It’s been a year of addition for AEW, with the promotion already signing a handful of stars, and reportedly poised to sign more as the summer moves forward. But another addition may be planned for AEW, one that doesn’t involve a signing, but would instead see a long absent wrestler return to the fold. Fightful Select reports that, several months ago, discussions began within the promotion regarding the return of Keith Lee.
How far along those discussions are a mystery, however, including whether those discussions ever made it to Lee himself. It was noted, however, that whatever those plans are would likely be changed at this point, or even scrapped, as a source close to the situation said Lee’s return would’ve happened as planned if AEW had followed through. It remains unclear whether Lee has actually been cleared to return to the ring, and he has not been a regular presence backstage at AEW events; if he needed to be cleared, it’s believed Lee would’ve been around to be checked by doctors, which was described as a multi-week process.
Lee, best known as a former NXT Champion and a former AEW World Tag Team Champion with Swerve Strickland, hasn’t been seen on AEW programming since late 2023. At the time, Lee was set to face Strickland in a one-on-one match at AEW Worlds End, only to be pulled from the show with an injury the day of, with Dustin Rhodes replacing him. Since then, Lee has only commented sparingly on his absence, though he did confirm he would return to the ring at some point in a post on X last fall.
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