championship win over Mandy Rose and multiple appearances on the main roster, including an appearance in the Royal Rumble. Fingers crossed whoever wins the challenge this year, be it Tiffany Stratton, Lash Legend, Blair Davenport, Kelani Jordan, or Fallon Henley, has similar luck in 2024.