8 Things WWE Fans Need To Know About Keith Lee

5. Lee Had His First WWE Tryout In 2008

Keith Lee
Twitter, @RealKeithLee

Lee persevered with the insular wrestling community in Texas long enough to successfully apply for a WWE tryout in 2008. The process perhaps wasn't as open-minded as it is now; this was only the beginning of WWE's acceptance for independent wrestling's contrast to their own style and came long before NXT's rise.

Plus, by his own admission, Lee sucked on the microphone and couldn't cut a promo to save his life. As he knew how important that was in WWE, he didn't hold out much hope of being signed.

Nonetheless, WWE could see he had potential, and officials even discussed that with Keith after his tryout in-ring. It wouldn't lead to anything for the time being, but Lee had a bit of an incentive to keep plugging away on the indy circuit to see how he could improve.

Over the next five years, he struggled to get out of his Texan home base. Stigma attached to how he worked as a bigger man also didn't help. Some promoters probably couldn't get their heads around the fact that Lee, at over 300lbs, could leap around the ring like a Cruiserweight.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.