"The moment I dreamed about" - Major AEW personality comments on Keith Lee's debut

Keith Lee made his AEW debut on Dynamite

Keith Lee's debut on AEW Dynamite was the biggest talking point of the week across all of professional wrestling. For Tony Khan, it was a moment he'd been dreaming of.

Lee was surprisingly let go from WWE in November 2021. Being one of the biggest stars in NXT and a major force whenever he appeared on the main roster, fans were blindsided by his release.

After all, the Limitless One defeated Randy Orton within weeks of joining the main roster. He was part of the winning team at Survivor Series and had a brief but fun interaction with Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble. He seemed destined for a run on top.

Yet despite a name and gimmick change, Lee was cut shortly after his return from injury. Other big names in the same round of cuts were Karrion Kross and Mia Yim.

Bruh I’m pissed we never got Keith Lee vs Brock LESNAR…HOW DO YOU FUMBLE THE BAG ON THAT LMAOO #AEWDynamite https://t.co/0G8IBrCXZU

Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Tony Khan opened up about his latest acquisition.

“Keith’s debut was incredible,” Khan says. “Much to my amazement, Keith got released. As soon as I saw that he was released, this was the moment I dreamed about. It was crazy timing,” Khan said. “I’m so happy with how the debut has been received. It’s very well deserved, and I am very excited to have Keith in AEW.”

Tony Khan comments on AEW Dynamite's ratings

Quarter-hours for AEW Dynamite last night on TBS

Further analysis & demos (including P18-34, F18-49, M18-49, P35-49, and more):
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AEW Dynamite scored its biggest ratings spike since September 2021. The total number of viewers on average throughout the show were 1.12 million and the episode drew a rating of 0.41 in the key 18-49 demographic. Tony Khan relayed his excitement about the number to Sports Illustrated:

“We were the No. 1 show on cable this week [among the 18–49 demographic], beating the Olympics, the NBA and a huge property in South Park,” Khan says. “That’s a credit to wrestling fans and our hard-working wrestlers and staff. We’re very appreciative to everyone that made that happen."

This was one of the most heavily advertised shows in recent weeks due in large part to the impending debut of Keith Lee. Whether the ratings bump was purely because of the surprise remains to be seen, but Dynamite will be in good shape if it can grab similar numbers next week.