[5] His sister Alexis became a professional wrestling valet under the ring name Lexi Pillman, but died in 2009 in a car accident.

[6] Pillman attended Dixie Heights High School in Edgewood, Kentucky, where he played football.

[13][14] 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.

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.

[24] 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.

[34] King participated in the 2023 NXT Men's Breakout Tournament after attacking original competitor Trey Bearhill and subsequently taking his place.

[35][36] He also wrestled for the NXT North American Championship twice, first against Dragon Lee[37] and later against Oba Femi, losing both times.

[40] On the October 15 episode of NXT, King faced Oro Mensah in a Gentleman's Duel match, where he would emerge victorious.

[45] During his title reign, he would revert back to being a heel by using dirty tactics to retain the Cup, including in a rematch with Dempsey.

Pillman, who was primarily raised by his aunt Linda Pillman (his dad's sister) growing up,[47] shared in a shoot interview that he felt his mother was feigning her grieving during her infamous interview with Vince McMahon on WWE Raw is War one day after his dad's death, as their marriage was already going through the divorce process at the time and simply wanted a pay day for drugs.

Unlike most wrestling fans and the media, Pillman did not fault WWE for the somewhat tactless interview with his mother, as he credited the promotion for trying to help out him and his sisters as much as possible financially.

Melanie was found dead from an apparent drug overdose on June 1, 2022, at the age of 56, as confirmed by Pillman.