"I was out doing the dance with lady death" - Keith Lee on WWE changing his name to Bearcat
Former WWE Superstar Keith Lee has commented on his name change during his time at the Stamford-based company.
Towards the end of his tenure, The Limitless One's in-ring moniker was changed to Keith "Bearcat" Lee, then simply Bearcat Lee as a tribute to the legendary wrestler Bearcat Wright. After his release from WWE last year, the former NXT Champion recently joined AEW, competing under his real name.
During a recent interview with Bleacher Report, Keith Lee spoke about his name change. He disclosed that the name change took place when he took a break to deal with health issues. While he didn't have any issues with it, Lee was not fond of the new name.
"I don't really think I had [a reaction]. At the end of the day, it was something that was brought up while I was out doing the dance with lady death situation. And I didn't think much of it, obviously. And then when I came back, it was something that [WWE management] really wanted, and they pulled me into an office and asked me to do it. And that was my job. So I said 'OK,' and that was kind of it. Was I fond of it? No. But you got to do what you're asked to do at the end of the day," Lee recalled.
KEITH "BEARCAT" LEE.
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Keith Lee on how he would handle a similar situation if it came up today
As we mentioned earlier, Keith Lee made a surprise AEW debut last month, and he's already over with the AEW fans. It'll be interesting to see how things turn out for him in his new company.
Lee stated that although he was okay with the name change back then, he would refuse if asked to do it today.
"But I think that in my time there, what I learned is sometimes loyalty just doesn't really do that much for you [laughs]. So while I was OK then, I think that if I was asked to do something that I didn't agree with, from here on, it would not just be an 'OK,' but more of a 'hell-to-the-no.'"
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Keith Lee is currently scheduled to compete in the Face of the Revolution Ladder match for a future AEW TNT Championship match at the upcoming AEW Revolution pay-per-view.
What did you think of Lee's name change in WWE? Sound off in the comments below.