NXT’s Keith Lee has made waves over the past year in WWE. He was a main attraction for Team NXT at 2019’s Survivor Series, dethroned Roderick Strong for the North American Championship, appeared in 2020’s Royal Rumble match, and sang his way into our hearts in the Netflix movie The Main Event. However, it doesn’t stop there. Lee will defend his title against Damian Priest on the April 29 episode of NXT on USA.
Early in April, Lee faced Dominik Dijakovic and Priest in a triple threat match for the North American Championship, successfully retaining it, but Lee thinks a one-on-one with Priest won’t be as challenging. “I think that one-on-ones are oftentimes easier matches because you can focus on one opponent,” Lee told GameSpot. “But as we’ve seen, he was a crafty guy, so there is still danger with him.”
That’s not the only challenge Lee will face when defending his title. Wrestling at the Performance Center, without an audience, is not something professional wrestlers are used to, as the roar of the crowd can help energize the performers. “[This is] something that I’ve actually talked about with so many of my other athletic friends and associates–just there’s a bit of a void when it comes to not having the crowd for that initial level of adrenaline,” Lee explained. “So not having them there takes away a little bit of electricity. It makes it slightly difficult and a little different experience. So there’s that lack of adrenaline. Things often hurt even more than usual because I don’t have such a wide array of people kind of uplifting me. I tried to explain to fans how much they mean to me, but I don’t know if it gets across.”
Source: Gamespot NXT's Keith Lee On Damian Priest, Wrestling With No Audience, And Watching One Piece