BirthRight didn’t come together because WWE creative paired a few second-generation stars together. According to Lexis King, the faction grew organically behind the scenes after years of him pitching the idea—and it all started when several wrestlers realized they were trying too hard to be someone they weren’t.
Speaking on Busted Open After Dark, King revealed he’d been trying to get a second-generation faction off the ground long before he ever arrived in WWE. He said the concept had been one of his biggest creative ideas for years.
“This whole thing has been a vision of mine since I was working for other places, let’s put it that way. I’ve pitched a second-generation faction for as long as I can remember it. It’s always been a dream and a vision of mine because I know what it’s like to just have that feeling that this business owes you something.”
Once he got to WWE, though, King said BirthRight became about much more than simply putting wrestlers with famous last names together. After watching fellow second-generation stars like Uriah Connors grind for opportunities despite their family ties, he realized they all shared the same struggle of trying to prove themselves while carrying famous legacies.
“Uriah Connors especially… they didn’t treat him like a second… You wouldn’t have even known he was who he was because of how they treated him here. They made him work and work and work. That kid does nothing but put on his best matches and everything he can to do for this company just like I do.”
King said he experienced something similar himself. After spending six years on the independent scene, he arrived in WWE confident in who he was, only to slowly start second-guessing himself.
“I was on the Indies for six years. I wrestled at many different companies. I finally came here when I felt like I was ready. And you know what they did? They took a guy that was confident and that knew who he was. And they started getting in my head, making me second guess myself.”
According to King, that eventually led to the moment BirthRight truly began. The future members stopped trying to distance themselves from their wrestling families and instead decided to embrace them.
“And the reason we started coming together is ’cause we said, ‘Why the hell are we not being exactly who we are?’ We know who we are. These people don’t know who we are.”
That decision quickly turned into action. King said the group deliberately started spending time together backstage, showing up together and even asking WWE to book them together before the faction officially debuted.
“And we started showing up together. We started doing things together, asking to be booked together.”
Later in the interview, Bully Ray asked if King considers himself the leader of BirthRight. The group instead described him as the founder, with Uriah Connors explaining that while King was the one who brought everyone together, the faction operates more like a brotherhood than a traditional stable with one leader.
“I think founder was… really hit the nail on the head there. So he is the founder, but we are all collectively moving forward together as a unit.”
Connors also confirmed King personally recruited the members behind the scenes, making it clear King is truly the founder of the faction.
“He is the founder. He is the guy who brought us all together… went out and searched and went out and saved me from university, from Chase U.”
King explained why BirthRight members don’t all wrestle under their famous family names. Rather than relying on names like Pillman, Finlay or Regal, he believes creating their own identities allows them to step out from their parents’ shadows while still embracing where they came from.
“You kind of see that with our group now, we’ve all got different names. We all got our own identities. I know people wanna see us get our names back… but it’s the greatest thing for us. It allows us to completely step out and disregard the shadow of our parents.”
So, BirthRight wasn’t simply a WWE creative idea that appeared overnight. It started with a vision he’d been pitching for years, evolved through shared experiences among second-generation wrestlers, and eventually became something the group itself pushed to bring to NXT television.
What do you think of the story behind BirthRight’s formation? Do you like that the group came together organically, or would you have preferred a different approach? Let us know in the comments below.
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