Mid 20th Century
148-678: Jonathan Huber (December 16, 1979 – December 26, 2020) was an American professional wrestler known as Brodie Lee . Huber performed under the ring name Luke Harper in WWE from 2012 to 2019, and as Mr. Brodie Lee in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in 2020. From 2003 to 2012, Huber performed as Brodie Lee on the American independent circuit for promotions such as Chikara , Ring of Honor , and Dragon Gate USA , as well as Dragon Gate Japan . Upon signing with WWE in 2012, he assumed
296-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
444-493: A dark eight-way fray elimination match , before the tapings of the Uprising pay-per-view . Later, on the pay-per-view section of the evening, Lee interrupted a match between Rip Impact and Johnny Wave, beat down both of the competitors and stated that next time he would be coming after a Japanese wrestler. At the following event on September 25, Lee defeated Da Soul Touchaz (Acid Jaz, Marshe Rockett and Willie Richardson) in
592-631: A developmental contract with WWE . He made his debut for WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) at a house show on May 18, working under the new ring name Luke Harper. When FCW was rebranded as NXT in August 2012, Harper made his television debut on the November 7 episode of NXT as a follower of Bray Wyatt , who introduced Harper as the "first son" of The Wyatt Family . The Wyatt Family later also came to include Wyatt's "second son" Erick Rowan , with whom Harper formed
740-441: A heavyweight , claimed he was a " cruiserweight ". Upon his debut in WWE as Luke Harper, he became part of The Wyatt Family , a cult -like faction with Bray Wyatt as their leader. According to Huber, WWE chairman Vince McMahon envisioned Harper as a hillbilly and asked him to speak with a Southern -like drawl . The faction split in early 2017, but Harper later reunited with former Wyatt Family teammate Erick Rowan to form
888-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
1036-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
1184-542: A squash match . Going into 2018, The Bludgeon Brothers began to target SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos , as well as their rivals The New Day . On March 11, 2018, The Bludgeon Brothers made an appearance at Fastlane , interfering during the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match between The Usos and The New Day. This led to a tag team championship match between the three teams at WrestleMania 34 , which The Bludgeon Brothers won to attain
1332-658: A tag team . With victories over Los Ice Creams (El Hijo del Ice Cream and Ice Cream Jr.), Cheech Hernandez and K.C. Day, and the North Star Express (Darin Corbin and Ryan Cruz), Lee and Redwood earned their right to challenge for the Campeonatos de Parejas . On October 17, 2009, Lee and Redwood challenged The Colony (Fire Ant and Soldier Ant) for the championship, but were defeated in two straight falls . Lee opted to give Redwood one more chance, but when he dropped
1480-475: A three-on-one handicap match , before repeating his threat of going after a Japanese competitor. Later in the night, Lee set his sights on Yamato and chased him away from ringside, when he tried to interfere in a match between his ally Jon Moxley and Jimmy Jacobs. The following day, Lee defeated Jimmy Jacobs, Kyle O'Reilly , Mike Quackenbush, Rich Swann and Silas Young in a six-way match. On October 29 at Dragon Gate USA's first live pay-per-view, Bushido: Code of
1628-558: A trucker . Lee and the Olsen Twins were scheduled to enter the 2008 King of Trios tournament as Team Dr. Keith, but after Colin signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the team was left one man short. While Retail Dragon substituted Colin, the team lost in the first round, so Lee turned on him while simultaneously ending his alliance with Jimmy Olsen in the process. In April 2008, Lee's storyline where he bullied smaller wrestlers led to Claudio Castagnoli issuing
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#17328015819611776-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
1924-524: A battle royal at the Crown Jewel event on October 31, which he lost. On November 26, he filed a trademark for Brodie Lee, his former wrestling ring name. On December 8, it was announced that Harper had been released from his WWE contract. Huber made his surprise debut for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on the March 18, 2020, episode of Dynamite , reverting to his Brodie Lee ring name. He was revealed as
2072-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
2220-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
2368-513: A challenge to him. Their first match on April 20 ended in Castagnoli being disqualified for accidentally kicking the referee of the match. The second match on May 24 ended in similar fashion, this time Lee was disqualified for kicking the referee. This led to a no disqualification match on July 13, which Lee won after interference from Shayne Hawke and Mitch Ryder, both of whom had a grudge with Castagnoli for breaking up The Kings of Wrestling
2516-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
2664-564: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Reckless Youth Thomas Carter (born September 18, 1974) is an American retired professional wrestler , better known by his ring name Reckless Youth . He has competed in numerous North American independent promotions including
