Jon Huber (Mr. Brodie Lee in AEW, Luke Harper in WWE) abruptly dies at 41 years old due to a non-COVID related lung issue, leaving his wife Amanda and two sons shocked
Jon Huber was experiencing an incredible resurgence in professional wrestling with AEW as Mr. Brodie Lee. Before that, he experienced major success as Luke Harper of The Wyatt Family (along with Bray Wyatt – the leader – Erick Rowan, and Braun Strowman (who joined the group later in 2015). Most recently, his dog collar match on AEW Dynamite with Cody Rhodes for the TNT championship in October was an instant classic. My heart goes out to his wife and two sons (and his soul as well – wherever it is currently residing) because I am deeply saddened to learn about his death.
From what I have read, Jon was an incredible father. Chris Stewart will touch on this by saying that some human beings are just too good at heart for planet Earth. Huber touched many lives throughout his 41 years, and at the end of the day that’s the primary goal people should seek to accomplish in life-improving as many lives as possible while they are here on this earth in whatever way is authentic to them. Even though I don’t technically work for the business yet, I still feel like this man was a part of my extended family.
Bray Wyatt issued a quote about Brodie’s death. He appears to be deeply hurt and slightly confused – regardless of what his emotions are regarding this, he will most likely find a creative way to incorporate the passing of his dear friend into his WWE storyline whenever he returns. This unexpected and rather tragic event may serve to provide even more validity to the possibility of Bray Wyatt/The Fiend returning to win the 2021 men’s Royal Rumble match. It was already almost guaranteed that Bray would undergo a significant character evolution after The Fiend was burned by Randy Orton at TLC (it was a dummy because the match was taped earlier in the day), whether that means the end of The Fiend or not.
In All Elite Wrestling, Brodie Lee’s most notable contribution was the mentality he brought. He had the gift of elevating everyone around him and doing what was not only the best for himself but what was best for everyone in the company and launching them into stars. A perfect example of this was back in August when John Silver and Alex Reynolds participated in a match on Dynamite one week against Cody Rhodes and Matt Cardona. Cody and Matt got the spotlight that week, but one could not help but be impressed with the performances of Silver and Reynolds, who were still working for AEW under part-time contracts at that time.
The primary reason they were signed as full-time talents was that Brodie Lee was paying attention to the match, and immediately after he told AEW executives that they should consider signing those two guys (it has clearly worked so far). John Silver is often overlooked for his lack of height, but he is a fireball in the ring. What makes him so unique is that his character is somewhat of a heel during his backstage promos, but when he is performing he does it with such a palpable level of passion that it comes across as more of a babyface character, so he is therefore teetering on the edge of the face – heel dynamic (this is almost commonplace nowadays because there is such a grey area).
Silver, the 29-year-old, was quoted saying that he wanted to pay tribute to The Exalted One (who made The Dark Order into a legitimate group single-handedly because they did not have much momentum prior to Lee’s debut on March 18) on the December 30 in addition of Dynamite by becoming a workhorse for this particular match and hopefully sustaining that style every week.
RIP Jon – your contribution to the world of professional wrestling will always be remembered!