Keith Lee arrived in AEW in February of 2022, following on the heels of a controversial and underwhelming main roster stint in WWE. He made his Dynamite debut against Isiah Kassidy to qualify for a "Face of the Revolution" ladder match at Revolution 2022, although he was unsuccessful at winning the bout in his pay-per-view debut. Around the beginning of April, the former NXT Champion found himself under the crosshairs of Team Taz, but at the same time he found an ally and tag partner in Swerve Strickland.
"Swerve In Our Glory", as the pair of ex-WWE superstars called themselves, proceeded to pick up several victories before capturing the AEW World Tag Team Titles in a three-way match also involving Team Taz and the defending champions, The Young Bucks, at Dynamite: Fyter Fest 2022. They defended the belts against Private Party, The Acclaimed and The Lucha Brothers, until getting dethroned by Max Caster and Anthony Bowens in a rematch at Dynamite: Grand Slam 2022.
Around this time, Swerve began displaying signs of a heel turn, which brought him into conflict with Lee. At Full Gear 2022, Swerve In Our Glory failed to reclaim the tag titles from The Acclaimed after Keith Lee walked out on Strickland during the closing stretch of the bout. The Realest tried to mend fences with his partner afterwards, but they were unable to stay on the same page, and at ROH Final Battle 2022, Swerve abandoned Lee during their tag bout against Shane Taylor Promotions, although the big man was able to secure the victory on his own.
On the December 21 edition of AEW Dynamite, Strickland finally betrayed Keith Lee, attacking the former NXT North American Champion alongside the members of his new stable, the Mogul Affiliates. The fan-favorite returned after a brief hiatus in February of 2023, rescuing Dustin Rhodes from Swerve and Parker Boudreaux. He then formed a partnership with The Natural, teaming up to defeat the Mogul Affiliates. He also unsuccessfully battled inaugural All Elite Wrestling World Champion Chris Jericho in April, during the latter's feud with Adam Cole.
Keith Lee unsuccessfully took part in a Battle Royal for the AEW International Title in May. He wrestled tag bouts against The Mogul Embassy and The Jericho Appreciation Society, and even reunited with Swerve for one night in the quarterfinals of a Blind Eliminator tag team tournament, losing to Darby Allin and Orange Cassidy. The powerhouse's booking for the rest of 2023 seemed to lack any specific direction, as he participated in various multi-person tag matches while occasionally scoring squash victories one-on-one.
On the November 8 edition of Dynamite, Lee unsuccessfully challenged Samoa Joe for his ROH World TV Title, and at Final Battle 2023, he defeated Shane Taylor in singles action. In his last match to date, at Collision: Holiday Bash in December, the former "Bearcat" beat Brian Cage. In the aftermath, he was poised to have his much-anticipated blow-off match with Swerve Strickland at Worlds End 2023, but he unfortunately had to be withdrawn from the PPV due to an injury, with Dustin Rhodes taking his place at the event.
In January of 2024, Keith Lee revealed that he would be undergoing double surgeries, and he has been out of action and off of AEW TV since then. Last year, the Texas-born grappler assured fans that he was healthy and open to returning to the squared circle. His hiatus is still ongoing, and reported discussions about bringing him back on screen a few months ago never came to fruition. In a disappointing recent update, it was reported that sources in the industry believe that Lee may have actually retired from wrestling.
Even if his in-ring career is indeed over, there are many ways Keith Lee can still contribute to AEW and to the business in general. Let us consider three such non-wrestling roles for The Limitless One in All Elite Wrestling.
Managers have always played a significant part in pro wrestling, as they serve as mouthpieces for wrestlers, helping establish their clients' characters, motivation, and overall branding. They are also often involved in matches, and sometimes influence the outcomes of bouts featuring their clients. Managers also help flesh out storylines and angles outside of the ring, through backstage segments, for instance.
AEW currently has several people who work as managerial figures- for example, Christopher Daniels (who represents SkyFlight), Stokely Hathaway (who has been managing FTR as of late), Prince Nana (whose client, Swerve Strickland, is one of the company's top stars), MVP (who represents his long-time allies and Hurt Syndicate teammates Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin), and finally, Don Callis, the head of the much-reviled Don Callis Family.
If he is no longer able to compete, Keith Lee could be brought back to All Elite Wrestling programming as a manager. The 41-year-old has always been known for cutting decent promos and for his charming, charismatic personality, both on and off-screen. Tony Khan could pair the former WWE star with stars like Private Party, Anthony Bowens, or The Gates of Agony. Lee could also serve as his former tag partner Dustin Rhodes' manager during his final run before retirement.
Since the beginning, All Elite Wrestling has had an incredibly strong commentary team. The company's initial announcing team consisted of Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, with Taz joining later. Since then, more well-known names have joined the Jacksonville-based promotion's commentary desk, including "The Giant" Paul Wight, Nigel McGuinness, and even former AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson.
Keith Lee would in all likelihood thrive as an announcer for many of the same reasons why he could also become a successful manager. The former AEW World Tag Team Champion has a way with words on the mic, and if the company decides to keep its commentary desk fresh with a rotating cast of broadcasters, bringing Lee back as a commentator to share his insights as a former competitor may be an idea worth considering.
AEW brands itself as the promotion where "the Best Wrestle". It stands to reason that the company would not be able to stage the level of high-quality in-ring action that it does regularly without people helping develop these matches behind the scenes. Industry veterans like Dean Malenko, Jerry Lynn, Chris Hero, Pat Buck and Sonjay Dutt serve as producers in All Elite Wrestling. The promotion also employs the likes of Billy Gunn, Scott Garland, Madison Rayne and Dustin Rhodes as coaches.
With almost two decades of in-ring experience under his belt, Keith Lee could arguably be a great fit as a producer or coach in All Elite Wrestling as well. The "Limitless" superstar has wrestled close to 600 matches in his career across a variety of independent promotions as well as major companies like WWE and AEW. Picking Lee's brain and hiring him to produce matches, especially featuring heavyweight powerhouses like himself, could be one way Tony Khan could utilize the beloved star if his wrestling career is truly done.
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