AEW's Brodie Lee Says WWE Offered 'Ungodly Money' in Contract Talks

As his contract with the company was reaching its expiration date, WWE was apparently willing to back up the Brinks truck to re-sign All Elite Wrestling star Brodie Lee.

Lee discussed his departure from WWE with fellow AEW star Chris Jericho (h/t Wrestling Inc's Dustin Holland).

"I was offered contracts all the way up to the day they called to release me," he said. "Their M.O. was to keep everyone at that time. They knew that I was gonna be gone and I was going to go to AEW as soon as I can."

Jericho recounted how he had heard Rhyno was once offered a raise and told he would feature little on WWE programming. That was apparently the approach for Lee as well.

"It was ungodly money, like I could never even imagine making that amount of money in wrestling literally just to stay at home," he said.

Lee announced last April he requested his release from WWE:

He had to wait until December before officially parting ways with the company.

The former intercontinental champion made his AEW debut on the March 18 edition of Dynamite, revealing himself as The Exalted One of The Dark Order.

Lee followed Jon Moxley from WWE to AEW.

Last May after he signed for AEW, Moxley explained to Jericho he had grown frustrated in WWE and wasn't going to let money be the sole determinant for his next move as his contract neared its expiration date (h/t ESPN's Marc Raimondi):

"I don't care how many zeroes you want to put on a piece of paper, I am gone. [McMahon has] got the Million Dollar Man complex. He's got to be able to buy everything. That's why he pays Brock [Lesnar] billions of dollars to come in and ruin his company. Because he wants to own Brock. He wants to be like, 'Ahh, Brock is my attraction.'"

Lee is also six years older than Moxley, turning 40 in December. While his career is nowhere near its end, he probably felt a more urgent need to capitalize on what he has left.