411’s WWE 24: Keith Lee Report – Lee on His Failed WWE Tryouts, Winning The NXT Title, More

411’s WWE 24 Report: Keith Lee

-Original Air Date: 12.06.20
-Run Time: 51:36

-Orlando, FL: Aug 24, 2020: Keith Lee is at home and says today is going to be his RAW debut. He must be doing something right and he is grateful for the work he has put in to get here. Opening sequence shows off some highlights from various Indy promotions. Foley calls him a force of nature and charisma. “Show them why they should have said yes and why I was worthy all along,” -Keith Lee. This is WWE 24: Keith Lee.

-Keith tells us he was born in Wichita Falls, TX and spent most of his life in the Dallas Fort Worth area. We meet his mother, Kimberly, who says Keith has always been a big guy. He weighed in at 9 lbs 3 oz at birth and I will throw in that my 2 sons clocked in at 10 lbs 2 oz and 9 lbs 3 oz (both at least 10 days early too). Perhaps I have a future World Champion wrestler on my hands. Keith Lee Sr is here and talks about his son. Mom tells us that even before Keith was born the family watched World Class and his grandma was a massive fan. Keith says his grandmother is the one that got him hooked on wrestling and we hear from his brother who says they used to wrestle on a big red pillow in their grandmother’s house. Keith says that Randy Savage and Mr Perfect were his two guys as he grew up. Fantastic choices!

-Keith’s parents divorced when he was 4 years old and his grandma passed away when he was 12. He and his mother were living with his grandma and it hurt him to be in that home after she passed. His mother felt he needed his father and needed to get out of the “hood” (called by Keith). His father gets emotional talking about the environment and Keith seeing things his father didn’t want him to see. The decision was made for Keith to move in with his father in Dallas Fort Worth. Keith says it was a difficult decision, but paid off. His father says that once he got full custody Keith asked if he could play football and his dad said sure. I mean, this is Texas. Basically a birth right down there.

-Keith was given the nickname of The Bus as he wore Jerome Bettis’ number and school colors were black and gold. He was good and had some interest from Texas A&M. Keith loved football, but his love of wrestling was surpassing it, so he left before his sophomore year of college to chase that dream. His mother was behind him as she knew that is always what he wanted to do. His father despised the decision as he knew his son had a great chance with football, but he knew his son had made up his mind.

-Killer Keith Brooks is discussed as he was a worker in World Class. Keith found he had a wrestling school and they let him do as much as he wanted. Killer let him do moonsaults and fly around like a cruiserweight where everyone else wanted him to be a monster. Keith was a monster in the weight room as nobody could hang and his cardio was off the charts as well. Erik (Viking Raider) and Adam Cole talk about seeing Keith on the independent scene and how impressed they were. His best friend mentions that Keith was living out of his car at the time and nobody knew he was in that kind of place. His father wasn’t sure why he never called and his mom says that he figured he needed to do it on his own. Keith talks about having 15 minute matches and was lucky to get $20. His father went off when he found out how little he was being paid and wanted him to go back to football. Erik says they never focused on the small pay and all they looked forward to was the next show.

-In 2008 Keith gets his first tryout with the WWE. He was told he wasn’t ready and Dusty basically told him he sucked on the mic. Keith called it a good learning experience and something he could use to grow.

-Flash forward to 2009 and Keith gets used on RAW as a security guard during an episode of RAW where Legacy was going to need protection from HHH, Shane and Vince. Keith says he was told that he was going to get punched by Vince McMahon and he needed to go down. Keith said no problem and thinks they played a joke on him as Vince looked confused when he went down with one punch. So HHH and Shane picked him up to get in a few more shoots since Keith was the biggest guy.

-River City Wrestling: Aug 2009: Mick Foley is a special ref in a Keith Lee match and Keith ends up eating Mr Socko. Keith laughs as it took 4 days to get the taste out of his mouth. He asked Mick what else he could do and Mick told him to make sure he stands out so that everyone who leaves the show is talking about him.

-FCW tryout 2011: Regal thought he had something special, but knew he needed to figure things out before getting put in that system. Keith: “so it was another no.”

-NXT tryout Aug 2013: Keith says it was the first PC tryout and he was given a call. They basically kicked their asses as they wanted to see who would quit. Keith says he wasn’t prepared for what they put them through but he survived. He did some promos and Dusty came up to him and said “son, you have a presence I can literally bask in.” Well, then! Obviously that is where Bask in My Glory was born. They were proud of how far he had come, but for a 3rd time it was a no.

-Cole mentions he was rejected twice and talks about it being soul crushing because WWE is the dream. Keith said it was then he thought maybe his father was right and he made the wrong choice. Regal told him he would keep an eye on him as he knew the rejection wouldn’t stop him and it would be good for him. Cole says you eventually develop the attitude where you are going to prove them wrong. Keith knew he was unique and there weren’t a lot of people out there like him.

-Regal says working out on the Indy scene makes you tough. Erik says they both started getting hot in Texas and having great matches together. Keith went to the East Coast where nobody knew who he was and his first match was with Dominik Dijakovic and they tore the house down. They show footage from beyond wrestling and it’s crazy what he was able to do. Lee says his entire wrestling world was flipped within 48 hours of that match ending and thus began the roller coaster ride that only went up.

