Jon Huber, aka Brodie Lee, Luke Harper, Best Matches, Moments in WWE and AEW

Jon Huber, known to fans of WWE and All Elite Wrestling as Luke Harper and Mr. Brodie Lee, respectively, died Saturday.

His wife, Amanda, announced the news on her Instagram page (h/t Ryan Satin on Twitter), revealing a non-COVID-19 lung condition and thanking the workers at the Mayo Clinic as well as AEW officials. 

A former WWE intercontinental, tag team and TNT champion, the 41-year-old left behind a legacy as one of the most gifted big men of his era and one of the most beloved personalities behind the scenes.

These are but a few of the matches and moments that helped establish the performer and some of the sentiments, stories and memories that defined the man.

NXT Debut

Arriving under the guidance of Bray Wyatt and the moniker of Luke Harper, Huber made his NXT debut on the November 7, 2012, episode, on which he steamrolled a very young Jason Jordan for his first win under the WWE umbrella.

Jordan took to Twitter on Saturday to express his condolences to Huber's family.

The win represented the start of something special for Huber. It was a hint at the dominance he was capable of and, more importantly, the foundation for a new faction that would lead him to a level of stardom he had never before experienced as one-third of the dangerous, enigmatic Wyatt Family.

"We're Here"

The July 8, 2013, debut of The Wyatt Family on WWE Raw kicked off Huber's main roster run with a bang. Alongside Wyatt and the massive Erick Rowan, Harper exploded onto the scene with a three-on-one beatdown of future Hall of Famer Kane.

The moment would serve as the beginning of a run that would see Huber and Co. develop into a genuine main event attraction. Straight out of every backwoods horror story, The Wyatt Family captivated with charisma not typically reserved for a group that looked like they did.

Fans bought into the act, enthralled by the promo stylings of the preacher-like Wyatt and the bruising, punishing beatdowns of Harper and Rowan.

It was during that run that Harper and Wyatt developed a real-life friendship. It is no surprise, then, that the most emotional statement that was not from Huber's family belonged to the former WWE and universal champion, posted to his Instagram account and captured in a tweet from the WWE on Fox profile. Some language is NSFW.

Harper and Wyatt would remain synonymous with each other for the first five years of Huber's WWE run. Thought they would go their separate ways at times, they managed to reunite, either as partners or opponents. More on that in a moment.

Intercontinental Champion

It was readily apparent from the get-go that Harper was a talented wrestler who combined a punishing, brawling style with athleticism and agility not typically reserved for someone of his size. He could throw fists with the likes of John Cena and then sprint across the ring and wipe out a Rey Mysterio or Seth Rollins with a big lariat clothesline.

He was nimble, quick and sure-footed in a way other giants in the industry were not. From an in-ring perspective, there was certainly potential for him to be a singles star. He broke away from the Wyatt Family and enjoyed a run of his own late in 2014 when he defeated Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship on the November 17 episode of Raw.

It was a short title reign as Ziggler regained the title at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view in the event's namesake match. It was during that feud with Ziggler and their countless matches against each other that Huber proved what Vince McMahon never fully realized: He was one of the most talented big men of his generation.

Ziggler joined his fellow Superstars in expressing his love for one of his greatest opponents.

Following a few more teased singles runs and a run-in with the injury bug, Harper found himself back in familiar territory: surrounded by world champions.  

Blockbuster Tag Team Main Event

The January 31, 2017, episode of SmackDown saw Harper team with industry top dog John Cena to battle Randy Orton and Wyatt in a massive tag team main event. Orton had taken over as Wyatt's prized pupil, while Luke Harper looked for a measure of revenge by partnering with one of his former leader's biggest foes.

Orton, like so many others, expressed shock and heartbreak over the news of Huber's passing.

The match was not memorable for its quality, nor was it accompanied by some red-hot, unforgettable angle.

For Harper, it was yet another opportunity to prove himself with three of the top stars in the industry. He did just that, reminding those who may have forgotten his immense talents between the ropes.

A WrestleMania Victory

For any WWE Superstar, a WrestleMania moment is as valued as any championship or win. It is a shot at immortality—confirmation that they were significant enough to be a part of the biggest show of the year. In 2018, Harper reunited with Erick Rowan to form The Bludgeon Brothers, an utterly dominant tandem that demolished and destroyed the competition.

