RIP Brodie Lee

[MPDTT]

This really upset me this morning. What a total shock. Just 1 year older than me. Its all too easy to think you are invulnerable, but truth is, it can all end tomorrow. Life is precious.

From a professional point of view, he was clearly enjoying himself this year and so many of us have enjoyed his work as the Exhaulted One. That Dog Collar Match with Cody should be a candidate for MOTY. 

Rest in peace Mr Brodie Lee.

[Keith Houchen]

I’d seen this on social media but didn’t know who he was as I don’t watch AEW. Stunned when I found out he was Luke Harper, a brilliant hoss type who seemed like a nice decent guy. Horrible news. 

[WyattSheepMask]

Woke up to a message from a friend saying that Brodie had passed, then went and read what has been reported so far. Absolutely devastating tragic news.

[Astro Hollywood]

Fucking hell. It's hard not to sound disingenuous in an RIP thread, but I genuinely loved watching this guy in WWE, so much so, I hung on in a bit longer before stopping altogether, just FFWding through to his bits every week. That video with his son is just unbearable now. 

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

Awful news. An absolute sickener to wake up to. RIP big man. 

[I Bent My Wookie]

Just posted this on my social media but I think it really sums up my love for Brodie Lee 

"Celebrity/famous people's deaths are so weird to comprehend. Like I'm absolutely heartbroken over Brodie Lee. Its someone I never met, never had the joy of knowing like so many on social media have been positing. But I loved him. I loved the way he wrestled, that old school look, how for a big guy he could move like he was my height and weight. He's someone I would show when introducing wrestling to people because he just seemed to encapsulate what I was trying to sell. In another life maybe our paths would have crossed, I think it's absolutely gutting I'll never get a chance to tell him how much his wrestling meant to me. Its a weird feeling."

Its the truth. I freaking loved watching Brodie Lee, through all the Wyatt Family weirdness, how much he stood out as weird in the weird world of Chikara because of his size, how he just seemed to love what he was doing every time he stepped into the ring and was given the chance. We've spoke in the AEW thread about how excited we were for the prospect of him coming back and Page and him fighting over the Dark Order because it was honestly his best period of work.

He was a guy who got an opportunity at the big time later than many, but took it with both hands and ran with it every chance he got. He made you want to care about him while he sat at home and tweeted as his contract ran down, because you could sense the desire to show people what they had been missing and he didn't disappoint.

I saw someone post on Twitter that AEW should tagline their show to "It's Wednesday, you know what that means" and if I hear anyone say that this week, I may absolutely just lose it tear wise.

 

[CavemanLynn]

RIP. Straps-down Brodie was an unashamed pleasure of mine. A classic old school brawler. Lovely to see that he was such a loving dad too, and the fun title change skit AEW laid on will be a great memory for his kids. He so clearly wanted to do right by them, while still following his dreams. Terrible that he was taken away from his family so soon.

[mim731]

RIP.

Such shit news, and genuinely a gut punch especially knowing he was so young and was such a loving dad and so beloved by his peers.

I know it's very early, but anyone got any good match recommendations to go back and watch in celebration of his life and work? I loved his stuff in Chikara, and those matches as part of the Wyatt-Orton feud in 2017 were fantastic. 

[Chris B]

It's easy to paint Brodie Lee as someone done dirty by WWE, but that wasn't really the case. He was a midcard guy there, with occasional movements into the upper midcard. He picked up a few belts in his run, and was pretty memorable for a guy they didn't see as a main eventer. They held him to his contract when he clearly wanted to leave, which was shitty in some ways, but could be seen as a compliment in others - they didn't want anyone else to have him either.

However, he had more faith and confidence in himself. He clearly believed he could do more and show more than WWE believed. Maybe not *the* guy, but certainly a couple of notches above where he'd been placed. When he debuted in AEW, some couldn't move fast enough to bury him - the gimmick didn't work, he wasn't a good talker, etc. But he tweaked it and stuck with it, and it ended up working better than anyone could have predicted.

By the premature end of his run, he'd shown he could be really good, and more than deserving of a better role. His match with Moxley was really good fun, and his feud with Cody was a barnstormer. And between his backstage skits and promos, he'd clearly gained his confidence and turned into a belting promo as well. It says a lot that so many of us were really looking forward to him being part of a longer-term storyline and feud with Hangman. And I don't think anyone predicted he'd have a match-of-the-year candidate in his first year there.

When I was younger, some of the wrestlers I looked up to were an inspiration - for confidence, self-belief, overcoming obstacles, etc. But they were all older, all inspirations for what I'd like to aim for, who I'd like to become. Brodie was the first that felt like an inspiration from someone in my age group. Looking at him striking out for himself, leaving some safety and reassurance and (probably) bigger money, to gamble on himself and make himself a bigger deal... that's genuinely inspiring. And he did it all while, by all accounts, being one of the loveliest and nicest guys in the business. 

It's horrible that he's gone. He was just getting started. 

Edited December 27, 2020 by Chris B

[mim731]

This is a really nice 10 min watch. He seemed like a really good bloke.

[garynysmon]

I must admit that his WWE run came at a time I was hardly watching any product at all, so I've seen very little of his actual work to comment.

But the sheer outpouring of emotion and universally warm words over the past few hours speaks volumes about the man. Seems like a genuine gentle giant and a lovely bloke.

RIP.

 

Edited December 27, 2020 by garynysmon

[Chili]

As a performer, I'm only really familiar with his recent work in AEW. When the Wyatt's came into WWE, I was cycling out of really watching it much but when I did I noticed he was always there and loved his look.

His recent AEW work really won me over on him, the brilliant destruction of Cody and then having that outstanding dog collar match were some great performances. He had a great terrifying presence, backed up with his really funny BTE bits as the sociopath cult leader crossed with like some frustrated headmaster as his class dicked about.

As a performer his career is always going to be a What If? But from all the tweets I've read from everyone who actually knew him, it seems as an actual human being he more than fulfilled his potential.

[Briefcase]

Such a sad loss.

I don't normally comment in RIP threads but loved his work and character in WWE, was always well received by the UK fans and often was well placed on the card on the Raw/Smackdown over here (couple of main events which I'm sure he would of been proud of going by the video above).

I was a big fan of the Wyatt family, and sadly he was the only one I never met over the years. 

[Just Some Guy]

Just found out. Just speechless.

Like @DEF said, I assumed he had suffered an injury of some sort.

So sad to be taken from his family at such a young age at this time of year.

I only know him from his AEW work and have to say what a wonderful storyteller he was. He conveyed every aspect of what was happening beautifully either by vocal inflection or a look.

RIP big fellah  

[CL Punk]

I was shocked to see this morning, not only because he was one of the best big men wrestlers but because of his age, 41 is no age to go...fuck!

R.I.P Jon Huber