2812-613: A developmental contract with WWE, Lee made his farewell appearance for Chikara on March 25, 2012, when he unsuccessfully challenged Eddie Kingston for the Chikara Grand Championship. Lee made his debut for Ring of Honor (ROH) on October 25, 2008, aligning himself with The Age of the Fall and helping the group's leader Jimmy Jacobs to defeat Austin Aries in an Anything Goes match . Lee then teamed with fellow Age of
2960-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
3108-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
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#17328015819613256-610: A few years, Sharpe eventually offered to book the young men on his shows if they joined his wrestling school and sold tickets for live events. Carter made his pro debut in September 1995. He also trained at Al Snow 's Bodyslammers Gym in Lima, Ohio during his rookie year. Youth made his debut for Great Lakes Wrestling in a ladder match with Steve Nixon. He later started a stable alongside "Dirty" Don Montoya and Diamond (later Simon Diamond) called East Coast Invasion. Youth went on to win
3404-412: A heart attack on August 24, 2023, at the age of 36, leaving Rowan as the only surviving original Wyatt Family member. The 236th episode of The Young Bucks ' YouTube series Being The Elite ( BTE ) was titled "Brodie", featuring a compilation of Lee's BTE appearances. The following episode was titled "Tribute", featuring behind the scenes clips from his Celebration of Life memorial show. Since then,
3552-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
3700-625: A lung issue at the clinic since late October. Despite what some fans believed at the time, the issue was unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic as Huber had tested negative multiple times. He had been moved to the intensive care unit in late October. On the AEW Unrestricted podcast in January 2021, Amanda revealed that Huber had died from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis , a rare condition which causes lung tissue to continuously thicken until
3848-687: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
3996-502: A match between the teams at Elimination Chamber , which The Wyatt Family won. During this time, Harper and Rowan also supported Bray Wyatt in his feud with John Cena through WrestleMania XXX , with Harper and Rowan also starting their own feud with the WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso), who supported Cena in the feud. Harper and Rowan went on to unsuccessfully challenge The Usos for
4144-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
4292-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
4440-507: A new record for most shirts sold within 24 hours, breaking Sting 's previous record. In just under four hours, it became the highest selling T-shirt of 2020, breaking Orange Cassidy 's previous record. Night 1 of New Japan Pro-Wrestling 's Wrestle Kingdom 15 started with commentator Kevin Kelly saying "it's January 4th, you know what that means" and dedicating the broadcast to Lee. In March 2021, wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer presented
4588-504: A painting of Huber has been present in The Dark Order's usual meeting room for their segments on BTE . The Dark Order members also continue to often wear Brodie Lee shirts and "RIP Brodie" armbands. The December 30 episode of AEW Dynamite , which was a special episode titled " Brodie Lee Celebration of Life ", featured matches and segments with fellow wrestlers honoring and paying tribute to Huber and his family. Every match on
Brodie Lee - Misplaced Pages Continue
4736-847: A singles match. On January 28, 2011, at United: NYC , Lee, now representing the heel group Blood Warriors, defeated Jimmy Jacobs in a singles match. The following day at United: Philly , Lee suffered his first loss in Dragon Gate USA, when he was defeated by Open the Freedom Gate Champion Yamato in a non-title match. On December 21, 2010, Lee made his debut for Japanese promotion Dragon Gate (DG) in Tokyo , where he, representing The Warriors stable, defeated Kzy . The Warriors stable turned heel on January 14, 2011, when they attacked Masato Yoshino and World-1, aligning themselves with Naruki Doi 's group, though Lee himself
4884-416: A tag team dubbed The Bludgeon Brothers . The duo carried wooden mallets to the ring and had a look apparently modeled after Demolition , a tag team who wrestled for WWE in the 1980s. Desiring a run as a singles competitor, Huber pitched several gimmick ideas to McMahon, such as a "collector" who took trophies from his defeated opponents and an "intelligent monster" who would eloquently tell his rivals how he
5032-470: A tag team match on November 22 at Survivor Series , where the two defeated Harper and Wyatt. The next night on Raw , Harper teamed with Wyatt again to defeat The Dudley Boyz , igniting a new feud. Over the next weeks, Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno joined The Dudley Boyz in the feud, leading to an eight-man tag team tables match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs , where Harper, Wyatt, Rowan and Strowman were victorious. On January 24, 2016, Harper competed in
5180-419: A tag team match. The Roughnecks and The Throwbacks ended their feud on March 13 in a lumberjack match , where Hatfield and Dunkerton were victorious. In May 2011, Lee entered the 12 Large: Summit , set to determine the inaugural Chikara Grand Champion , but was forced to pull out of the tournament following his first match, after suffering a legitimate injury. Lee returned to Chikara on October 30. After signing
