Keith “Bearcat” Lee is set to “claw” his way to WWE RAW this week, and it seems like this new persona will be a stark contrast from the one the fan-favorite star was once known for.
In a recent appearance on Out of Character with Ryan Satin, Lee previewed the “Bearcat” character and described how it leans more into his competitive side. He contrasted it from his initial character on the main roster by saying that the latter was more true to his real self, so it’ll be an “interesting” shift into this new role.
“I would say that ‘Bearcat’ has some relevance to who I am, but in a more competitive level, almost football-related, if you will,” said Lee. “Just a guy that wants to get business done. But ‘Bearcat; is a guy that just walks out there already ready to decimate whomever’s in the ring. So it’s a real interesting switch for sure.”
The former NXT Champion went on to describe how Vince McMahon has been “hands-on” with this new character, and he explained that he appreciates this approach because it makes it easier to give McMahon what he wants.
“Vince I would say that he’s been quite hands-on, and that’s honestly something that I need,” said Lee. “Because I wanna know what he wants, as opposed to making a guess or some sort of estimation or hypothesis or whatever the case may be. If I know what he wants directly, then it makes it that much easier to give him what he’s looking for. And so he’s the man. He runs this. If he wants a specific thing out of one of his talent, then the job is to give him what he wants.”
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Lee also shared his mindset surrounding the challenging aspects of this character change. He noted that leaning into this persona requires him to bring up a part of himself that he doesn’t prefer to show. But now that “it’s coming,” Lee teased that “The Limitless One” will become more unstoppable than ever.
“One thing I’ve had fun with is the fact that it’s been probably one of the greatest challenges,” said Lee. “And it’s something that people point out, like, ‘You’re naturally a nice guy, I wanna see the other side, I wanna see what happens.’ And I’m like you don’t want that guy.
“Professional Keith is the best case scenario because the guy that played football, the guy that has been through a lot in his life is a different being altogether and [sighs] they want it so it’s coming. And there’s not much that anyone will be able to do it because when I get to that mindset and I’m so fixated, it’s kind of a jet that’s hard to stop…so it’ll be interesting.”
The full interview is available here:
