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Keith Lee made his WWE TV return on this week's RAW, and the former NXT Champion was surprisingly booked to lose to Bobby Lashley in a quick match.
The Limitless One had been off WWE programming for several months due to undisclosed reasons, and his return was met with a positive response. However, the loss to the reigning WWE champion further hurt Lee's damaged reputation on the main roster.
Vince Russo and Dr. Chris Featherstone reviewed the latest RAW show on the new Legion of RAW episode, and they addressed Keith Lee and Mia Yim's respective WWE statuses.
If you didn't know, Yim and Lee are engaged in real life. Neither has endured the best of spells since leaving NXT. Yim is coming off a forgettable RETRIBUTION stint while Lee's push was abruptly stopped a few months back by WWE.
Russo stated that the real-life couple have legit heat within WWE, which probably explains their unimpressive standing on the roster.
"Big-time heat on that couple. They've got Lana-Rusev heat," Russo revealed."
The former WWE head writer added that WWE officials are testing NXT recruits by stripping crucial aspects of their overall character presentation. Russo termed it a 'punishment' and speculated that Keith Lee was facing repercussions for some backstage heat.
It blows my mind: Vince Russo left bemused by WWE's history of sacrificing talent like Keith Lee
Russo was baffled by WWE's history of sabotaging and sacrificing its talent, and he felt it was the company's way of asserting its dominance and power. Successful NXT stars have floundered on RAW and SmackDown, and Russo highlighted the company's deliberate attempt to create roadblocks for talent.
Russo ended by comparing Keith Lee's story to Karrion Kross, who astonishingly lost on his RAW debut.
"Bro, you saw back-to-back matches," Russo continued, "You saw Shanky and Cranky in between, and that's not a match. This is the punishment. This is the test. This is the Triple H curtain call at Maidson Square Garden. I don't know who. I don't know what happened. I don't know if she (Mia Yim) got him heat. Maybe she popped off at the RETRIBUTION. Somewhere along the lines, this couple, there's a lot of heat.
"This bro, all the heat, we left you at home. All the heat, now we're going to bring you back, and now we're going to beat you because we're going to test you. We're going to see. It blows my mind. It blows my mind, Chris, that they do this to their own talent. They sacrifice their own talent to make a point. We can beat you like that. And they did the same exact thing to Karrion Kross. That exact thing. It was the same."
It was evident from the onset that Keith Lee needed on-screen rehabilitation to save his main roster run, but his first night back on TV didn't paint a good picture regarding his future.
What are your thoughts on WWE's treatment of Keith Lee and Mia Yim? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
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