Despite multiple reports suggesting that WWE has high hopes for recent Monday Night Raw call-up Keith Lee, more recent rumors suggest that the situation is still fluid when it comes to the former NXT Champion’s creative path on the main roster.
As quoted by Ringside News , Dave Meltzer explained on Tuesday’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that he doesn’t believe Lee will be turning heel just yet, as suggested by previous reports that added this might be WWE’s way of setting him up for a world championship feud against a babyface titleholder. However, he stressed that the company’s creative team is “running by the seat of their pants” as the big man remains in a storyline with Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre.
“You can tell. There’s no plan in place at all other than he’s still on the list of people they are pushing as opposed to the other guys who are no longer on the list.”
Ringside News also observed that Lee is currently in a “strange position” on Raw , as he still doesn’t have a match scheduled for the upcoming Clash of Champions pay-per-view, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 27. Most recently, he and McIntyre battled it out on this week’s episode of the red brand’s show, though this was ultimately ruled a no-contest after the members of RETRIBUTION ran in and attacked both men. However, the outlet noted how the newcomer appeared to be showing more intensity during his match against the reigning WWE Champion.
In the weeks leading up to the new rumors, Lee was enjoying a good push for a main roster rookie, having cleanly defeated Orton at the Payback pay-per-view on August 30. Given Orton’s status as a 13-time world champion and grizzled veteran, reports suggested shortly after the event that Lee’s victory was a sign that WWE chairman Vince McMahon indeed has high hopes for him and wants to “push [him] to the moon.” It was also noted that Orton was more than willing to make Lee look like a legitimate star during the match.
Meltzer isn’t the only person in the wrestling industry who has expressed concern regarding Lee’s booking in recent weeks. In a follow-up story to the aforementioned article, Ringside News wrote that former WWE superstar Heath Slater — who is now billed under his first name as an Impact Wrestling talent — took to Twitter to reply to the first report, where he remarked that he has “15 ideas” on how to book the up-and-coming superstar.