WWE Reportedly Has Huge Plans for Keith Lee, Starting With His Victory Over Randy Orton at WWE Payback

After a rocky first appearance on Monday Night Raw last week, Keith Lee made a massive statement at the Payback pay-per-view on Sunday night when he defeated 13-time former world champion Randy Orton in less than seven minutes with his Spirit Bomb finisher. And while fans still aren't crazy about the changes to his entrance music, it sounds like WWE has some big plans for "The Limitless One" going forward. TalkSports' Alex McCarthy reported after the show via a source within the company that Vince McMahon wants to push Lee "to the moon," and that Orton's loss was done to make him look like a star.

"Imagine how high Vince has to be on someone to have Randy Orton put them over clean as a whistle. Orton, doing the best work of his career, wants to help create that next generation of stars. He gets it," the source told McCarthy.

PWInsider's Mike Johnson reported on Monday that the next challenger for Drew McIntyre's WWE Championship will be determined on this week's Raw, and mentioned Orton and Lee as two of the front-runners. McIntyre talked about his history with Lee during a recent interview with ComicBook.

"We do have history," McIntyre said. "When he was showing up in Evolve, after making a name for himself around the independent scene, he powerbombed me right out of the company, I returned to NXT right after that powerbomb, the last thing that happened to me in Evolve. And then, in NXT I tore my bicep, I never really had my good-bye. To the crowd, I returned the one night during the Survivor Series period. I Claymored [Dominik] Dijakovic, had my little, 'I'm back, everybody! I never got my good-bye,' [moment]. Who's there to powerbomb me back out of NXT? Keith Lee! I have a history of him powerbombing me every time he sees me. So now either away, he's showing up on Raw, so I'm going to have eyes on the back of my head in case Keith tries to sneak up behind me, try and powerbomb me again."

Check out the full results from Payback below:

• (Kickoff) The Riott Squad def. The IIconics
• United States Championship: Bobby Lashley def. Apollo Crews
• Big E def. Sheamus
• Matt Riddle def. King Corbin
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championships: Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax def. Sasha Banks and Bayley
• Keith Lee def. Randy Orton
• Dominik Mysterio and Rey Mysterio def. Seth Rollins and Murphy
• WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns def. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman