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Former AEW Champion’s Return Discussed Internally Amid 3-Year Hiatus

By Faiz Ahmed • Published Jun 11, 2026 23:10 EDT
Tony Khan AEW
Tony Khan (Image via-YT/@AEW)

AEW currently has many former champions who are spending time on the sidelines after being kept away from the squared circle by various long-term injury issues.

Major stars like Adam Cole, Wardlow, Dustin Rhodes, and Buddy Matthews, among others, have been missing from AEW television for the last several months, with no real timeline for their return.

There are also some wrestlers currently signed to AEW who haven’t made an on-screen appearance for the promotion, such as Dr. Britt Baker and the inaugural AEW Women’s World Champion, Nyla Rose.

The inaugural Men’s World Champion, Chris Jericho, was also part of the same category before making his return to television back in April. There’s another wrestler on the men’s roster who hasn’t appeared on screen in years.

Keith Lee has been missing from AEW for years

Former AEW World Tag Team Champion, Keith Lee, hasn’t made an appearance for All Elite Wrestling since November 2023, making it almost three years since fans last saw him on screen.

During a recent report from Fightful Select, it was confirmed via AEW sources that Lee’s name came up in discussions regarding a return to programming a few months ago, but those plans haven’t yet come to fruition.

There weren’t any concrete plans at the time of the discussion, and it’s unclear whether the former WWE star was made aware of the conversations. Lee was supposed to wrestle former partner Swerve Strickland at World’s End in December 2023, before being pulled from the show due to an injury.

That proved to be his final on-screen involvement till now, as he hasn’t featured since. After being pulled from the pay-per-view, he underwent a double surgery in January 2024 for a lingering injury, but has recovered from the procedure.

He confirmed during an online interaction with a fan in June last year that he’s been fit to make a return to the promotion, but it isn’t in his hands, hinting that the AEW creative team might not have a compelling storyline to bring him back.

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