This past Saturday, the news broke of the untimely passing of Jon Huber, known to the wrestling world as Brodie Lee, at the age of just 41. All Elite Wrestling decided to push their New Year’s Smash events back one week, dedicating this Wednesday’s episode to the life and career of The Dark Order’s Exalted One. With Huber’s widow Amanda and their children Brodie Jr. and Nolan in attendance, each of the show’s five matches featured at least one Dark Order member, with a dream match main event featuring wrestlers handpicked by Brodie Jr, known as -1 within his father’s organization.
To call the show beautiful and heartbreaking all at once is to almost do it justice, as there was nary a dry eye in the building at any point in the show. At the show’s conclusion, Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes, who wrestled Brodie in his final match back in October, introduced Amanda Huber, Brodie Jr, Preston “10” Vance of the Dark Order, and AEW Owner and President Tony Khan to present the young Brodie with the TNT Championship belt, declaring that his dad was the greatest TNT Champion in the title’s short history. It was later clarified in the post-show by announcer Tony Schiavone that the current version of the title belt has been retired, and reigning champion Darby Allin will be presented with a new title belt soon.
As much as I’ve cracked jokes at the expense of the wrestling world and the fans within it, when we all come together, despite the bleak circumstances such as these, things are damn near magical. Pro Wrestling Tees released a tribute shirt for Brodie, with all proceeds being pledged to the Huber family, and within four hours of its release, the shirt became the best-selling piece on the site, surpassing Orange Cassidy’s “yearbook” shirt. A man of few words, Cassidy himself quote retweeted PWTees’ post, simply asserting, “Better be.”
The Brodie Lee “Exalted in Heaven” tribute shirt can be found here. See the conclusion to the broadcast, including the tribute video package, below:
Read our eulogy for Jon Huber, aka Mr. Brodie Lee, here. We once again would like to extend our condolences to the Huber family and his colleagues, as they mourn the loss of a universally beloved human being. #RIPBrodieLee
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