Despite popular belief, Keith Lee didn’t come up with the Bearcat gimmick; it was indeed the brainchild of Vince McMahon.
All Elite Wrestling‘s Keith Lee was a recent guest on Grapsody with Will Washington, Phil Lindsey, and Righteous Reg to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about the Bearcat gimmick he portrayed in WWE, Lee said the Bearcat character was presented to him before he returned from his battle with COVID-19.
“So the Bearcat thing was presented to me before I came back from the whole death fight. And when it was presented to me, I was like, what and why? I initially said no, thank you. And they left it alone,” Keith Lee said. “I was like, cool. I’m in the clear. Like it can’t be that bad, right? I came, I debuted, I got to do the thing that no one else gets to, friggin fight Randy Orton on my first pay-per-view [on the main roster].”
When things like his Survivor Series match with Roman Reigns and his encounter with Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble were brought up, Lee made it a point to mention all those things happened while he was still part of the NXT roster.
“That stuff was in NXT, right where I had the freedom to just be me. Very different. And those are those moments where like, naturally, in those moments, I’m able to have fun, and the fans can feel that,” Keith Lee said. “So there’s a different level of connection there because they feel the genuine nature of what I’m doing.
“Whereas where you have to present this other character, it’s sometimes a little more difficult unless it’s some sort of portion of you a way that you think something you can relate to. Right before I came back, it was pretty much like I came back, and it was nothing. It was fine; It was chill.
“But not even like a week or two after coming back, Vince pulled me in an office and was like, ‘Hey, listen. I need you.’ And I feel like that chick that’s like got her crush. And she’s like finally chosen. I’m like, ‘What? You mean me? I would love to be there for you. I will fix you, Vince. I will do it!’
“And I agreed to do this thing, and man, when I tell you, it was interesting. Because they went through artwork for this gear and as it goes on. I’m like; I don’t know how I’m going to make this thing. But I’m going to do it because Vince asked me to. And this was in the middle of a RAW; the guy completely abandoned the main event that was happening and dragged me into his office and was like, ‘Let’s talk.’ And I’m like, ‘You’re not gonna watch the rest of TV? What are you doing?’
“We had the conversation, and I agreed to do it. But at the end of the day, maybe not wanting to was an issue. Maybe I couldn’t deliver that character the way they would have wanted to because, at the end of the day, I’m not a generic, big guy. I’m not ooga booga.”
When it was brought up that Keith Lee couldn’t be just WWE’s new version of Mark Henry, Lee believed Henry could have played the role Vince wanted, but the ways that he personally carries himself made it an issue for him.
“Listen, Mark can play that role even though he’s a different guy. I think that my natural ways in life the way I carry myself. The way I speak was an issue for what this character was supposed to be, which was ultimately a monster,” Keith Lee said. “I tried, mind you; I tried to get connections that I can relate to.
“I even presented the option of like, ‘Hey, can we reference Bearcat Wright at least? Or some way paying homage? That wasn’t allowed, and I’m like, Okay, this isn’t my idea. I can’t relate it to Bearcat Wright. What am I supposed to do with this aside from going rawr and being angry?”
Lee went on to reveal that if he were going to be presented like an animal, he would want to be some form of a dragon, referring to himself as majestic as f*ck.
“If I was going to present anything, and the only reason I haven’t is out of respect to Bryan Danielson. I would be some form of a dragon,” Keith Lee said. “Because at the end of the day, I’m majestic as f*ck; you can bleep that out. I am regal. I am the top of the food chain. I am an anomaly. I’m not the same as your average pro wrestler. And I will own the shit out of that. I’m different, and the best part. I’m the one period, that’s it.”
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What do you make of Keith Lee’s comments? Are you disappointed to learn that Lee was pressured to change his NXT character on the main roster? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit Grapsody with a link back to this article for the transcription.