5328-511: A tag team match. The following month at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs , The Wyatt Family defeated Bryan in a 3-on-1 handicap match . At the Royal Rumble on January 26, 2014, Harper competed in his first Royal Rumble match , where he eliminated two other participants before being eliminated by Roman Reigns . Shortly afterwards, The Wyatt Family began a feud with The Shield ( Dean Ambrose , Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins ), leading to
5476-506: A tag team. The two defeated Percy Watson and Yoshi Tatsu in their first match together on the January 9, 2013, episode of NXT . On the January 23 episode of NXT , Harper and Rowan again defeated Watson and Tatsu in the opening round of the NXT Tag Team Championship tournament . Following a win over Bo Dallas and Michael McGillicutty in the semi-finals with Wyatt's interference, Harper and Rowan were defeated in
5624-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
5772-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
5920-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
6068-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
Brodie Lee - Misplaced Pages Continue
6216-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
6364-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
6512-527: The 2021 Royal Rumble , The New Day wore custom ring gear honoring Huber, later auctioning off the gear with all the proceeds going to Foodlink, a nonprofit foodbank based in Huber's hometown Rochester. At WrestleMania 37 in April 2021, Bray Wyatt (who had largely been off television since before Huber's death) honored Huber by shouting Huber's "yeah, yeah, yeah" catchphrase during his match. Wyatt later died from
6660-706: The East Coast Wrestling Association , Combat Zone Wrestling and Chikara , where he was one of the original founders alongside Mike Quackenbush . In January 1998, Pro Wrestling Illustrated senior editor Bill Apter called Reckless Youth "one of the most recognizable independent stars" in the United States. Carter was part of a small group of " backyard wrestlers ", including D'Lo Brown , while growing up in New Jersey. Carter and his friends eventually began renting an actual wrestling ring from Larry Sharpe 's Monster Factory . Within
6808-568: The NXT North American Championship . Soon after, Harper took time off after undergoing surgery for a wrist injury. On March 9, 2019, Harper returned to in-ring action, defeating Mojo Rawley at a house show in his hometown of Rochester. He made his televised return at WrestleMania Axxess , defeating Dominik Dijakovic , which aired as part of the WWE Worlds Collide special. Following that, he competed in
6956-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
7104-486: The Royal Rumble with fellow Wyatt Family members and he was eliminated by Brock Lesnar , but returned to the ring later on with The Wyatt Family members to eliminate Lesnar. Harper and Wyatt were defeated by Lesnar in a 2-on-1 handicap match at the Roadblock event on March 12. On March 21, Harper suffered a knee injury during an untelevised match on Raw , sidelining him for five to six months. After getting an MRI , it
7252-747: The Shad Gaspard/Jon Huber Memorial Award , named after Huber and fellow wrestler Shad Gaspard , who died in May 2020 while saving his young son from drowning, which is dedicated to people involved in professional wrestling who make positive contributions to society. In August 2021, CM Punk revealed that Huber's death and how well his illness was kept secret amongst the AEW locker room out of respect inspired him to end his seven-year hiatus from wrestling, which began when he became disillusioned with WWE. Bryan Danielson also spoke about how
7400-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
7548-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
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#17328015819617696-538: The tag team championship once and, after he won the television championship , he unified it with the Kayfabe Dojo Championship. Huber made his debut for Philadelphia -based Chikara on March 24, 2007, at Time Will Prove Everything , using "The Right Stuff" Brodie Lee gimmick and losing to Equinox . Lee originally was not scheduled to wrestle at the event, but was instead visiting backstage with friends. However, when Reckless Youth no-showed
7844-513: The "Exalted One", the previously unseen leader of the villainous faction The Dark Order , and attacked SoCal Uncensored with the other members of the group. After remaining undefeated for several weeks, he lost for the first time against Jon Moxley in a match for the AEW World Championship at Double or Nothing . Over the following months, Lee recruited new members into The Dark Order, including Colt Cabana and Anna Jay . On
7992-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
8140-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
8288-509: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
8436-698: The André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at the WrestleMania 35 pre-show, but failed to win as he was eliminated by Braun Strowman. After WrestleMania, Harper wrestled against EC3 in a dark match before an episode of SmackDown . It was reported that WWE chairman Vince McMahon did not like the match, so he canceled creative plans for Harper including a feud with Sami Zayn . After that, on April 16, Harper requested his release from WWE, as he had yet to appear on weekly television. His request
8584-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
8732-436: The August 21 episode of SmackDown Live , The New Day defeated The Bludgeon Brothers in a no disqualification match to win the championships, ending their reign at 135 days. The following day, it was announced that Rowan had suffered a torn right bicep, sidelining him indefinitely and putting the team on hiatus. Harper made a surprise appearance at a NXT house show on September 6, where he unsuccessfully challenged Ricochet for
