10 Wrestlers BANNED From Getting Over

9. Keith Lee's Toned Down Style

Daniel Bryan
WWE.com

It's not difficult to get Keith Lee over. That's essentially a pro wrestling saying.

Yes, he feels cold in AEW at present, as his body catches up to what at times felt like a physically impossible ring style, but with Swerve In Our Glory, Tony Khan pinpointed how best to use this version of the man. They were a great, underrated tag team, a symbiotic force, with each partner complementing the other in fiction and reality. Lee was able to more carefully distribute his still-stunning high spots where Swerve brought the kinetic energy to their matches. Lee can't do what he used to do all of the time, but he is booked to do so, and get himself over, whenever possible.

This was not the case in WWE.

When playing the inscrutably stupid and ill-fitting 'Bearcat' character, Lee was told not to speak with his own super-endearing diction and vocabulary. Per his appearance on Talk Is Jericho, Lee was told that he sounded "too smart for his own good". He was also banned from performing his crowd-pleasing double chop spot.

"Raw is already too loud, Keith, there's no need for it!"

Lee also said he was "restricted" in a more general sense on the main roster, which was easily inferred by the fact that his matches were very boring.

Turning Keith Lee into Bearcat Lee was so impressively stupid that it almost borders on an achievement.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!