Keith Lee made quite the debut a few weeks back. Really in AEW that’s pretty common these days, but what isn’t always necessarily common is the sheer and utter talent this man has, and at his size, he can surely move and deliver quite the exciting match.
Yet for whatever reason, on the WWE main roster WWE Creative just didn’t know how to properly deliver that package – the Keith Lee package – to the audience. It worked in NXT, as so many other wrestlers and their gimmicks do. But the main roster is such a different animal altogether, that a lot of epic talents like himself and Killer Kross (known in WWE as Karrion Kross) just seem to get lost in the shuffle.
Well, both men seem to have found new homes and Keith Lee detailed just how soon AEW became an option for him when things went bad in WWE and he got released.
It was on an episode of AEW Unrestricted that he went into all of this and these comments are taken from that episode:
“I don’t even know if I should say this stuff, but it’s fine because it wasn’t a business thing or anything. Yeah, that release happened, and within three days Tony found a way to get in touch with me. I was actually really impressed with that, considering we had never spoken before…
We had some really laidback conversations and kind of got to know each other a little bit. And I think that’s something that helped, because I think that some of my trust was a little disgruntled…
So, we had a conversation and then as time wore on, things got a little easier. We kind of met up, and I have this thing where I must meet a person, in person. I am a big people feeler as opposed to listening to things. I am an energy guy. So when I did meet him, I decided he was a fairly stand-up guy, and I really enjoyed my time with him.”
Killer Kross joins NJPW—set to face the legendary Minoru Suzuki
Set to go down at NJPW Lonestar Shootout, Kross seems roaring and ready to go. With a new hairstyle…he actually does have hair a full head of hair to grow out after all (which is more than I can say for me but I digress), and he looks to be in incredible shape.
He of course also wrestles for Major League Wrestling, with whom he has a history with. He joined back with MLW in 2022. He has also extensively wrestled for AAA, Impact Wrestling, Global Force, Lucha Underground and others and of course WWE.
NJPW made an official statement regarding the match:
“With a reputation built in the battlegrounds of WWE, Killer Kross cuts an intimidating figure indeed, ensuring the two-time NXT Champion got a lot of attention when he released a video to social media this week. His first opponent in social media will lose nothing in the intimidation stakes however, as Minoru Suzuki will face Kross for the first time one on one April 1! …
The match joins Chris Dickinson vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Mike Bailey vs. Jay White, Rocky Romero vs. Ren Narita and an all star eight man tag already announced for Dallas! Make sure you’re there April 1, or watching on FITE!”
The match should be something indeed. Watching Suzuki work is always a treat and Kross has a lot to prove to anyone paying attention, as WWE really dropped the ball with him during his last few months there…his main roster call-up was a disaster, as is old news by now.
What should be clear is that that had very little to do with him. In the process though, many who don’t understand that creative can both promote a wrestler positively and decimate his momentum all in the same instant, so yeah it’s a coin toss at best.
There are many that believe in him and I think that he can more than deliver on this new platform and who knows where else he decides to go next?
