Keith Lee has had a meteoric rise in NXT ever since he debuted on the brand back in August 2018, where he defeated Marcel Barthel. In November last year, he competed for Team Ciampa against the Undisputed Era at NXT TakeOver: War Games, and the next night he made a massive impact at Survivor Series where he was the last man standing against Roman Reigns. Although 2020 has been a difficult year for the entire world due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Keith Lee has been on the biggest roll of his life. He became NXT North American Champion in January by defeating Roderick Strong and debuted in the Royal Rumble, where he stood toe-to-toe with The Beast Incarnate, Brock Lesnar.

At NXT: The Great American Bash, Keith Lee made history by defeating Adam Cole and ending his 403-day reign as NXT Champion, becoming the first Superstar in the black and gold brand’s history to hold both championships. There is no doubt Keith Lee is a phenomenal athlete, but with such a big target on his back, it was only a matter of time before someone tried to end his successful run in NXT. Enter Karrion Kross. A man that doesn’t care who he hurts or what means it takes for which he becomes NXT Champion. We saw him destroy Tommaso Ciampa at NXT TakeOver: In Your House in his PPV debut, setting alarm bells ringing about how dangerous a man he is.

Keith Lee is set to face Karrion Kross at NXT TakeOver: XXX, and after the events that have unfolded over recent weeks between the two men, it is set to be one of the biggest title matches of NXT’s illustrious 10-year history. Kross took out Lee’s close friend Dominik Dijakovic, and on last week’s NXT, Kross and Scarlett managed to explode a fireball in Lee’s face that was hidden in the match contract. SteelChair managed to spend some time with Keith Lee and ask him how he was doing after injuring his eyes, where his head was at going into his match with Karrion Kross, and what it was like becoming the NXT Champion without the roar of a crowd.

At the contract signing on NXT, there was a fireball in the contract. How are you?

“At the end of the day, I’m not a 100% certain. Obviously, I’m here with sunglasses on because it hurts to look at the light right now. There is discomfort in my face. It isn’t as though I caught fire, or it melted my face or anything. Apparently I have a weakness in my eyes as a raid boss in WWE – everyone goes after my eyes. My face is a little sensitive right now, but I’ll be fine. At the end of the day, I’ll be OK.”

Karrion Kross is pushing you to become much different – a much darker person than we’ve seen before. Where is your head at right now when you think about the match?

“I don’t believe I’m much darker, per se. I believe I’m a man who’s been pissed off, and at the end of the day, this is no longer about simple competition. It is no longer simply about enjoying fighting or the battles that come with it. This is about some guy and whatever the hell Scarlett is. They’re at a point where I want to hurt them as opposed to do battle or compete with them. This is no longer a wrestling match for me, this is about ensuring that he understands who he is in the ring with. This is something different to what he has been in the ring with, and I shall ensure that when TakeOver comes.”

Is there anymore pressure now knowing that you fight for the biggest title in NXT, and you’re avenging Dominik Dijakovic?

“Dijak requires no revenge. People seem to overlook that Dijak is a specimen in his own right, and people overlook that Dijak was beating the shit out of Karrion Kross until Karrion Kross had to use stairs in an unsavoury way. In a straight-up fight, Dominik Dijakovic was beating his ass. If Dominik Dijakovic was beating his ass, you best believe Keith Lee will beat his ass. So, no, there’s not pressure. At this point, I’ve been a champion since January, and my duty has been fulfilled, in uplifting the championships of NXT to levels that are producing great competition for the North American Championship. Now, there is someone that has pissed me off, and that’s all there is to that. This isn’t about pressure, this is about beating the shit out of somebody to expose them because they are not who they say they are, and I’ll be the one who proves it.”

This isn’t a straight-up match, one-on-one. You mentioned Scarlett earlier. She will probably be at ringside. Now, you have to focus on Karrion Kross, who is pretty dangerous, and outside the ring, there’s Scarlett. How are you going to handle that presence outside of the ring, where we know she doesn’t do much, but can change the complexity of the match?

“Presence? Look, she is an accessory to Karrion Kross. She does lip sync, presentation to the ring when she makes an entrance, and she is eye candy for him. She is just going to stand there and wear excessively long emo fingernails. There is nothing to her that is a concern for me. They do something weird. Last night, absolutely (referring to the fireball incident on NXT), but there isn’t going to be a chance to use magic tricks. Karrion Kross is going to have to face me, which is something he has avoided doing since he decided to place his sand that apparently makes the sound, ‘tick tock.’ People seem to overlook the fact I’m 6 ft 3, 340 pounds, and I catch and throw people the size of Karrion Kross like children. To me, regular people aren’t going to understand this until this match happens, so my suggestion is, make sure you tune in and watch. When I beat his ass, you’ll have an understating of what is going on here.”

I just wanted to talk about Great American Bash. What a match it was, winning two titles at the same time. In circumstances that were totally different than a classic pay-per-view with no crowd and no fans. I’m sure the crowd would have erupted when you won.

“So, obviously, I’m a person who greatly misses the WWE Universe altogether. My connection with them is something I hold very near and dear to me. It makes me extremely joyful, but while it would have made that moment so much bigger, I don’t think it detracts from the fact I made history. I was the first-ever to win both the singles championships. That is something I choose to focus on, and I can also see the reaction from them, and the pride and support. I would have loved more than anything to share that moment with the Universe, but given the circumstances, keep everyone safe. It is just as big of an accomplishment. Yeah, it could have been bigger, and that’s okay. Sometimes the unexpected occurs, and you have to make adjustments. That’s what we did. The fight happened, it was just as intense. Cole brought it just like anyone would have expected him to. Actually, more than people would expect him to because there was zero Undisputed Era.”

I wanted to go back in time a little bit to WarGames, and then the following day you were on Survivor Series. How crazy of a weekend was it, and how hard was it physically?

“When you’re in a double cage match with steel in between the rings and all that jazz, tables and weaponry, it was a lot to take in, and at the end of the day, the majority of us didn’t know we were on the Survivor Series team. It took a lot of guts and gusto. It took a lot to go and compete on that team. It was a lot, and it took a lot of recovery after, but I tell you what, there wasn’t one of us that would have wanted to be anywhere else at that point in time, representing NXT.”

NXT TakeOver: XXX will be live on the WWE Network on Saturday, August 22.

Special thanks to DS Communication and We Sport France – All pictures courtesy of WWE

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