8880-609: The August 22 episode of Dynamite , Lee quickly defeated Cody to win the AEW TNT Championship . He successfully defended the TNT Championship against Rhodes and Orange Cassidy on the September 9 and 23 episodes of Dynamite , respectively. Cody returned after Lee's match against Cassidy, and Lee challenged him to a dog collar match for the TNT Championship. On the October 7 episode of Dynamite , Cody won
9028-622: The Brodie Lee Tribute Show inspired him to sign for AEW. In September 2021, one week after winning the WWE Championship, Big E celebrated with The New Day and thanked the fans for their support and from "one incredible friend above" as the fans began to chant Huber's ring name. Professional wrestler 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
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#17328015819619176-515: The COVID-19 pandemic and with AEW's return to the venue in January 2024 for the two-part Homecoming special, AEW again paid tribute to Huber, airing a video package during the event and had three multi-person tag team matches with current and former members of The Dark Order. During the tribute show, Pro Wrestling Tees ' Shop AEW store released a T-shirt in memory of Lee with all proceeds benefiting The Huber Family. In less than two hours, it set
9324-564: The Countdown Showdown battle royal and was dominating the match, before being eliminated by Redwood. On October 23, Lee suffered an upset loss in a match against Dasher Hatfield , who was defeated by Redwood the following day. On November 20, Lee and Redwood, having earned each other's respect, re-united and attacked Hatfield after his match with Shayne "Buck" Hawke. On January 23, 2011, at the season ten premiere, The Roughnecks defeated The Throwbacks (Hatfield and Sugar Dunkerton) in
9472-401: The Fall and on May 30 he defeated Lee in his final ROH match. Lee debuted for Evolve on January 16, 2010, at the promotion's first ever show, teaming with Gran Akuma and Icarus in a six-man tag team match, where they were defeated by Team Frightning (Mike Quackenbush, Hallowicked and Frightmare ). After losing a singles match to Gran Akuma on March 13, Lee picked up his first victory in
9620-480: The Fall member Delirious and defeated Cheech and Cloudy in a tag team match, before ending the night by attacking Necro Butcher , with whom the stable was feuding, after his match with Go Shiozaki . On November 7, Lee's match with Necro Butcher ended in a disqualification, when the rest of The Age of the Fall attacked his opponent. Lee and Necro Butcher had a rematch under Anything Goes rules on February 27, 2009, which Necro won. In March, Delirious turned on The Age of
9768-679: The GLW World title and competed in the final match in GLW defeating "Dirty" Don Montoya in a two out of three falls match on January 17, 1997. Youth's first appearance in Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) was against Justice Pain , at The Staple Gun . He then faced Mike Quackenbush and Ric Blade in a three-way match at Down In Flames on June 19, 1999. Youth would also have a memorable three-way match at Un F'N Believable , against Trent Acid and Blade. He then faced Minoru Fujita at
9916-639: The Garden State Gods (Corvis Fear and Myke Quest) to win the JAPW Tag Team Championship . On January 23, 2010, at JAPW's 12th Anniversary Show, Lee and Necro lost the title to Da Heavy Hitters (Havok and Monsta Mack ) in a three-way tag team match, which also included The H8 Club (Nate Hatred and Nick Gage ). On March 20, Lee got to challenge for the JAPW Heavyweight Championship , but was defeated by
10064-461: The January 10, 2017, episode of SmackDown Live , Harper and Orton shoved each other, which led to Harper accidentally superkicking Wyatt. Harper and Orton continued having problems with each other, leading to a match between the two on the January 24 episode of SmackDown Live , where Orton was victorious. After the match, Wyatt attacked Harper with the Sister Abigail , separating him from
10212-499: The July 26 SmackDown , where he and Rowan defeated Tons of Funk ( Brodus Clay and Tensai ). Over the next few months, Harper and Rowan went on a winning streak over many teams, until Cody Rhodes and Goldust handed them their first loss on the October 11 episode of SmackDown . In November, The Wyatt Family started a rivalry with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan heading into Survivor Series , where Harper and Rowan lost to Punk and Bryan in
10360-578: The July 4 episode of SmackDown Live , Harper took part in the Independence Day Battle Royal to determine the number one contender for the United States Championship . He failed to win as the match was eventually won by AJ Styles. Harper then disappeared from WWE television for several months. On the October 10 episode of SmackDown Live , as a heel again, Harper returned to television in a vignette where he
10508-781: The Luke Harper name and was sent to WWE's developmental territory in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) before debuting in NXT as a member of The Wyatt Family . For most of his WWE career, he was closely associated with Wyatt Family members Bray Wyatt and Erick Rowan . The Wyatt Family won the NXT Tag Team Championship and the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship . The team of Harper and Rowan , later known as The Bludgeon Brothers in one of their tag team runs, went on to hold
10656-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
10804-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
