Keith Lee is in the perfect place to excel in AEW

Keith Lee made his presence known in AEW the moment he stepped in the ring. Lee was the mystery opponent for Isiah Cassidy on AEW Dynamite last night. The sellout crowd in Atlantic City gave him the largest ovation of the night to that point and rightfully so. Keith Lee has found the perfect place to excel, it’s in AEW.

In a shocking development, Lee was released by the WWE on November 4th, 2021. Vince McMahon and company have almost desensitized the pro wrestling industry by releasing close to 100 talents over the last 3 years. When you see one large name released like a Bray Wyatt, you almost expect no one to be safe in that environment.

Yet Keith Lee being let go was one of the most mindboggling releases we’ve seen in recent memory. Lee is 340 plus pounds, charismatic, moves like a man 100 pounds lighter and has every redeeming quality that the WWE looks for to build a mega superstar.

Keith Lee’s resume in the promotion up North looks like this. The only simultaneous, double NXT champion in history. Went head-to-head with Roman Reigns as the sole remaining men at the Survivor Series in 2019. He eliminated Seth Rollins to earn that one on one showdown.

He went toe to toe with Brock Lesnar at the 2020 Royal Rumble, earning the respect of the legend in the process. In Keith Lee’s 2nd match on WWE Monday Night RAW, He pinned Randy Orton clean. The thought process in elevating Lee was clearly omnipresent in the eyes of the higher ups within the company.

Cliff notes version of his 2021. Keith Lee contracted COVID in January, missing several months due to an inflamed heart on top of it. When given a clean bill of health to return, he was repackaged as “Bearcat” Lee. Wrestled the WWE champion Bobby Lashley in his 1st match back, wrestled a couple of other non-descript bouts and was unceremoniously released by the company.

97 days after he was released, Keith Lee’s new AEW theme music dropped and the massive man from Wichita Falls, Texas walked through the face’s entrance onto the Atlantic City stage. “Limitless” flanked his presence on the jumbotron behind him. You knew right then and there; Keith Lee has found the perfect place to ply his craft. It’s All Elite Wrestling.

There is a magnetic aura that surrounds Keith Lee. He can overpower his opponent, but also beat them with agile strikes if need be. Watching him move with the smoothness of a cheetah, the grace of a figure skater and the power of a freight train was a delight to this audience. He defeated Isiah Cassidy in five minutes to stamp his arrival in the AEW promotion.

We have not seen a man grace a wrestling ring like Keith Lee in a long time. Built in the same mold as men like Bam Bam Bigelow and Vader before him, Lee brings a package to AEW that no one in the promotion possesses. It’s incredibly scary to think about the damage that Keith Lee can do in All Elite Wrestling.

The phrase “Sky is the limit” can become a bit cliche. Yet if you were to use it in this context, Keith Lee would be the pro wrestler you can use it for. He’s already qualified for the AEW Face Of The Revolution ladder match, where the winner earns an AEW TNT title match. Lee is the overwhelming favorite to take it down in my opinion. He then becomes a serious threat to take the TNT championship. If he were to do so, it’d be less than one month upon making his arrival with AEW.

When you allow a man like Keith Lee to do the special things that make him who he is, you tap into resources and feats that are unparallel in a pro wrestling ring Worldwide. You can present him as a special attraction. Go one step further and strap a rocket to the man’s large back. Tony Khan knows exactly the type of athlete and performer that he signed in Keith Lee.

The rewards that can be reaped could be plentiful. If you’re a wrestling fan, you know what Keith Lee has done throughout his near 17-year career. On a similarly larger stage from his previous employer, Lee has the potential to do what he should have done or was on his way to doing in the promotion based in Stamford, Connecticut.

Every tool plus the kitchen sink at his disposal, AEW will be the perfect place for Keith Lee to excel and reach the top of the proverbial mountain in the pro wrestling world. Keith Lee has World champion written all over him and he can begin to carve out that path in his new home in All Elite Wrestling.