Vince McMahon Told Keith Lee “You Sound Too Smart For Your Own Good”

Keith Lee was a recent guest on Talk Is Jericho where he reflected on his time working for WWE.

He admitted to doing well financially on the independent scene but said he was losing money in WWE until he eventually ended up making more.

"I took a little bit of a pay cut," he said. "Because that time, the people that were on top of the indies were all doing quite well. In terms of indie money, it was easy to break six figures if you were a top guy. Being in complete control is something so special. I was like, 'I am a baller now,' so very far from it.

"But, by that mindset, I am doing alright, 'I don't want to take this pay cut and lose X amount of money.' But eventually, I did, and with the supposed belief in myself that I would exceed that fairly quickly. And, to be honest, and fair, eventually I did exceed what I was making on the indies, even in NXT."

Keith Lee also looked back on the Bearcat gimmick he ended up portraying admitting he turned it down originally as he wasn't feeling it. In the end, Vince McMahon personally requested that he took on the character.

"When I was about to come back they kind of hit me with the vision for the Bearcat thing," he said. "And during that time, I was like, 'I don't understand what that is, and I'm not sure if I am feeling that.' They brought me back just as myself, and then my first match, I lost to Lashley. Second match lost to Kross.

"In the middle of a show, Vince pulls me to a room and wants to talk to me. Vince doesn't leave his show. In the middle of Raw he's got the semi and the main event coming up, he's just like, 'let's go chat.' I am like, 'dude, you're the guy on the headphones, what are you doing?' But it was in that conversation he was basically like, 'listen, I need you to do this, I need you to be this.' I was like, 'I mean, listen, I work for you. If that's what you want, that's what you're going to do.'"

Keith Lee also revealed that Vince McMahon did not like the way that he spoke. The WWE Chairman wanted him to be grimier, which is something he does not think he delivered for him in the end.

"The one thing, you mention the way that I speak, my cadence, the way that I seem very thoughtful about how I deliver things, my choice of diction. All of those things was something Vince was not a fan of," Lee said. "To the point where he literally told me, 'you sound too smart for your own good.'

"I'm like, 'I don't understand what that means. What is that?' He wanted something more grimy. I don't think I delivered that for him. He wanted some intense guy, and I think I can be intense, but I need a reason to be intense."

Keith Lee confessed that becoming the angrier, more intense character was hard for him. He revealed that another wrestler had to beat him up backstage in order to get him into that mindset.

"That was a difficult time, truly. I did a lot to try," he said. "I talked to myself in the mirror, I made faces in the mirror, grunts, different yells, and screams. Whatever it took to try and deliver this character and I don't know if I failed at it. But I think there were certainly times where that spark was there. But it literally took me asking someone to beat me up backstage before a match in order for me to enter that mindset."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.