Bask in his glory! Keith Lee returned to WWE programming after a seven-month absence and confronted the WWE Champion Bobby Lashley.
It all went down on the latest edition of Monday Night Raw on USA Network which emanated live from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. "The All Mighty" Bobby Lashley and his associate MVP were talking themselves up in the ring and bragging about Lashley's destruction of Kofi Kingston at Money In The Bank the previous night. Lashley issued a non-title open challenge, which was answered by former NXT Champion Keith Lee.
The two giants battled it out, and Lee fought valiantly but ultimately Lashley was too powerful for him to overcome. The match wasn't very long, and Lee didn't show any obvious signs of ring rust but it's clear that seven months of inactivity has taken its toll on the big man.
Lashley got the win after hitting Lee with a spear and was confronted by Goldberg as he celebrated his victory.
Before Monday, Keith Lee hadn't been seen on WWE programming since February, and the reason for his absence is yet to be explained by either WWE or The Limitless One himself.
Recently, Lee took to Twitter for the first time in a week to check in with his fans.
"Many of you are reminding me of this day a year ago," Lee captioned a photo of himself taken on the night he defeated Adam Cole to become NXT Champion. "So much has happened since then, it feels so long ago. Patience my friends....there is zero quit IN me. So don't you quit ON me. I miss you. And I love you.
Prior to his unexplained leave of absence, Lee's future in WWE seemed promising. While he was still a member of the NXT locker room, the big man stole the show at Survivor Series in 2019. The black and gold brand was victorious that night, but Lee's face-to-face in the ring with Roman Reigns felt like a huge moment that was laying the groundwork for a tantalizing future feud. Lee's staredown and battle with Brock Lesnar during the men's Royal Rumble match two months later seemed to cement his status as a star of the near future, but sadly his main event push is yet to come to fruition.