Former WWE star Keith Lee has sparked widespread concern among wrestling fans after resurfacing on social media alongside a controversial spiritual teacher, with claims that the absent AEW wrestler is now “all in” on his teachings.Lee has not wrestled since December 2023 and has largely remained away from the wrestling spotlight while dealing with injuries and a recent divorce. But a rare social-media appearance has suddenly put the 41-year-old back at the centre of attention, after he shared a photograph with Darius J. Wright and directed his followers towards Wright’s website.The post quickly attracted around two million views, with some fans branding Wright’s teachings a “cult”.
Keith Lee’s mysterious new direction has left fans concerned
Lee joined WWE in 2018 and quickly established himself as one of the company’s most promising big men.He won both the NXT Championship and NXT North American Championship and was tipped to become a major main-event star. After moving to the main roster, Lee immediately made an impact by defeating Randy Orton and entering the WWE Championship picture.He left WWE in November 2021 and subsequently joined rival promotion All Elite Wrestling, where he remains under contract despite his lengthy absence from competition.That absence has now taken on a different dimension following his photograph with Wright.Wright describes himself as a “consciousness explorer” and promotes a teaching method called Awaken Your Dormant Abilities (AYDA). His website says his work centres on helping people experience what he describes as fully conscious out-of-body experiences, or OBEs.According to the material presented on his website, the teachings encourage people to “awaken to the other side”, remember what Wright describes as their eternal soul and its origin outside the physical “construct”, and embrace the belief that love is the only real truth.Wright has also expressed a number of controversial views, including claims that the Egyptian pyramids were created using “laser technology”, that the Earth is flat and that vaccines “put a filter over your soul”.Lee’s post did not explain whether he has adopted those views or how deeply he is involved with AYDA. He simply shared the photograph, tagged Wright and included a link to his website.That was enough to set off a wave of speculation.One fan wrote: “yo he deadass joined a cult.”Another questioned the financial element of Wright’s website, writing: “You joined a cult my guy. The site you’re promoting asks for money in order put faith in the ‘shared beliefs’.” The same fan urged Lee to seek help, adding that they hoped he would not become further involved.A third user claimed: “This is an actual cult dude. I can promise you right now, you will not learn telepathy from him. Please get out while you still can.”
WWE legend D’Von Dudley sends Keith Lee a warning
The reaction has also extended beyond fans, with WWE legend D’Von Dudley directly addressing Lee during an appearance on the DukeLovesRasslin podcast.Dudley acknowledged that he was not fully informed about AYDA, but said he hoped the reports he had heard about Lee were not true and urged the former WWE star to leave if he had become involved with a cult.“But I hope that brother, I hope what I’m hearing isn’t true and to get out of this cult,” Dudley said.He added: “But again, only until you actually go through what you’re going to go through with this cult, if it is a cult, it’s the only way you’re going to realize when something goes wrong that it’s bad news.”Dudley then delivered a more personal message to Lee, stressing that he and others in wrestling remain fans of him.“All I’ll say is, Brother Keith Lee, listen, man. We’re fans of yours, bro. Whatever it is that’s going on, you can’t replace God with man.”He continued: “So, if you’re, if you’re on some kind of spiritual journey and you need a spiritual awakening, there are paths to get there.”“Now, I’m not telling you to pick any religion. I’m just telling you to pick God. And you can take that anywhere you want. But man ain’t God. Just know that.”Lee has not publicly responded to Dudley’s comments or explained what his relationship with Wright entails.
Wrestling journalist says Lee is ‘all in’ on AYDA
The speculation surrounding Lee’s future in wrestling had already intensified before his latest social-media post.Wrestling Observer journalist Bryan Alvarez said in July that he had been told Lee was effectively finished with professional wrestling. At the time, Alvarez deliberately avoided discussing the reasons behind the belief because he did not feel he had enough information.He has since indicated that the AYDA connection was the information he had been referring to.“Whatever this is with Keith Lee, it’s not some gimmick,” Alvarez said.“When I this summer talked about how the belief was that he had retired – I didn’t say it then because I didn’t have a lot of details but I was basically told about this.”Alvarez then claimed he had been told Lee was “all in” on Wright’s teachings.“That being that whatever this AYDA is, whoever this Darius J. Wright is, I mean, I was basically told Keith is all in on this. He is all in… It’s not a gimmick. He’s deeply into this and that appears to be at least his foreseeable future.”For now, however, Lee himself has offered no public explanation of his plans, his relationship with Wright or whether he intends to return to professional wrestling.His last match remains his December 2023 appearance, and although he is still contracted to AEW, there is no indication from the information available that he is preparing for a wrestling comeback.Instead, his latest public appearance has raised a very different question about what comes next for one of WWE’s once-touted future main-event stars.