Dexter Lumis Addresses His Silent Character and Liked How It Was “Different”

The former Dexter Lumis enjoyed the challenge of staying silent.

Across two runs in WWE, Dexter Lumis was consistently presented as an unspeaking performer. Throughout his run in NXT, including his on-screen romance with Indi Hartwell, Lumis relied on body language to tell the story of his character. Despite showing little emotion, fans gravitated to the “InDex” storyline and it’s remembered fondly by NXT fans. Whilst Lumis would speak on occasion as part of his time with The Wyatt Sicks, he still remained reserved, and Lumis has explained his take on his WWE character being quiet.

Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Samuel Shaw (FKA Dexter Lumis) shared his opinion on his character’s silence and how it set him apart.

“I don’t really know why they decided, hey, this is great if he just doesn’t speak. But I had my mentality on it, and I think what I was looking at is everybody talks, almost, in my opinion, too much. So how can I be different? I’m always thinking about that. How can I present myself on TV differently than everybody else to catch the attention of the fans in a different way? So I think it was striking in a way: this guy, he’s just got a cold stare, and he doesn’t speak. Then it became a challenge. Can I elicit emotion from the fans without saying a word? Can I make them feel a certain way? Can I get my emotion that I’m trying to get across to these fans without saying anything? That became kind of the goal, the mission.”

-Samuel Shaw

Prior to signing with WWE, Shaw worked with TNA from 2010-2015, eventually portraying the Samuel Shaw character in a memorable storyline with Christy Hemme & Mr. Anderson. During his WWE run, Shaw became a tag team champion alongside Joe Gacy, now known as Joseph Sawyer. Shaw has since returned to the independent scene, including appearances alongside Sawyer.

Since leaving WWE earlier this year, the star has only competed in two matches, one for ALW and one for BRCW. However, he and Joseph Sawyer (the former Joe Gacy) are currently number one contenders for the ALW Tag Team Championships.

For more WWE news, you can click here.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Dexter Lumis as soon as we hear more.