10952-590: The November 10 episode of Raw , throwing an unconscious Ziggler at Triple H and Stephanie McMahon 's feet and expressing his desire to join their team at Survivor Series . The following week on Raw , Harper officially joined Team Authority . Immediately after, Harper was awarded an impromptu match for the Intercontinental Championship against Dolph Ziggler, which, after interference from Seth Rollins , Harper won to capture his first main roster title. At Survivor Series, Team Authority lost
11100-703: The Power podcast to Huber, which also featured Cesaro , Tyler Breeze , and Erick Rowan speaking about Huber; a video version of the podcast was put on the WWE Network . The next day on the WWE Network, the promotion added a new entry into their Best of WWE series entitled "Best of Luke Harper", an anthology showcasing several of Huber's matches in WWE, which also included comments by various wrestlers involved in those matches speaking of their time working with Huber. At
11248-599: The SmackDown Tag Team Championship once more. During a brief run as a singles competitor, Harper became a one-time WWE Intercontinental Champion . Huber departed WWE in December 2019 and subsequently made his AEW debut in March 2020 as Mr. Brodie Lee, the leader of The Dark Order , and won the AEW TNT Championship in August of that year. He was hospitalized in October 2020 for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis , from which he died on December 26 at
11396-543: The WWE Tag Team Championship at both Money in the Bank and Battleground . Beginning on September 29, vignettes were shown of Harper and Rowan being "set free" by Wyatt, marking the dissolution of The Wyatt Family and the transition of its members into singles competition. After a further series of video vignettes aimed at Dolph Ziggler , Harper made his return to television during the closing moments of
11544-477: The Warrior, Lee teamed with sumo legend Akebono in a tag team match, where they defeated The Osirian Portal. After the match, Lee and Akebono had to be separated from one another by the rest of Dragon Gate USA's locker room. Later in the night, Cima used his draft pick to name Lee the newest member of his Warriors International stable. At the following day's tapings of Freedom Fight 2010, Lee defeated Akebono in
11692-525: The action-horror film Mohawk . Under the Luke Harper name, he is a playable character in the video games WWE 2K15 , WWE 2K16 , WWE 2K17 , WWE 2K18 , WWE 2K19 , and WWE 2K20 . And in AEW Fight Forever under his Mr. Brodie Lee name as a legend. Huber married Amanda, a fellow professional wrestler who previously performed under the name Synndy Synn, in 2011. They had two sons named Brodie and Nolan. Following Huber's death, Brodie
11840-549: The age of 41. Jonathan Huber was born in Rochester, New York , on December 16, 1979. He attended McQuaid Jesuit High School and played lacrosse for four years. He also played hockey in independent youth leagues. Huber first got into wrestling as a backyard wrestler , performing under the ring name Huberboy #2 with the likes of Colin Delaney and his real-life brother, Referee Rob Ryan (Chris Huber) and Jimmy Olsen . Huber
11988-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
12136-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
12284-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
12432-451: The card featured members of Huber's faction, The Dark Order . The memorial show began with the entire AEW roster onstage and commentator Jim Ross saying, "It's Wednesday and you know what that means", followed by a ten-bell salute . In the middle of the show, Huber's former long-time WWE tag team partner Erick Rowan, now under the name Erick Redbeard, made his AEW debut and held up a sign which said, "Goodbye for now, my brother. See you down
12580-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
12728-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
12876-611: The championship and ended Lee's reign at 55 days (46 days as recognized by AEW due to tape delay ). This would mark Lee's final match as he then went on hiatus and was reportedly dealing with an undisclosed injury, but died from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in December. Huber's wrestling style has been described as mix of "blending power moves with deceptive agility" and "pioneering a new wave of athletic giants". He cited Jake Roberts , Rick Rude , and Big Show as his primary influences. Huber has described his original "The Right Stuff" gimmick as him "just having fun" and, despite being
13024-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
13172-512: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
13320-578: The company by defeating Gran Akuma, Hallowicked and Chris Dickinson in a four-way match on May 1. At the fourth show on July 23, Lee wrestled Jon Moxley to a no contest . As Moxley was protesting the stoppage, Lee kicked a chair into his face, which led to Evolve suspending him for the show of September 11. Lee returned to Evolve on May 20, 2011, in a match where he was defeated by Sami Callihan via submission. On May 8, 2010, Lee made his debut for Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA), defeating Cheech, Cloudy, Kyle O'Reilly, Phil Atlas, Xtremo, Brent B. and Anthony Fiasco in
13468-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
13616-593: The defending champion Dan Maff and, after the match, Nick Gage attacked Maff and joined The Hillbilly Wrecking Crew, replacing Murdoch, who had left the company. On May 22, Lee and Necro faced Maff and the JAPW New Jersey State Champion Charlie Haas in a tag team match, where they put their JAPW careers on the line against the titles of their opponents. In the end, Lee managed to pin Haas, after Maff had turned on him, to become
