While he suggests they didn't talk business, it looks like Keith Lee has raised questions or partially suggested AEW might have tampered with his WWE non-compete clause after he was released by Vince McMahon and co. There's no way to prove anything, and we may never know if Tony Khan and Lee talked about potentially signing during his non-compete window, but Lee's statement and the surrounding optics don't look all that good on AEW.

While on the AEW Unrestricted Podcast, Lee said, “I don't know if I should even say this stuff, but it’s fine because it wasn't a business thing or anything. That (WWE) release happened and within three days, Tony found a way to get in touch with me." He added, "I was actually really impressed with that." He added that considering the two men had never spoken before, they had some laid back conversations and got to know each other a little. Lee said that helped because he was a "little disgruntled" when it came to his trust issues after the way his WWE departure went down.

Lee did make sure to note that they talked about life and football and other things before they ever talked business. In that way, this is not tampering, if true. There's nothing to say Khan can't speak to someone he's looking to sign. The tampering only comes into play if they chat about Lee signing with AEW while he's still under a non-compete clause with WWE. Even then, the reality of WWE being able to enforce that is questionable. Jeff Hardy made a statement to a fan that he was going to AEW before his non-compete was over and nothing is likely to come of that either. Lee didn't go near as far as Hardy did with is public comments about his future.

Related: WWE Possibly Taking Legal Action Against AEW For Imminent Jeff Hardy Signing

Lee Joined AEW For A Couple Of Reasons

Ultimately, Lee joined up with AEW because he felt Khan was a genuine human being. Lee also leaned heavily on the reference Adam Cole gave AEW. Cole said he was extremely happy to have made the jump and Lee trusts Cole and really likes him as a person. If Cole was this happy, The Limitless One felt AEW was the place to be.

h/t to Wrestlingnews.co for the transcription