WWE Is Already Screwing Up Keith Lee As Struggles With New Stars Continue

Keith Lee made his WWE Raw debut tonight, just 48 hours after losing the NXT Championship to Karrion Kross at NXT TakeOver XXX, and it was an evening to forget for the newcomer.

Lee was positioned as a big deal, with WWE doing all it could to hype the impending arrival of the former NXT top star beginning last night at SummerSlam. But by the end of his debut match against Randy Orton, it was the same old song pertaining to WWE’s tremendous struggles in creating new stars.

WWE’ micromanagement of the Keith Lee character was apparent literally from the moment his music hit. No longer using the form-fitting theme music, rapped by Lee himself, which helped make him a star in NXT, Lee’s theme music was changed to a more generic blend of rock music. Lee’s ring gear was also altered as the 300-lb. talent now wears a compression vest and extremely baggy shorts.

Fans were quick to roast Lee’s entire presentation in real time as he went on eat a disqualification loss in an underwhelming debut match against Randy Orton, who brawled with Drew McIntyre as Lee disappeared.

Lee’s immediate struggles come just a few weeks after Matt Riddle’s once-anticipated debut, where he impressively defeated AJ Styles.

The 34-year-old Riddle went on to lose to AJ Styles in an Intercontinental Championship match.

Raw has struggled in viewership throughout the pandemic, particularly when it comes to the 18-49 demographic. With AEW putting the steps in place to build young talent and do right by a younger viewership, the upstart promotion has outclassed WWE programming in the key demo.

“The Demo God” Chris Jericho was even sure to point out that the August 5 broadcast of AEW Dynamite beat all three hours of Raw.

With Vince McMahon celebrating his 75th birthday, WWE’s old dogs in upper management continue to refuse to learn new tricks. One top NXT star after another has fallen by the wayside under WWE’s main roster administration, and if WWE continues to falter when it comes to building new stars, intense competition from all four major American sports during an election year spells doom for Raw viewership.

Keith Lee will go one-on-one with Randy Orton at WWE Payback in what already feels like a must-win match for the main roster rookie.