13764-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
13912-404: The event, Chikara booker Mike Quackenbush offered Lee the chance to get in the ring. Lee returned to the company two months later, defeating Equinox in a rematch and starting a streak of not being pinned nor submitting that lasted for the rest of the year. In August, Lee aligned himself with the Olsen Twins ( Colin and Jimmy ) and adopted the nickname "Big Rig" and a more serious gimmick of
14060-544: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
14208-410: The fall on October 19 in a match against The Osirian Portal (Amasis and Ophidian ), Lee kicked him in the face, effectively ending The Roughnecks. Redwood made his return six months later on April 24, 2010, as a surprise opponent of Lee's, but was easily defeated by him. Afterwards, Redwood stated that he was not done with Lee, but would prepare himself before their next match. On August 29, Lee entered
14356-493: The finals of the tournament by Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey . Harper defeated Neville on the March 20 episode of NXT . On the May 2 episode of NXT , Harper and Rowan won a triple threat elimination tag match by last pinning Neville. On the May 8 episode of NXT , Harper and Rowan defeated Adrian Neville and Bo Dallas, filling in for the injured Grey, to win the NXT Tag Team Championship. After retaining
14504-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
14652-435: The first round. In early May, Harper revived his alliance with Erick Rowan. After Rowan suffered an injury, Harper reunited with Bray Wyatt on July 19 at Battleground by helping him defeat Roman Reigns . This led to a tag team match between Harper and Wyatt against Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose at SummerSlam , which they lost after Reigns pinned Wyatt. The following night on Raw , Braun Strowman joined Harper and Wyatt as
14800-560: The first time, unifying the two titles. Lee made his first JAPW Heavyweight Championship defense on December 11, during the Anniversary weekend, defeating Rhino with help from Nick Gage. On December 30, 2011, JAPW announced that Lee, who had not made an appearance for the promotion in nine months, had been stripped of the JAPW Heavyweight Championship. On March 12, 2012, it was reported that Huber had signed
14948-399: The following episode of SmackDown Live , Harper ambushed Daniel Bryan after a confrontation with Rowan, only to be interrupted by Reigns, who Harper and Rowan laid out as well. At Hell in a Cell , Harper and Rowan were defeated by Reigns and Bryan in a tag team match. As part of the 2019 draft , Erick Rowan was drafted to Raw, disbanding the team. Harper's last televised match in WWE was in
15096-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
15244-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
15392-531: The greatest TNT Champion. A tribute video with " Ol' '55 " by Tom Waits closed the show. Khan purchased the rights to the song in perpetuity , which he did "so the tribute will last forever". AEW has since adopted "it's Wednesday night, (and) you know what that means" as the standard introduction for episodes of AEW Dynamite , as further tribute to Huber. As Huber was a prominent figure for AEW during its time at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida during
15540-462: The group. At the Royal Rumble on January 29, Harper entered the Royal Rumble match at number 25, attacking both Wyatt and Orton and eliminating Apollo Crews , before being eliminated by Goldberg . On the January 31 episode of SmackDown Live , Harper turned face after helping WWE Champion John Cena in his confrontation with Orton and Wyatt. At Elimination Chamber on February 12, Harper
15688-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
15836-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
15984-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
16132-558: The lungs can no longer function. A multitude of wrestlers and wrestling personalities paid tribute to Huber with previously untold stories on social media , most of which shared a running theme of him being devoted to his wife and children while going out of his way to guide and support other wrestlers. His former Wyatt Family teammates also paid tribute: Bray Wyatt called Huber his "best friend, brother, [and] partner", Erick Rowan said that Huber "meant more to [him] than he will ever know", and Braun Strowman referred to Huber as "one of
16280-458: The match of the SmackDown brand pay-per-view No Mercy , helping Bray Wyatt defeat Randy Orton by distracting Orton. On December 4 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs , Wyatt and Orton, who had recently joined The Wyatt Family, captured the SmackDown Tag Team Championship , and three days later it was announced that Harper had been sanctioned as champion as well, making him eligible to defend
16428-529: The match, which Harper was eliminated by Ziggler. As punishment for his affiliation with The Authority, Harper was forced to defend the Intercontinental Championship against Dean Ambrose on the November 24 episode of Raw and successfully retained the title after getting himself disqualified. Harper lost the title back to Ziggler in a ladder match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs , ending his reign at 27 days, and failed to regain
16576-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