On The Grandest Stage of Them All, Harper and Rowan defeated The Usos and The New Day's Kofi Kingston and Big E. It was the desired moment for Huber professionally, and it was a special one for him and his friend Big E, who shared his memories of his departed comrade on Twitter on Saturday.

The Usos offered up condolences as well.

While he would appear at other WrestleMania events, this was one in which he was not playing backup or taking big bumps for others. He was the star, and he absolutely earned the spotlight. 

The Exalted One

In 2020, Huber left WWE, ready to make an impact and realize his fullest potential elsewhere. He did so in AEW, where he arrived on the March 18 episode of Dynamite as The Dark Order's long-teased Exalted One.

After months of hinting at a higher power of sorts, Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, John Silver and Alex Reynolds welcomed Huber into the fold under his longtime independent moniker, Brodie Lee. The Exalted One wasted little time establishing dominance as he steamrolled SCU's Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian, setting the tone for what would be a bulldozer-like run through the company.

Grayson reflected on Huber's kindness in a social media post.

Lee immediately channeled the momentum from his blockbuster debut into a run as a prominent member of the AEW roster, enjoying the creative freedom and opportunity that he sought for so long. 

AEW Championship Match

At Double or Nothing in May, one of the company's most prestigious events, Huber challenged Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship in a wild, chaotic and bloody brawl of a match.

The two had done battle before during their time in WWE, but never at the level that they were allowed to in their new home. The familiar foes delivered a physical battle that culminated in Moxley delivering a Paradigm Shift through the entrance ramp en route to successfully retaining his title.

The match gave any and all doubters a dose of reality, proving Lee was a main event guy who could grapple with the best of them or throw fists with the most dangerous champion in all of wrestling. Their match stole that show and set Huber up for a significant run of his own through the summer.

TNT Champion

After a series of vignettes established Huber as Mr. Brodie Lee, the verbally abusive, slightly megalomaniacal and heavy-handed leader of The Dark Order, he embarked on a run through the company in which he obliterated everyone from Jurassic Express' pint-sized underdog, Marko Stunt, to The Young Bucks.

On the August 13 episode of Dynamite, he dismantled Cody Rhodes and won the TNT Championship in a wholly unexpected squash match. It was a one-sided ass-whooping that announced to the world that Brodie Lee was a prime-time player in his new home.

It was not the last time those two stars would do battle.

Dog Collar Match

Lee and Rhodes mixed it up one last time on the October 7 episode of Dynamite in a Dog Collar Match.

A brutal, violent throwback to the type of matches Cody's father, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, competed in during his days in the old territories, it was a genuine Match of the Year candidate and further evidence of Lee's ability to work any style or match type.

He bumped all over for Rhodes in what amounted to a redemption story of sorts for The American Nightmare. He dished it out, too, but ultimately returned the favor and put Cody over in one of the real highlight matches of AEW's 2020.

Rhodes took to Twitter to express his gratitude to Lee in a simple, two-word message.

Little did anyone know it would be the last time Huber would compete for the fans who had followed his journey to stardom in the company.

His Legacy

The championships and rivalries, angles and marquee matchups are a fraction of the story. For all of his accomplishments in the ring, his legacy is not that of an elite pro wrestler but, rather, a world-class family man.

It is a sentiment echoed across social media in the wake of his passing.

Stephanie McMahon attested to it.

Triple H, too.

So did AEW president Tony Khan.

You need not hear it from his colleagues and peers, but rather Huber himself. He spoke to just how important it was to him to be a great father during an episode of WWE's YouTube series, Formerly Known As..., seen here in a tweet from Satin.

Then there was his wrestling family, so many of whom expressed their gratitude for his camaraderie and friendship over the years.

And there are so many more, countless tributes that cannot be contained in a single article. The sheer outpouring of love and adulation for Huber from family, both blood and otherwise—that is his legacy.

The measure of a man is not the money he has or his level of fame, but rather the impression he leaves on those closest to him. His family, his friends and his loved ones.

From all accounts, Huber's legacy will loom large over the industry and, more importantly, in the hearts and minds of those who shared in his life.