-From there he went to the UK and continued to open eyes all over the world. Regal says his name started popping up and he was happy to see he kept working. Mark Henry had heard about him and wanted the WWE to sign him immediately. In 2018 Keith says his next stop was Japan and just as he was about to leave, the WWE came knocking as well. Erik says it was a special thing as he now had the option of 2 top places.

-NXT Takeover Chicago II: Keith is introduced to the crowd and then makes his debut in NXT. He talks about how NXT had a lot happening at that time and he was kind of shuffled to the side. Terry Taylor was right there to tell Keith to hang in there and that his time would come. Mia Yim knew he was going to make it in the WWE. They started to spend a lot of time together and that’s how that started. Aww, that’s sweet!

-Survivor Series 2019: NXT gets to take part and Keith Lee is left with Rollins and Reigns. Lee eliminates Rollins to a massive pop. Keith knew in that moment magic was being made. Cole puts over that final with Lee vs Reigns as magic. Keith showed on that night he is a Main Event player. Reigns offers Lee a fist bump and Lee says it was special. Foley says the WWE knew that night they had a guy they could be behind.

-Lee is now the fastest rising star in NXT and wins the North American Championship. For him it was validation that he could carry a title. Jump forward to this year’s Royal Rumble and the crowd erupts when Lee faces Brock. Lee says that even his father was in the crowd and was losing it. Mark Henry puts over Lee on Backstage as he compares him to Taker and Lee just hopes he can live up to all the hype from people he respects.

-March 2020: COVID hits and Lee has lost 9 people to the virus. Damn! He credits the fans for uplifting him even when they don’t know it. He wants to be a leader and be there for people so he puts that first and it helps him work through all the pain he has experienced outside the ring.

-George Floyd’s death leads to protests and Lee says he has experienced these injustices personally. He has been stopped for walking and for just existing. He brought up wearing Black Lives Matter gear and Mia told him to go for it. The WWE gave him the open platform as well. Keith says that even if you think nobody thinks your live matters, he does. “Let’s continue to be better human beings.” Damn straight!

-June 25, 2020: Killer Brooks is in poor health and on hospice. Keith makes time to go see him and brings the North American Title. He and his best friend (who was also trained by Brooks) were the last 2 people to be able to see him. Lee says that biggest lesson he learned was to never give in and never quit. He would make a difference and honor him if he believed in his talent. He is going to honor him without question.

-Six days after Killer’s funeral we get Lee vs Cole in a Title vs Title match at The Great American Bash. Lee says they had an awesome match and Cole says he has all the respect for Keith and he deserved to be NXT Champion. Lee wins the NXT Title and his mom wishes she had been there for that. Lee gets emotional after the match as he poses with both belts while telling Brooks he loves him and he is in his heart.

-AJ Styles meets Keith backstage and asks when he is getting up here. The answer becomes sooner than later as he drops the Title to Karrion Kross. HHH puts over Lee after the match to the rest of the roster and tells everyone to keep this quiet but this was Keith’s last match in NXT. Apparently some are confused as they ask where he is going thinking he is done with WWE and HHH has to clarify that he is going to either RAW or SmackDown. Lee gets a chuckle out of that story. Cole was happy for him and happy to see him get a chance in front of a new crowd. Keith gives his closing thoughts to the group by telling them he loves them all and thanks them.

-Keith thought he might get time off and a chance to work on some new gear and presentation. Nope, as he found out he would be debuting the night after SummerSlam. Keith walks in to The ThuderDome for the first time and calls the place awesome. He meets up with Ivar who tells him not to suck. Nice! Hayes hiding in the background jokes with Lee they are going to treat him like shit. Ha!

-Lee talks about the difference between NXT audience and RAW/SmackDown audience. This was a place where not everyone was going to be familiar with him. He wanted to learn as much as he could as possible so much so that he watched everyone doing their jobs. Lee makes his debut by interrupting Randy Orton cutting a promo. Lee says it was joy, happiness, and frightening all wrapped up. His mom says she likes Randy Orton, but now she can’t because he is wrestling her son. That is so awesome and another reason why moms are amazing people!

-Lee mentions that 11 years ago he was security that was protecting Randy Orton and now he is making his debut against Orton. That is pretty amazing actually and just another one of those crazy wrestling stories like DDP driving a Cadillac and Punk riding on a car during Cena’s Mania entrance.

-Lee and Orton have a match that doesn’t get to finish as Drew crashes the party. Lee felt he held his own and calls it a valuable experience. He meets Vince n Gorilla and Vince tells him they are going to go places, but it’s all on Lee. Keith tells the camera that Vince had him ready to dead lift 650 lbs because of how genuine and full of passion he is. It felt like a coach firing him up. “Vince McMahon is expecting me to dismantle this industry and I’m going to fucking do it.” Awesome!

-Keith takes a street bike out for a ride as he says he loves the wind, freedom, sound and power. He has been through a lot in his life. Life is about getting knocked down and continuing to move forward. If you progress then you succeed. His grandma would love this and his coach would be looking down proud as well. His mom and dad both say they are proud. Henry calls him a franchise guy and Foley says he can do anything. Lee ends this with, “I hope I’ve made them proud so far, but I’m not done yet.”

-This was a wonderful documentary that told a great story. Keith Lee is an easy guy too root for and this story he shared only made it all the easier. There is a great lesson here with Keith Lee being told no on three different occasions and still following his dream and seeing it through. It’s one thing to have passion as you still need talent and Lee has both. Take the time out to check this one out to get a look into the man that asks you to bask in his glory. Thanks for reading!