16724-408: The most unselfish men [he has] ever met and an amazing husband and father". Cody Rhodes , against whom Huber wrestled his final match, called the match "an honor and a privilege and an experience so ferociously humbling". Big E , who was particularly close with Huber and his son Brodie and was requested to be present alongside Rhodes with Amanda when informing Brodie of his father's death, spoke of how
16872-468: The names of actor Jason Lee and his character Brodie Bruce , though his style and appearance have also brought comparisons to Bruiser Brody , mistakenly thinking his ring name was derived from Bruiser. Throughout his time in RPW, which was later renamed to NWA Upstate and then again to NWA New York, Lee went on to win multiple championships including the heavyweight championship on three separate occasions,
17020-487: The new JAPW New Jersey State Champion. On October 23, 2010, Lee challenged Dan Maff for the JAPW Heavyweight Championship in a Champion vs. Champion match, but was defeated. On November 20, Lee first successfully defended the New Jersey State Championship against Eddie Kingston and then defeated Dan Maff, Nick Gage and Azrieal in a Championship Scramble to win the JAPW Heavyweight Championship for
17168-429: The new member of The Wyatt Family. At Night of Champions The Wyatt Family defeated Reigns, Ambrose and Chris Jericho in a six-man tag team match. On the October 19 episode of Raw , Erick Rowan returned to The Wyatt Family when he filled in for Harper (who was unable to show for personal reasons). The Wyatt Family then got involved in a feud with The Brothers of Destruction ( The Undertaker and Kane ), which built to
17316-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
17464-730: The previous year. Lee's and Castagnoli's feud ended on September 7, 2008, in Chikara's first-ever steel cage match , with Castagnoli coming out victorious. In late 2008, Lee aligned himself with Eddie Kingston and Grizzly Redwood to form a stable called The Roughnecks. On February 21, 2009, The Roughnecks defeated UltraMantis Black , Crossbones and Sami Callihan to earn a spot in the 2009 King of Trios tournament . On March 27, The Roughnecks lost their King of Trios opening round match to Team Uppercut ( Bryan Danielson , Claudio Castagnoli and Dave Taylor ). When Kingston moved on to feuding with Castagnoli, Lee and Redwood began wrestling matches as
17612-442: The professional wrestling industry as a whole came together to mourn the loss of a performer deemed to have made a personal impact on the careers and lives of many of his colleagues, stating, "I feel a real brotherhood. In that I have so many guys that I've worked with, who hit me up, who cried with me, who reached out to me, and that's beautiful. It really made me think, 'Man, we have something special in our industry. ' " After many of
17760-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
17908-437: The road." At the end of the show, Huber's widow and son left his wrestling boots and a purple bandana in the middle of the ring. As Huber was a former TNT Champion, AEW retired the red strap version of the title belt that had been used up to that point in honor of Huber, and presented the belt to Huber's son Brodie, with AEW President and CEO Tony Khan stating that Lee's son was "TNT Champion for life". Khan also regarded Huber as
18056-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
18204-537: The stories about Huber had been widely shared, Randy Orton stated, "You all have heard about how much we all respected [Huber], about how much we all enjoyed his presence. It is a fact." The December 28, 2020, episode of WWE Raw opened with an "In Memory of Jon Huber ('Luke Harper')" graphic, as did the December 30 episode of WWE NXT and the January 1, 2021, episode of WWE SmackDown . Performers and commentators on Raw paid tribute by using some of Huber's catchphrases, such as commentator Tom Phillips welcoming
18352-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
18500-499: The title against Corey Graves and Kassius Ohno on the June 5 episode of NXT , Harper and Rowan lost the NXT Tag Team Championship to Adrian Neville and Corey Graves on the July 17 episode of NXT . From the May 27 episode of Raw , WWE aired vignettes promoting the upcoming debut of The Wyatt Family. The vignettes showed The Wyatt Family's backwoods origins. On the July 8 episode of Raw , The Wyatt Family made their debut by assaulting Kane . Harper made his WWE in-ring debut on
18648-402: The title in a rematch on the December 22 episode of Raw . On January 25, 2015, Harper entered the Royal Rumble match at number 4, and was eliminated by Bray Wyatt. Beginning in early March, Harper was involved into a storyline where he was one of many wrestlers stealing Bad News Barrett 's Intercontinental Championship belt from Barrett and each other. This led to a seven-man ladder match for
18796-459: The title on March 29 at WrestleMania 31 , which was won by Daniel Bryan. The match led to a new feud between Harper and Dean Ambrose (who was also a participant in the ladder match at WrestleMania), with Harper losing a Chicago Street Fight between the pair at Extreme Rules . On the April 27 episode of Raw , Harper took part in the 2015 King of the Ring tournament, but was eliminated by Neville in
18944-468: The title under the Freebird Rule . The Wyatt Family, represented by Harper and Orton, lost the SmackDown Tag Team Championship to American Alpha ( Chad Gable and Jason Jordan ) in a four-way elimination match on the December 27 episode of SmackDown Live . After the match, Harper and Orton showed tension over the loss. After Wyatt and Orton unsuccessfully challenged American Alpha for the title on
