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The wrestling world was both shocked and saddened by the news that former WWE and current AEW star Luke Harper/Brodie Lee had passed away. The former Intercontinental Champion was loved by many of his locker room friends, and tributes have been pouring in for the star since the news broke.
The former Wyatt Family member was part of AEW in recent months, after making his debut for the company earlier this year, but is perhaps best remembered for his almost eight-year run with WWE.
Brodie Lee, as he was known on the independent circuit, requested his release from WWE back in 2019 and became Mr. Brodie Lee in AEW.
Lee was underutilized by WWE for much of his career and was able to skate under the radar. Here are five facts that every fan needs to know about Lee.
#5 His son Brodie Lee Jr recently became AEW World Champion
Brodie Lee's son, who is also called Brodie, is eight years old and has ambitions about following in his father's footsteps. As part of Bray Wyatt's recent tribute to Lee, he mentioned that he would put his son "over" clean in dark matches just like he always promised and it appears that he isn't the only one who hopes to help Brodie's career.
Earlier this week, Lee's family were in attendance for the taping of AEW Dynamite. After the show went off the air, the dark segment for the December 17th episode of Dynamite saw The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega attempting to convince Brodie Lee Jr to join The Elite.
The Dark Order then made their way to the ring and started a brawl with The Elite, when the brawl ended a match began between the eight-year-old and Omega for the AEW World Championship. Brodie was able to win the match by jumping on Omega's back and choking him out. Omega tapped and Brodie Lee's son became AEW World Champion.
It's obvious that this was more than just a Christmas present for the son of Brodie Lee, and he will now always be able to say that he was once a World Champion, even if it was a dark match and only for a few minutes.
#4 Brodie Lee was married and had two sons
Brodie Lee was part of the wrestling business for more than 17 years. But whilst he dedicated his life to becoming the best he could in the ring, the former Intercontinental Champion also provided for his family throughout his career.
Lee married his wife Amanda back in 2008 and the couple has two sons together - Brodie and Nolan. In his appearance on The Talk is Jericho podcast back in 2015, Lee revealed that his wife loved the name Brodie, which was why the couple decided to name their first son after his original ring name.
"I didn't want to name him Brodie, but my wife was insistent that we do. I was like, 'ugh, I can't do that! I don't want to be a mark! We kind of made a deal if WWE hires me, I can't use the name ever again, [so] let's give it to [our son]."
Of course, WWE did hire Brodie Lee and he later became known as Luke Harper so that his son was free to use the name.
#3 Where did Brodie Lee's ring name come from?
Before the AEW star was signed by WWE back in 2012 and became Luke Harper, he had already made a name for himself in the independent circuit as Brodie Lee.
This was the name that he also later chose for his son, but where did it come from? According to various reports, "Brodie" is a shout-out to former wrestler Bruiser Brody and "Lee" comes from actor Jason Lee who the star bears quite the resemblance to.
Lee also played a character called "Brodie Bruce" in Mallrats, which also helped the former Champion to come up with his ring name.
When the star joined WWE, he was given the ring name Luke Harper, which he became known for more than a decade, before his release back in 2019. He was called Harper for a brief period in WWE
When Luke Harper left WWE, he trademarked his old ring name and became known as Mr. Brodie Lee when he made his surprise debut in AEW as the Exalted One behind The Dark Order.
#2 Brodie Lee's bald patch comes with quite the story
When Brodie Lee started out his wrestling career at the age of 24 back in 2003, the former Champion was a backyard wrestler and learned the hard way to climb the ranks in the business.
Lee spent three years wrestling in backyards and training for the business before he made his debut in Chikara back in March 2007.
One thing that has always stood out about Brodie Lee and his physical appearance is the bald spot on the back of his head. This stands out the most since Lee was covered in long hair and a beard, aside from one part of his head where he had a visible bald spot.
There is a story online that states that Brodie Lee suffered an injury to his head from a brutal chair shot when he was still wrestling on the independent circuit. The former Champion made the decision to keep the bald spot on the back of his head to complete the look of his character, rather than follow the lead of several other wrestlers and shave his whole head.
#1 Brodie Lee once worked as a librarian in a public school
Brodie Lee was quite an imposing character when he stepped into a wrestling ring, but outside of the business, he was quite an educated man and even revealed that before he began training as a wrestler he worked as a librarian.
Brodie Lee appeared on the Talk is Jericho podcast back in 2015, when he recalled that he got his big break through a family member.
"I was a librarian in a city school. That is correct. I kind of got hooked up through a family member who kind of had a connection and I applied and took the civil service test and all this stuff and kind of got in. I was actually the keeper of the textbooks and stuff, but I helped in the library."
It wasn't until a few years later that Harper started his career on the independent circuit and would later leave his job as a librarian as his career in the ring continued to become more lucrative.
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