Again on December 21, Swerve Strickland turned on Keith Lee and formed the Mogul Affiliates faction. Swerve and his new allies (Trench & Parker Boudreaux) use a cinder block to infect Lee and put him out of action.

Almost two months later, Lee finally made his return to AEW. He returned during the show’s closing angle on tonight’s (February 17th) episode “Slam Dunk.” frenzy.

The title match saw old man Dustin Rhodes valiantly fight against Strickland in a grudge match. Boudreaux was ringside for Swerve, as usual, but Trench was nowhere to be seen. Swerf hypothesized that Dustin had something to do with Trench’s absence.

Rhodes was caught open early in the fight, putting him in a vulnerable position for the rest of the fight with the proverbial scarlet mask. However, he was able to shoot and eventually hit his final target. That’s when Parker stepped in to cause a disqualification.

Strickland did not mind taking the loss, because the ensuing defeat gave him a chance to end Dustin’s career. He carves Dustin’s head with a chain while Parker clears the skate-mark safety and pulls out a cinder block. They set up Dustin’s head for the top rope as he hit the cinder block, but that’s when Keith Lee showed up with fresh hair to stop the Mogul Affiliates in their tracks:

Commentators made it clear that Keith Lee must have directed Trench.

AEW’s revolution The pay-per-view is out on March 5, so Lee will likely get his hands on Swerve in an official match sooner rather than later.

Kaigsider, what do you think of Keith Lee’s return to AEW?