Keith Lee was originally supposed to win the United States Championship on WWE's main roster, according to 38-year-old star
Keith Lee started with promise on WWE's developmental brand, followed by his encounters against Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar. Unfortunately, he was released. Recently, a former star claimed that Lee was originally supposed to win the United States Championship.
In 2020, Keith Lee was moved to WWE's main roster and joined Monday Night RAW. After spending some time on the red brand, Lee came close to winning gold ahead of WrestleMania. Unfortunately, he was pulled out of the event and was replaced by Matt Riddle.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Matt Riddle spoke about the claims he made of winning the MITB contract and Royal Rumble match in 2022. During this conversation, he revealed that Keith Lee was supposed to win the United States Championship at Elimination Chamber 2021 ahead of WrestleMania 37:
"Yeah, when I won the United States title, I wasn't even supposed to win. Keith Lee was supposed to win. He got COVID, he was really sick. They replaced him with John Morrison and then I replaced Keith Lee to win. And I pinned Morrison, Keith was supposed to pin me to protect Bobby [Lashley]. Things change." (From 47:26 to 47:45)
Sadly, Lee was released from the promotion at the end of the year and didn't win any gold on the main roster.
Matt Riddle talks about the possibility of returning to WWE
In 2018, Matt Riddle signed with the company and started his journey on the developmental brand. Later, he was moved to the main roster, where he became extremely popular and teamed up with Randy Orton. Unfortunately, the run under the new regime went poorly.
In September 2023, The Original Bro was released from the company after working with the promotion for five years. Speaking in the same interview, Riddle said that anything is possible after CM Punk's return:
"So it's like can't knock it, WWE gave you a platform multiple WrestleManias multiple Royal Rumbles multiple Survivor Series, multiple everything. Sweet. Thank you no harm. Thank you for all the money in the championships and how people and kids look at me because they got to see me on their screens."
It will be interesting to see if Riddle ever returns to WWE.
Do you want to see Matt Riddle back in WWE? Sound off in the comment section below.
If you use quotes from this article, please credit Chris Van Vliet and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.