19092-471: The titles. They would go on to successfully defend the titles against The Usos at the Greatest Royal Rumble event, against Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson at Money in the Bank , and against Team Hell No at Extreme Rules . The Bludgeon Brothers lost by disqualification in a championship defense against The New Day at SummerSlam , resulting in them retaining the titles. Two nights later on
19240-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
19388-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
19536-587: The viewers to the show by exclaiming "it's Monday, you know what that means" and WWE Champion Drew McIntyre beginning his promo by stating "it's Monday and you know what that means [...] yeah, yeah, yeah". Xavier Woods , who wore an armband with "Brodie" written on it, performed Huber's signature taunt and finishing move during an eight-man tag team match. Over the next week, the promotion uploaded videos with various WWE wrestlers honoring and speaking of their memories with Huber. On January 11, The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston , and Xavier Woods) dedicated their Feel
19684-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
19832-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
19980-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
20128-464: Was a cult, and often harshly punished his disciples for petty transgressions. The character drew comparisons to McMahon due to displaying traits similar to ones often attributed to McMahon, such as disliking people sneezing in his presence, but Huber denied this and instead stated that it was inspired by mafia films . In 2017, Huber appeared as Pitchfork Perry in an episode of the period drama series Damnation . In 2018, he played Lachlan Allsopp in
20276-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
20424-487: Was defeated by Orton. Shortly after this, Harper unsuccessfully faced AJ Styles over number one contendership for the WWE Championship, held by Wyatt. At the WrestleMania 33 pre-show on April 2, Harper took part in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal , from which he was eliminated by Titus O'Neil . Following WrestleMania, Harper feuded with the returning Erick Rowan, leading to a match at Backlash , which Harper won. On
20572-734: Was denied by McMahon. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter later reported that Harper's contract was originally going to expire in November 2019, but WWE added six months to it, due to the time missed due to injury. In mid-July it was reported that Harper had returned to traveling with the roster, as he had been off events since requesting his release. At the Clash of Champions pay-per-view event on September 15, with his old ring name Luke Harper, he made his televised return to WWE programming by attacking Roman Reigns in his match with former partner Erick Rowan. On
20720-464: Was eventually formally trained by Kirby Marcos and Rik Matrix in Rochester, New York , and Tony Mamaluke in Schenectady, New York , and made his debut for Roc City Wrestling (RCW) in 2003, working under a mask as Huberboy #2. Later that year, he unmasked and began working as Brodie Lee for Rochester Pro Wrestling (RPW). He came up with the name Brodie Lee from the movie Mallrats by combining
20868-406: Was going to hurt them, but his ideas were rejected by McMahon and WWE creative. After joining AEW in March 2020, Huber reverted to his pre-WWE name of Brodie Lee and was unveiled as "The Exalted One", the previously anonymous leader of The Dark Order stable. Adding the prefix "Mr." to his name, he assumed the gimmick of a suit-wearing corporate executive who denied allegations that The Dark Order
21016-502: Was not present, as he was snowed in and could not make the show. The following day, Lee made his return to DG as a member of the new top heel group, in a match where he, Gamma and Genki Horiguchi defeated Yamato , Kagetora and Diablo. On January 18, the new group was named Blood Warriors. Lee made his debut for Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) on March 28, 2009, as a member of The Hillbilly Wrecking Crew, along with Necro Butcher and Trevor Murdoch . On August 1, Lee and Necro defeated
21164-402: Was once again aligned with Erick Rowan. The duo were dubbed " The Bludgeon Brothers ", with Harper's ring name shortened to simply "Harper". The team wrestled their return match on the November 21 episode of SmackDown Live , defeating The Hype Bros ( Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley ). At Clash of Champions on December 17, The Bludgeon Brothers defeated Breezango ( Fandango and Tyler Breeze ) in
21312-650: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
21460-506: Was revealed that he had dislocated his patella and tore his medial patellofemoral ligament . Because of his injury, Harper was not drafted to either Raw or SmackDown in the 2016 WWE draft . Harper returned to the ring on October 5, unsuccessfully teaming with Kevin Owens against Sami Zayn and Seth Rollins at a house show in Santiago , Chile . Four days later, Harper returned in
21608-618: Was signed to AEW and became a member of his father's faction The Dark Order at the age of eight, with AEW stating that he can immediately start to perform for the company when he comes of age if he so wishes. Huber was a fan of the then- Washington Football Team (now the Commanders) and Toronto Maple Leafs . On December 26, 2020, Huber died at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida , 10 days after his 41st birthday. His widow, Amanda, said that he had been receiving treatment for
21756-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
21904-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
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