When Paige B. launched Black America Web’s brand-new “The Tap Out Tea” segment, she picked one of WWE‘s hottest stars to break the ice. Trick Williams—known to fans as “Mr. Lemon Pepper Stepper”—delivered exactly the kind of conversation that made the debut worth watching.
The former D1 football player turned wrestling phenom covered a lot of ground: his rise, his mentors, his marriage to fellow WWE Superstar Lash Legend, and the wild storyline sending rapper Lil Yachty into his very first wrestling match. Here’s what stood out.
Few wrestlers have climbed as fast as Trick Williams. Former NXT North American Champion. Two-time NXT Champion. Former United States Champion. And by his own account, he’s chasing that US title again.
Williams credits something bigger than talent for the run.
“That’s why I call myself the Anointed One. Because you can’t really write this. You can hope for it… but just the way everything fell into place, I’m just grateful, man.”
The connection with fans travels well beyond American arenas. Williams pointed to crowds in Saudi Arabia, Germany, London, and Montreal chanting his name.
“They might not speak English, but they whooping that trick.”
His path to WWE started on the gridiron at the University of South Carolina. The transition from football to the ring meant unlearning nearly everything his body knew.
“The ground is lava. You stay off the ground by all means necessary when you’re playing football. So I had to learn how to fall and get up.”
Williams has drawn advice from a Mount Rushmore of WWE talent—Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Randy Orton, and John Cena among them. But the mentor who shaped him most is five-time WCW Champion Booker T.
Booker T didn’t just offer pointers. He added his own ad-libs to Williams’ “Whoop That Trick” theme back in NXT, and he shouted the young star out on SiriusXM during his WrestleMania moment.
“Booker T is one of those guys alongside the Rock, alongside Stone Cold, who I said, if I’m gonna get into the business, I wanted to feel something like how they did it. People say, don’t meet your heroes. I’m so glad I met Booker T. Because it’s a complete opposite scenario.”
That WrestleMania moment—defeating Sami Zayn for the United States Championship in front of 55,000 fans—was captured on the Netflix series “Unreal.” What Williams remembers most isn’t the roar of the crowd. It’s his mother.
“My mom crying on the front row. I’m like, man, I’m supposed to be a big, bad, mean, tough guy… I felt like a little kid again.”
Williams isn’t climbing alone. His wife is WWE Superstar Lash Legend—Atlanta’s own—who previously held the women’s tag titles alongside Nia Jax. The two have been building their careers side by side since their NXT days.
“That’s my best friend. That’s my support system… The more that me and her began to connect, so I don’t think it’s a coincidence at all.”
Then there’s the partnership fans can’t stop talking about. Platinum-selling rapper Lil Yachty, a lifelong wrestling fan, has stood in Williams’ corner since before WrestleMania. Their friendship came first; the business relationship grew from it.
“Getting to know him on a more business level and the friendship level, it’s been really cool to just see his growth in the business, see him train, break old habits and start new habits.”
Here’s where the story turns dramatic. Lil Yachty wanted a match—so he got one. This Sunday, the Atlanta rapper makes his in-ring debut against the imposing Baron Corbin, and the stakes fall squarely on Williams’ shoulders.
The rule is simple and brutal: if Yachty survives five minutes with Corbin, Trick Williams earns his shot to reclaim the United States Championship. If he doesn’t, the title chase stalls.
Williams admitted the pressure is getting to him more than his partner.
“The funny thing about Yachty is I’m not sure that he feels the pressure. And that bothers me a little bit. This is your first match ever… So I’m more nervous than he is right now.”
He didn’t sugarcoat the challenge, either.
“Five minutes is a long time for anything. And he has to survive a WWE match, his first match ever, five minutes with Baron Corbin.”
There’s hometown magic on Yachty’s side, though. The match goes down at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta—a city Williams calls “Black Hollywood.” His wife is from there, and the crowd energy runs high every time he wrestles in the city.
“When they perform in front of the hometown, they get superpowers or something.”
The lemon pepper theme even ties into local culture. Williams gave a knowing nod to Magic City, one of Atlanta’s oldest Black-owned establishments and, as the rumor goes, home to some of the best lemon pepper wings in town. And with Magic City collabing with WWE on exclusive SNME merch, the love goes both ways.
Trick Williams brought equal parts confidence, gratitude, and pride to the debut of “Tap Out Tea.” Whether Lil Yachty can survive five minutes against Baron Corbin will decide if the Anointed One gets his title shot back—and the whole city of Atlanta will be watching.
Sunday Night’s Main Event takes place at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta on September 6. Tickets are moving fast on Ticketmaster, and the event streams on Peacock for fans watching from home. Either way, don’t miss this one.
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