Keith Lee Not Medically Cleared For AEW Worlds End Match, Tony Khan Names Replacement

By Max Everett
Keith Lee AEW

With AEW Worlds end upon us, Keith Lee has been removed from the show at the last minute after failing to get medically cleared to compete. The "Limitless One" was due to meet his arch-rival Swerve Strickland to reignite the feud that started when Strickland turned on Lee in 2022; unfortunately, Tony Khan took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to announce that Lee wasn't medically cleared by AEW doctors and will be replaced by his "Naturally Limitless" tag partner Dustin Rhodes. Worlds End will now mark Rhodes' first AEW pay-per-view match since Double or Nothing in May, his first singles match since June, and his first AEW PPV singles match since defeating Shawn Spears at Double or Nothing 2020.

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Khan's announcement follows an earlier X post from Lee revealing that he has been working through an undisclosed injury since "AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam" in September 2022. Lee said the injury had been recovering well, but had worsened over the last month and he couldn't promise he would get through today. 

"I keep it very real with you guys," Lee wrote. "I have been working through an injury since Arthur Ashe Stadium 2022. It has been mostly well taken care of. Things have been worse since Final Battle. I am trying to get through today for you guys, but I cannot promise anything."

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Lee and Strickland had been set to finally blow off the rivalry that began more than a year ago when Strickland turned heel on his partner, ending the championship tag team known as Swerve In Our Glory. Lee defeated Swerve in multiple tag team matches in the aftermath, and the two even briefly teamed up again during AEW's Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament over the summer, but the expected one-on-one-match between them never occurred, and now it's been delayed once again.

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