Keith Lee Says Earning Randy Orton’s Approval Provided A New Level Of Validation For His Career

The “Bearcat” offers praise to the “Apex Predator.”

Within a week, Keith Lee went from losing the NXT Championship to Karrion Kross to debuting on Monday Night Raw and defeating Randy Orton at WWE Payback 2020. While Keith’s journey on Monday Night Raw would experience some turbulence after that victory, to enter WWE’s flagship program and defeat one of the top five winningest World Heavyweight Champions in WWE history, is a career highlight that adds legitimacy to Keith’s WWE career no matter what brand he is on.

Speaking about the opportunity to work with Randy Orton on the Out of Character podcast with Ryan Satin, Keith would say that Randy Orton has become somewhat of a mentor to him and Keith highlighted Randy Orton’s leadership abilities.

“I don’t know many people that get to walk into the main roster and get to immediately work with Randy Orton, but that was something where I feel like, ‘I’m good for the rest of my career,’” Keith began. “Randy is someone that has kind of become a mentor, if you will, and someone that leads the way in great fashion. The moment he told me that I’m really good at this thing, I didn’t care what anybody else thought anymore. He’s not a person that will compliment you on your abilities if he doesn’t mean it. To get his approval is something like, ‘I’m good’ because now I know I’m everything I say I am and I’m good with that. However everything else goes, it’s fine.”

Continuing on, Keith Lee would praise Randy Orton for his ability to adapt and change with times, always making sure to be different from everything else in the product.

“I agree with that consensus that he is one of the greatest storytellers, honestly, in a long time. The guy gets it and I relate to him on many levels about that and how this art is done.

“That’s one thing I applaud him for; regardless of what’s going on, he finds a way to be different. That’s something that I value as a lesson that I’ve gained from others in the past and how important it is to be unique. How do you stand out without being different? He will always find a way to stand out.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, Keith “Bearcat” Lee explains the reasoning behind his new nickname. Learn more here.

If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a H/T and link back to Fightful for the transcription.