Trevor Lee is ready for a chance to show what he brings to the squared circle.
Lee, formerly Cameron Grimes in WWE NXT, will make his MLW debut at the promotion’s One-Shot event on December 5. There, he will challenge Mistico for the MLW World Middleweight Championship. Lee spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard about the opportunity to win gold and push himself to succeed in a new atmosphere.
“It’s definitely an honor. Not only is MLW bringing me in on a show that has a lot of buzz, but they are also bringing me in and giving me a title match, day one,” Lee said. “That means they respect me as well. In the past few years, I have done the most to get in the best shape I can, to become the best type of worker that I can be. And I haven’t had many opportunities, [but] I’ve been clamoring for those opportunities. And for MLW to give me that on day one, it’s awesome.”
Trevor Lee did his homework on Mistico
Lee hasn’t worked with Mistico before, but did have a chance to see him work in Mexico after he was released by WWE in April 2023. He said Mistico is arguably of the top wrestlers in the world, and MLW One-Shot is his chance to see test himself.
“One of the first few weekends after getting released, I went down to Mexico City with Joaquin Wilde of LWO. We did some training in Mexico City, and then we actually got to go to an Arena Mexico Show. The main event that night was Mistico. So, I did a little bit of studying without even knowing that the match [at One-Shot] was going to be coming. But I am prepared,” Lee said.
“Mistico is one of the top ten wrestlers in the world right? If you look at the list, he is always up there. So, it is going to be a tough match,” he noted. “But like I said, the past few years I’ve been training hard for whatever the opportunity is going to be. And this is going to be the first opportunity where I get to see if I am ready or not.”
Trevor Lee on his hybrid style
Lee, a 17-year pro wrestler, prides himself on studying pro wrestling through multiple forms of media. Lee was “enamored” with early Ring Of Honor events, but he also used wrestling video games to learn moves too. He considers his hybrid style to be a result of that, noting there’s a mix of Lucha Libre, Japanese and Mid-South style in his work.
“I’ve been able to study all those styles, and then incorporate it into who is Trevor Lee. And I think we are going to see a good match-up this Thursday when it comes to me and Mistico,” Lee said.
Trevor Lee on MLW’s schedule/show format
MLW has done well by formatting their shows to provide the biggest matches possible instead of drawing them out over time. Lee appreciates the company’s approach, noting he’s getting the same treatment by debuting against Mistico.
“Yeah. When you look at WWE for instance, there’s 52 weeks in a year. There’s three episodes a week [between RAW, SmackDown and NXT]. So now we are looking at what, 170 episodes of wrestling that they have to put out a year. So, yeah, you do, you wait for your bigger match-ups, you stretch ‘em out.
“There’s smaller companies that don’t get to run every week. You have to make those shows bigger shows to keep people to want to continue to watch and MLW’s done that,” Lee said. “For the past few years they’ve had different talent from New Japan, from places like that, come in and have these types of match-ups that you are not going to see anywhere. I think that’s really cool that for my first match-up there.”
Lee doesn’t expect to make any friends in the ring on Thursday night, but he does plan on leaving with another title to put around his waist.
“This is a first-time match-up with me and Mistico. We’ve never even said hello to each other. It’s going to be very interesting, and it’s for a championship match. So, our first time meeting may not be the best. But, I’m planning on leaving there as the champion. Maybe we can become friends on our second time meeting.”
Watch our full interview with Trevor Lee below:
