Keith Lee Breaks Silence On WWE Hiatus

By Marc Middleton

Keith Lee took to Twitter and YouTube this afternoon to finally break his silence on why he was away from the WWE RAW ring earlier this year.

Lee wrestled current WWE United States Champion Sheamus back on the January 11 RAW, and defeated him. He was then away for a few weeks, but returned on February 8 to defeat Riddle on RAW. Lee was scheduled to compete at the WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on February 21, in a Triple Threat for the United States Title, that he was expected to win, but he missed the show and was away until he made his return on the July 19 RAW, losing a non-title match to WWE Champion Bobby Lashley.

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Lee's status and health was up in the air while away, but it had been reported that he was not medically cleared to compete, and was trying to get cleared. Lee confirmed in today's YouTube video that doctors discovered heart issues after his battle with COVID-19. Lee also cleared up some talk on his fiancee Mia Yim and her battle with COVID. Yim tested positive back in January, which forced her to miss the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Lee revealed that he did not get the coronavirus from Yim, but she tested positive after being around him.

Lee went on to reveal that the day after his match with Riddle in February, he received a call informing him that something was not right with his blood work. It was then discovered that he had inflammation of the heart, and there was some concern that he may have had a heart disease. Lee said he fought death, but was finally cleared after WWE sent him to Pittsburgh, where Dr. Joseph Maroon is based. Lee also said it wasn't certain that he would be at the July 19 RAW in Dallas, and on TV, but he's now healthy and is focused on moving forward.

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Lee, who had been promising an explanation for several weeks now, stated the following in today's video:

"Alright, so obviously I've been a busy bee, but I said that for those who took the time to care for me, that I was going to make this... you know, just information for you guys, something to share, because I've always kind of been that way. Open, for the most part. So the first time I tried to record this it turned out to be like 13 minutes, so we're going to try and reduce some of that this time. So, let's talk about the time since January. Alright, let's get this knocked out. So, as some of you know, toward the end of January I missed about three weeks on TV. At that time I had contracted COVID-19, and actually before I continue, let me go ahead and point out something because I've been seeing some disturbing and just rude remarks towards Mia Yim. Some stating that it was her fault that I was gone, and some stating that she gave me COVID, and what have you. Let me go ahead and clear that up right now... that needs to be clear. Were it not for her, I don't know how things would've gone, to be quite honest. I contracted COVID, she did not, actually for like three weeks, and the only reason that she did contract it was because she refused to not be there and take care of me, and unfortunately that ended up costing her an opportunity in the Royal Rumble, but that was a chance she was willing to take. So, you know, at the end of the day I'm grateful to her, and it's unfortunate that some of you are ungrateful because the reality is, there's no telling how things would've gone without her assistance.

"So... after that I came back for one match against Mr. Riddle, and I believe that was February 8th, and then the next day I got a call saying that there was something off in my blood. Some people may have experienced this thing where there's like an inflammation in the heart or lungs, for me it was the heart, and you know, that led to very scary times. I was basically forbidden from training or any activity outside of a light walk. So there was a fear that doing more than that, that there was a chance that I could just up and pass away. So for three or four months, this was kind of the case and I had several MRIs on my heart. By the way, I don't fit in those machines, it was terrible and my shoulders really struggled with that, but we had to do what we had to do, right? So this became a fight against death, so to speak, and it took up until the company sent me to Pittsburgh [to Dr. Joseph Maroon] to get looked at, and it was to the point where I was about to have to undergo genetic testing and all sorts of things, because it was thought that there was a potential I could have a heart disease of sorts. Very fortunately, even though it took a long time, we waited that amount of time, for that allowed the inflammation in my heart to eventually go down to normal. So, even though the first MRI was bad, and the second one was worse, over time things got better here and there, and eventually after that visit, I was cleared to try and get back into some sort of shape, and that's where the real struggle is [he laughs].

"But yeah, it took some time and to be honest, it wasn't even certain that I was going to show up in Dallas [at RAW on July 19], in terms of on TV. So, you know, for the people that cared, I greatly appreciate you, and you guys mean a lot more than you know, some of you even more than that. At the end of the day, I don't really know what's next, right? The idea for me is, I fought the battle that mattered the most, and I'm healthy, and at the end of the day, that's all I can really ask for, that's all my family can ask for, and now we fight to make the most of what we can do in this industry, and we just move forward. Isn't that what I always say? Forward match, the grind continues, it's forever. We fought death, I don't mind fighting anybody else. So, we move forward and I guess we continue to show exactly what it means to be limitless. Yeah. Until then... stay up, people."

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The caption to Lee's tweet linking to the YouTube video said, "The first recording of this went over 13 minutes.....so I said and detailed far less, but I said enough."

Lee has turned comments off on his YouTube video statement. The description to the video states, "Quick explanation as to why I was gone for about 5 months. ....For the real ones."

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Lee and Yim announced their engagement on February 11. They have not announced a wedding date as of this writing. She responded to his YouTube video from today and wrote, "For he is limitless [blue heart emoji"

Lee has wrestled two RAW matches since the return loss to Lashley. He lost to WWE NXT Champion Karrion Kross on the July 26 RAW, but then defeated Kross on the August 2 show. Lee has also worked a dark match, defeating Austin Theory last Friday before SmackDown.

There is no word on what WWE has planned for Lee next, but we will keep you updated. You can see Lee's new tweet and YouTube video below, along with Yim's tweet:

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