Wesley Blake Reveals New Ring Name
Former WWE star Wesley Blake joined Insight with Chris Van Vliet to talk about his WWE career and his plans now that he's been released from the company. Blake also touched upon his marriage to former WWE Tough Enough winner Sara Lee and the first time they met.
"We met at the Performance Center," Blake said. "When Tough Enough was coming out I used to go to a friend's apartment and we used to watch it. I will never forget when they announced the 11 Tough Enough people. When Sara came across the screen, I said to the guys 'I don't know what it is, but I think she is the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on.' It was crazy, this was before the show was even a thing. Just by fate, she ends up winning it. I was super proud of her. When you are that beautiful inside and out, it shows through the camera. I think that was what helped her win. We started talking on the NXT Combine. We were doing some weight room testing. We did the rower and I did so much where I threw up. I was in the weight room, head over a trash can as the girls were about to start, great first impression. She was so sweet that later on that night she messeged me on Twitter saying 'hey I hope you feel better.' And from there it just took off."
Blake also told Van Vliet the new name he will be going by on the independent circuit. According to Blake, it's inspired by his brother's name and his own last name.
"I'm going by Westin Blake," Blake revealed. "When I was in NXT the first time, I pitched a bunch on names. I was always told it's best if you can have a name that you can connect with. I have an older brother named Blake, so that was a big driving factor. Most of my life I have been called Weston, because that's my last name. When I gave them the list of NXT names, Wesley Blake was the winner. They had 3 or 4 on there, I can't remember them but they were not that good."
While Blake's time with WWE is over, he has nothing bad to say about his overall experience. In the end he's thankful he got the chance to evolve as a performer, wrestle in many places, make friends and above all else meet his wife.
"Looking back I have nothing but great memories there," Blake said. "I felt like I was able to evolve with NXT as well from when I started in 2013 to where it is now. Winning the NXT Tag Titles with Buddy Murphy was one of the highlights. Getting with Steve [Cutler] and pitching The Forgotten Sons, that was another proud moment where we gave them something as an idea and they ran with it. Meeting my wife there and getting to start a life with her. Getting to travel and wrestle in places that I never thought I would be able to travel to. I got to wrestle in Paris in a circus tent, little stuff like that. Of course all of the friendships you get to make."
Blake also talked about the Forgotten Sons a bit, revealing that the group was originally going to go by a different name. Ultimately WWE wasn't a fan of the initial names, leading to Blake and Steve Cutler to go with the Forgotten Sons instead.
"When we first pitched the name we wanted to use Prisoners of Society or Prisoners of the System," Blake recalled. "We wanted to be these 2 guys who felt like we did everything right in life, but nothing was given to us. So we were going to take it by any means necessary. We pitched that but they didn't like the Prisoners of the System. They thought that the name would bring NXT in a bad light. We then started pitching other names and The Forgotten Sons is what stuck. We were happy that they liked it so well."
You can watch the full interview below.