Keith Lee (wrestler)

Keith Lee (born November 8, 1984) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand, and is currently the NXT Champion in his first reign. Lee is also a former NXT North American Champion, as well as the first man to hold both titles simultaneously.

Keith Lee
Lee in April 2018
Born (1984-11-08) November 8, 1984
Wichita Falls, Texas, United States[1]
ResidenceOrlando, Florida, United States[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Keith Lee[3]
Kevin Paine
Billed height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[3]
Billed weight320 lb (145 kg)[3]
Billed fromWichita Falls, Texas
Trained byKiller Tim Brooks
DebutFebruary 2005

He is known for his work on the independent circuit, where he competed for promotions such as Evolve, All American Wrestling (AAW), and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). He is a one-time PWG World Champion and a one-time WWN Champion.

Early life

Keith Lee was born on November 8, 1984, in Wichita Falls, Texas. He was introduced to professional wrestling at a young age by his grandmother, who was a fan herself, and credits her with inspiring him to pursue a career in professional wrestling. Lee played college football at Texas A&M University, but quit to become a professional wrestler.[4][5]

Professional wrestling career

Ring of Honor (2015–2017)

During 2015, Lee started making appearances in Ring of Honor with Shane Taylor, calling themselves "Pretty Boy Killers" (PBK).[6]

On August 27, 2016, during Field of Honor, PBK participated in a gauntlet tag team match for the ROH World Tag Team Championship, but the match was won by The Addiction.[7] At All Star Extravaganza VIII, PBK wrestled against The All Night Express, War Machine and the team of Colt Cabana and Dalton Castle in a Four Corner Survival match to determine the number one contender for the ROH tag team championship, in a losing effort.[8] In January 2017, Taylor announced the he had signed his first contract with the Ring of Honor.[9] At a January 14 show in Atlanta, PBK entered into a feud with The Briscoe Brothers when Lee and Taylor attacked them and slammed Jay Briscoe through a table. Surprisingly, the next day, Lee announced that he was leaving ROH.[10] On February 3, 2017, they faced The Briscoes, where the match ended in a no contest. This was Lee's last appearance in ROH.[11]

Evolve (2017–2018)

Lee signed with Evolve in January 2017, and made his debut at Evolve 76, losing to Chris Hero.[12] He made his return on February 24 at Evolve 78, defeating Zack Sabre Jr.[13] The following night, at Evolve 79, he defeated Tracy Williams.[14] Lee received his first championship opportunity at Evolve 87 on June 25, when he unsuccessfully challenged Matt Riddle for the WWN Championship.[15] On October 14, at Evolve 94, Lee defeated Riddle to win the WWN Championship.[16] On April 6, 2018, at Evolve 103, he lost the title to Austin Theory.[17]

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2017–2018)

Lee made his Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) debut on March 18, 2017, at the Nice Boys (Don't Play Rock N' Roll) event, competing in a triple threat match against Brian Cage and Sami Callihan, won by Cage.[18] At the Game Over, Man event, he lost to Jeff Cobb.[19] On May 19 at Head Like A Cole, he won his first match in PWG, defeating Trevor Lee.[20] He followed this up by defeating Lio Rush and Trent at Pushin Forward Back on July 7.[21] In September, Lee made it to the finals of the 2017 Battle of Los Angeles, where he was defeated by Ricochet.[22] Lee's quarterfinal match against Donovan Dijak was awarded a five-star rating by Dave Meltzer.[23] At Time Is a Flat Circle event on March 23, 2018, Lee defeated Chuck Taylor to become the PWG World Champion. On April 21 at All Star Weekend 14, Lee lost the title to Walter in a three-way match, also involving Jonah Rock.

WWE (2018–present)
Lee performing the Spirit Bomb on Kassius Ohno

Debut and first storylines (2018-2020)

Prior to officially signing with WWE, Lee made an appearance on WWE television in 2009 during an angle that featured Triple H, Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon taking on The Legacy (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase). Lee was part of the security team on hand to prevent the McMahon family from attacking The Legacy.[24][25]

