Jon Huber, better known as AEW’s Brodie Lee, passes away at age 41

Jon Huber, better known to fans as Brodie Lee in AEW and Luke Harper in WWE, sadly passed away yesterday at the age of 41. His death was announced by his wife Amanda on Instagram.

“My best friend died today,” his wife wrote. “I never wanted to write out those words. My heart is broken. The world saw him as the amazing @brodielee (fka Luke Harper) but he was my best friend, my husband, and the greatest father you would ever meet. No words can express the love I feel or how broken I am right now.”

Amanda said that her husband was suffering from a lung issue which was non-COVID related and thanked the Mayo Clinic for having the best team of doctors and nurses in the world. She also thanked AEW for the way they treated her family and kids, especially Cody and Brandi Rhodes, The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, and Tony Khan who have “helped keep me standing and pick up all the broken pieces.”

Huber made his pro wrestling debut in 2003, doing the independent shows until 2012 when WWE came knocking the door and offered him a developmental deal to be in NXT. He was teamed with Bray Wyatt and Erick Rowan and the trio went on to have a successful run as The Wyatt Family. After a singles run where he also won the Intercontinental title, he returned to the Wyatt Family and later teamed only with Rowan as The Bludgeon Brothers. He requested his release from WWE several times and was eventually granted in December 2019.

This year, Huber joined AEW and was revealed as The Exalted One, leader of The Dark Order in March on an episode of Dynamite. He later quickly destroyed Cody to become the new AEW TNT champion but lost the title back to Cody on the October 7 episode of Dynamite in a dog collar match. It was the last time he was on AEW television and his time away from the ring was not publicly discussed.

During his time in WWE, Huber won the NXT Tag Team title once, the Smackdown Tag Team title twice, the Intercontinental title once, and in AEW won the TNT title once.