Maybe one of the more shocking (which can be used over and over again over these last 18 months) WWE releases on November 4th, 2021, was Keith Lee. Keith Lee was a former NXT champion who defeated Adam Cole (BAY BAY) at the Great American Bash 2 week special in July 2020, during the peak of the NXT pandemic era.
Keith Lee recently returned to the WWE Raw with the moniker Keith “Bearcat” Lee which was rumored to be his personal creation. That was until he comment on an Instagram post
So it seems like this was a product of WWE creative.
I never disliked the idea of the Keith ‘Bearcat’ Lee idea as long as it got him on TV and gave us the matches we know he would be capable of.
I will leave you with the idea I would have come up with for his character. I would have had Lee vs T-Bar (maybe just maybe use his NXT name Dominik Dijakovic) but those two were magic in NXT and the indy’s prior. I think a 4-5 week feud with 2 -3 matches would have really helped put them both over and I would have ended the feud with a match to qualify for the Royal Rumble which I would have had Lee win, postmatch Lee cuts a promo after the match to encourage the WWE brass to give a Rumble spot to T-Bar or DD. This would lead to Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville declining the request and claiming that is what the match was for. This would lead to Lee and T-Bar staying at odds as T-bar didn’t want Lee to try to talk him into the Royal Rumble, T-Bar claims he will be a future WWE champion but he will earn it (shades of grey and believable character development). On the go-home Raw for the Royal Rumble Lee then makes one last ploy to WWE to give T-Bar another shot to earn a spot – T-Bar comes out and says this is enough, stop treating me like a charity case, I will be more accomplished in WWE then you will ever be when it is said and done, Lee says they have been doing this for years and its time to see them both get the opportunities they earned. T-Bar lets Lee know he would not be doing the same for him. At the Royal, Rumble Lee is in the final 4-5 and T-Bar comes out to help him make it to the final 3 although everyone assumed he would cost Lee the spot. Lee eventually is tossed out of the Rumble and T-Bar just shakes his head. T-Bar tells Kieth Lee he blew the one chance either of them had at breaking the glass ceiling. T-Bar lets Lee know he is now a disappointment and he would have won the rumble. Both are in the Elimination Chamber and neither win and are both Eliminated in the first 2 spots because they cannot agree to either fight each other or team up. On the Road to WrestleMania 38in Austin Lee and T-Bar team up to go after the Tag Titles as they believe they are better together than apart … T-Bar “turns” on Lee and this sets up a final one on one match at Mania which can kick off night 2 and really sewt the tone for the night.
- @JasonDRossi