Keith Lee is set for the biggest match of his career on WWE Raw when he challenges Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship.
After holding both the NXT Championship and NXT North American Championship in 2020, it was a rollercoaster year for Lee since being called up to the main roster following SummerSlam. Lee immediately underwent presentation changes as his music and attire were altered, confusing and upsetting fans.
Speaking to Bleacher Report, Lee discussed how he found out about his music being changed.
"That was something else," Lee laughed. "Originally, honestly, even I was a little perplexed. You get all the people who came up to Raw who still used their old music. Mind you, none of them did their own music. I'm the only one that did, so it would make more sense for me to be the one to keep using my music. However, that did not happen, so they asked me to use something else, and I did, and I tried to be as accommodating a possible by putting the front of the song on that track, and it just didn't vibe [laughs]. It was rough, man! I did the best I could given the circumstances, and I was like, 'I just have to ride with this until I can figure something out.' Man, the way that blew up on the internet, it was like, 'I thought you guys were my friends! I think I'm starting to understand some things here.' Between the gear and the music, I just got destroyed."
He continued discussing his music change, saying, "I had nothing ready, nothing at all. At that point, I didn't know I'd have to change music, so I had nothing ready. Over time, people backstage said, 'Hey, y'all have to let Keith do his thing' and eventually they said, 'Well, you think you can write something and maybe record it again?' I said, 'Yeah, just give me the OK.' It took a little time, but eventually, I wrote something and got with the music guys, and over a little bit of time, we put something together that I was happy with, even though the one I'm using right now is actually a different version than what I wanted to use. For what it is, I'm very happy to have something I at least wrote and performed.”
Lee debuted his new music, which he performs and wrote, at Survivor Series 2020.
Along with his music being changed upon being called up to Raw, Lee also debuted new gear. Instead of the typical shorts he had worn in NXT, he wore something resembling a skirt and wrestled in a tanktop as opposed to going without a shirt.
Lee said about the gear change, "I wanted to do something different, and what I had was supposed to be a trial thing to see how it looked. I was going to train in it and just kind of see, but personally, the sleeveless shirt look is something I actually like and have worn before. I didn't mind it. The shorts, that was a flop and no one knew it would be because they were rushed. From the side, it didn't look that bad. From the front, it looked like this situation that was unfavorable and unsavory. As soon as I wore them, I said, 'This was all I had, I'm sorry. I was not prepared.' Nobody really cared, it was just a chuckle for me and the boys, but the fans, it was like, 'Oh my god!' 'All right, I got the boys to laugh for the night and I tried these things out,'" he laughed. "I committed, but I knew I was switching the moment I wore them. As soon as my match was over, I texted my gear lady and said, 'Hey, we got to get these shorts back. I have to get the tights going because these shorts are not going to cut it.' She said, 'Already on it!” She was a sweetheart, and I was grateful for her because the hecticness of being on Raw was unruly, man.”
Lee earned a WWE Title shot by virtue of defeating Sheamus on the final Raw episode of 2020.
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