On April 5, 2018, during WrestleMania Axxess weekend, Lee made an appearance for NXT, defeating Kassius Ohno.[26] On May 1, it was announced that Lee had signed a contract with WWE.[27] Lee appeared in attendance for NXT TakeOver: Chicago II on June 16.[28] On the August 8 episode of NXT, Lee made his in-ring debut, defeating Marcel Barthel.[29] He appeared two weeks later on NXT, defeating Luke Menzies.[30] On the September 26 episode of NXT, an altercation between Lee and Kona Reeves was shown.[31] The two had a match two weeks later, in which Lee was victorious.[32] On the November 21 episode of NXT, Lars Sullivan defeated Keita Murray and attacked him after the match, Lee intervened and chased Sullivan from the ring.[33] The two faced off the following week, in which Lee was defeated.[34] On March 7, 2019, Lee suffered an undisclosed injury. The injury resulted in an early end to his planned feud with Dominik Dijakovic, who he was supposed to face for the next two months. Lee returned to action on April 18, at a house show in Lakeland, Florida.[35]

On the November 1 episode of SmackDown, Lee and Matt Riddle were two of the many NXT wrestlers to invade the show, confronting and ultimately attacking Sami Zayn.[36] Later that night, Lee joined Triple H and the rest of the NXT roster, as they declared war on both Raw and SmackDown, and vowed to win the Survivor Series brand warfare.[37] At the event, Lee and Team SmackDown's Roman Reigns were the last two men standing (with the entirety of Team Raw having been eliminated), with Reigns eventually pinning Lee.[38][39]

North American and NXT Champion (2020-present)

On the January 8, 2020 episode of NXT, Lee defeated Cameron Grimes, Damian Priest, and Dominik Dijakovic to become the number one contender to the NXT North American Championship.[40] On the January 22 episode of NXT, Lee defeated Roderick Strong to win the NXT North American Championship, marking his first championship win in WWE.[41] Lee participated in the Royal Rumble match and entered at #13 at the namesake pay-per-view but was eliminated by the WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. On the February 5 episode of NXT, it was announced that Lee would defend his North American championship against Dijakovic at NXT Takeover: Portland, where Lee successfully defended his title. On the March 11th episode of NXT, Lee retained the title against Cameron Grimes. On the April 1st episode of NXT, Lee retained the title against Dijakovic and Priest in a Triple Threat match.[42] In early June, Lee began feuding with Johnny Gargano after they traded shots via video promos involving Gargano's wife Candice LeRae and Lee's real-life girlfriend Mia Yim. Lee and Yim would face the Garganos in a mixed tag team match on June 4th where LeRae picked up the victory for the team. Lee would successfully defend the North American Championship against Johnny Gargano at NXT TakeOver: In Your House.[43] On the June 25 episode of NXT, Lee defended his North American Championship against Johnny Gargano and Finn Bálor in a match where the winner would face Adam Cole for the NXT Championship in a Winner takes all match at NXT: The Great American Bash. On Night 2 of The Great American Bash, he defeated Cole to win the NXT title, ending Cole's record 403-day reign and becoming a double champion, and the first person to hold both titles simultaneously.[44] He made his first successful defense of both titles against Dominik Dijakovic on the July 15 episode of NXT. On the July 22 episode of NXT, Lee voluntarily relinquished the North American Championship to provide opportunities to other superstars and to solely focus on defending the NXT Championship. On the July 29 episode of NXT, Lee started a feud with Karrion Kross after he made Lee watch as Dominik Dijakovic was being submitted in their match the week before.[45] After weeks of cryptic promos by Kross, Lee is set to defend his NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver XXX against Kross.[46]

Other media

Lee made his video game debut as a playable character in WWE 2K20.[47]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2020 The Main Event Smooth Operator[48]

Championships and accomplishments
Lee as WWN Champion

References
  1. "Exclusive Q&A: Keith Lee reveals how a Hall of Famer's advice changed his life and why failure is part of the "grind"". WWE. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  2. "Keith Lee on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  3. "Keith Lee". WWE. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  4. "Interview – Keith Lee – The British Wrestling Revival Blog". thebritishwrestlingrevival.wordpress.com. Archived from the original on April 11, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  5. "Keith Lee helping to change the game for big men in wrestling". March 9, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  6. "Keith Lee and Shane Taylor on the Future of Honor". Retrieved January 28, 2020 – via www.youtube.com.
  7. "ROH Field of Honor Results 8.27.16". 411 Mania. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  8. "Csonka's ROH All Star Extravaganza Review 9.30.16". 411Mania. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  9. "ROH Contract News on Adam Page & Donovan Dijak. More on Keith lee's Departure". 411Mania. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
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  11. Laconi, Rich (February 17, 2017). "The Curious Case of Keith Lee". Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  12. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "EVOLVE 76: A Hero's Exit – Tag 1 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
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