The Latest on a Potential Keith Lee Return to AEW Amid Lengthy Hiatus

Keith Lee hasn't appeared for AEW in over two years.

Lee's last match for the company took place on December 23 edition of AEW Collision in 2023. The episode was a special Holiday Bash edition of the show, and Lee defeated Brian Cage. This was not only Lee's last AEW match, but it was the last time he was in the ring at all.

Lee was scheduled for AEW Worlds End later that month, but he was pulled from the now annual pay-per-view due to injury. He was supposed to face Swerve Strickland, but the match between former tag team partners never had the chance to materialize.

There hasn't much information provided by AEW or Lee about his current status with the company. On Monday afternoon, Sean Ross Sapp with Fightful Select provided a rare update.

An AEW return for Keith Lee was discussed, but did not come to fruition

Fightful is reporting that AEW did recently discuss a Keith Lee return. It's not clear whether or not the return plans made it to Lee or not, but the discussion did happen. Now, the report also indicates that because nothing has come to fruition on a return, whatever plans that were discussed are likely on the backburner.

Lee made his AEW debut in February of 2022. In his first match, he beat Isiah Kassidy to qualify for the Face of the Revolution ladder match at the Revolution PPV event. Later in his AEW run, Lee became tag team partners with Swerve Strickland. The duo won the AEW World Tag Team Championships on AEW Dynamite in July of that same year.

Strickland and Lee, as Swerve in our Glory, defeated The Young Bucks and Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs to win the belts. They held those championships until September. They lost the belts to The Acclaimed at that year's Grand Slam event from inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Lee signing with AEW was a major move for the company at that time. Prior to signing, Lee was a part of the WWE roster. He was a former NXT Champion and NXT North American Champion. He was called up to the main roster in 2020 right after the SummerSlam event.

Lee faced Randy Orton is first match, but it ended because of interference. At the Payback event that year, Lee defeated Orton. Lee encountered several health issues during his time with the company. Lee was released from the WWE in November of 2021.

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