As promised, Keith Lee has finally revealed why he was forced to take an extended break from WWE. In a video shared to Twitter and YouTube, the former NXT Champion explains that after testing positive for COVID-19, he developed an inflammation of the heart. As a result, he was immediately sidelined and told he was unable to do anything more than light exercise.
Lee says he was warned he could die at any time, and that he was in a fight against death at one point. Over time, the inflammation did start to die down, and he was finally cleared after being sent to meet with WWE's doctor in Pittsburgh, Dr. Joseph Maroon.
From there, it was a case of training to get back into shape for an in-ring return. "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," he says. "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."
The video below is well worth watching as Lee goes into great detail about what happened. Since returning to RAW, he's wrestled three matches. Two of those were in losing efforts against WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and NXT Champion Karrion Kross, but he would later defeat the latter.
Needless to say, we wish Keith the best with his continued recovery and are pleased he's well!