Independent circuit (2017–2021) In February 2017, Pillman announced he would be following his father's footsteps and become a professional wrestler. He was trained by
Lance Storm at his school, the Storm Wrestling Academy, in
Calgary,
Alberta,
Canada. Pillman's first match was on December 18, 2017, using the
ring name Alex King, a tribute to his sisters Alexis Reed and Skylar King. Pillman made his professional debut for
Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) on January 28, 2018, at Dojo Wars 162 against Mike Del for the
CZW Medal of Valor Championship. Pillman was defeated in the match by submission. Pillman would have one more match in CZW, in a tag team match, teaming with
Teddy Hart and facing Anthony Bennet and Jimmy Lloyd at Super Show V on January 26. On January 18, 2020, Pillman was a surprise 16th entrant in a 16-man
Battle Royal at
International Wrestling Cartel's (IWC) Reloaded 6.0 event. He did not win the match, but he appeared in the main event, helping
IWC Heavyweight Champion Jack Pollock win the match. After the match, Pillman revealed he had signed a contract with IWC, and that part of his contract was a shot at the IWC Championship at the promotion's February event. On February 15, Pillman defeated
Sam Adonis, Aramis,
Lance Archer,
Black Taurus,
Michael Elgin,
Andrew Everett, and
Alex Zayne in a War of Attrition match to win the vacant
Warrior Wrestling Championship. The title was left vacant due to injury of former champion
Brian Cage. On September 12, 2020, in
Washington, Pennsylvania, he won the
IWC Super Indy Championship.
Major League Wrestling (2018–2021) In late 2018, Pillman signed a contract with
Major League Wrestling (MLW). When he first came in, he was mentored by his father's
World Championship Wrestling rival
Kevin Sullivan. He then turned on Sullivan and joined forces with Teddy Hart and
Davey Boy Smith Jr., creating the
New Era Hart Foundation. This took place in a backstage segment where Pillman attacked Sullivan with a cane, causing Sullivan to bleed. On July 9, 2021, it was reported that Pillman was no longer working with MLW as his contract had expired.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–2023) (left) and as the Varsity Blondes in September 2022.|thumb In May 2019, Pillman was a participant in the
Casino Battle Royale at
All Elite Wrestling's (AEW) inaugural pay-per-view event,
Double or Nothing. In July 2020, with MLW shut down due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, Pillman began to appear in AEW, wrestling on both their flagship show
Dynamite, and their online show
Dark. Pillman remained contracted to MLW, but was allowed to work for AEW as well. On May 11, 2021
Julia Hart started aligning herself with The Varsity Blonds and made appearances with them for several months. On July 12, 2021, Pillman signed a full-time deal with AEW, making him an official member of the roster. His contract expired on July 11, 2023, ending his time with AEW.
WWE (2023–present) Debut and championship pursuits (2023–2025) On July 16, 2023, it was reported by
PWInsider that Pillman had a tryout with
WWE at the
WWE Performance Center. He was officially assigned to the
developmental brand NXT in late August and videos promoting his debut began airing in September, changing his name to
Lexis King, a second iteration of his "Alex King" name. His ties to his father were acknowledged, but he denounced him and his name in his vignettes due to his early death, establishing himself as a
heel. He competed in his first match on October 24 on Night 1 of
NXT: Halloween Havoc, defeating
Dante Chen. King competed in his first WWE
premium live event on December 9 at
NXT Deadline, where he lost to
Carmelo Hayes, thus marking his first loss in WWE. King participated in the
2023 NXT Men's Breakout Tournament after attacking original competitor Trey Bearhill and subsequently taking his place. He defeated Dion Lennox in the first round, but lost to Riley Osborne in the semifinals after interference from Bearhill. He also wrestled for the
NXT North American Championship twice, first against
Dragon Lee and later against
Oba Femi, losing both times. Continuing his feud with Dante Chen, they wrestled in a
Singapore Cane match, where King won. On the October 15 episode of
NXT, King faced
Oro Mensah in a Gentleman's Duel match, where he would emerge victorious. After the match, both King and Mensah shook hands, with the former subsequently raising Mensah's hand as a sign of respect, turning face in the process. On the October 29 episode of
NXT, King faced
Charlie Dempsey for the
NXT Heritage Cup in
British Round Rules, but was defeated. On the December 24 episode of
NXT (taped December 17), King defeated Dempsey for the Cup, his first championship win in WWE. However, due to a grey area in British Round Rules regarding the disqualification of the reigning champion, NXT general manager
Ava ordered a sudden death one-fall match at
NXT: New Year's Evil on January 7, 2025, where King defeated Dempsey to solidify his win of the Cup. WWE recognizes this as an uninterrupted singular reign. During his title reign, he would revert to being a heel by using dirty tactics to retain the Cup, including in a rematch with Dempsey. He also announced that his NXT Heritage Cup matches will be defended in one-fall matches instead of British Round Rules. On the February 25 episode of
NXT, King failed to defeat
TNA X Division Champion Moose for the title. On the April 22 episode of
NXT, King lost the Cup to the returning
Noam Dar, ending his reign at 118 days. On the December 30 episode of
NXT, King set the record for the fastest loss on NXT when he lost to
Tavion Heights in eight seconds in the finals of the
Speed Championship #1 Contender's tournament.
BirthRight (2026–present) In early 2026, King formed a new faction called BirthRight, consisting of second generation WWE wrestlers with
Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo and
Arianna Grace (the fiancé of Grace and the daughter of
Santino Marella, respectively),
Uriah Conners (son of
Fit Finlay), and
Charlie Dempsey (son of
William Regal). At the
NXT Stand & Deliver countdown show on April 4, BirthRight teamed together for the first time where they lost to
Hank and
Tank,
Shiloh Hill,
EK Prosper, and
Wren Sinclair in a 10-person mixed tag team match. Around the same time, King entered the
tournament for the vacant Speed Championship after previous champion
Elio LeFleur relinquished the title due to a shoulder injury. On April 21 at Week 2 of
NXT: Revenge, King defeated Prosper in the tournament final to win the vacant title. == Personal life ==