HeelByNature.com is reader-supported. When you click on links or make purchases through our site, we or our affiliated partners may earn a commission. Additionally, our site features Sponsored Content, which helps us maintain and operate the website.
Tony Schiavone Speaks On Passing Of Brodie Lee
On the latest episode of ‘What Happened When’, Tony Schiavone spoke about Jon Huber (known in AEW as Brodie Lee), who tragically passed away on December 26th from a non-COVID lung illness.
Tony Schiavone revealed the day they recorded the AEW Unrestricted Podcast with Brodie Lee, was the day before he got sick. He said Lee was airlifted to the Mayo Clinic, and his wife asked for the company not to say anything to anyone.
“First of all, he became with us one of our real leaders in the back. He didn’t lead by being noisy or talking. He led by example. People say this when people pass away that he was such a good guy, but for Brodie, it’s the truth. He and I really developed a very close bond when he won the AEW TV Championship and I was in the ring interviewing him. He did the classic, big guy, bend down to my microphone. When the show was over and he asked how the interview was, I said you made a mistake. I said you are so big and tall, never bend down to the microphone. I will put the microphone up to your mouth. Stand up tall. Stand up straight. Stand up strong. He said that’s great, thank you for that. So from that moment on, we didn’t see each other much longer after that, but from that moment on, he called me his mentor. The only thing I mentored him on was the microphone because for a guy his size, he can work. He can do a lot of stuff. Unfortunately, the AEW Uncensored podcast that we do, the one we did with Brodie, we did it the day before he got sick. Then we heard he had been airlifted to the Mayo Clinic and Amanda, his wife, came and met with the entire group and told us how bad a shape he was in and please don’t say anything to anybody.”
During the podcast, Schiavone revealed that Huber’s son, Brodie Jr. or -1, has signed an official contract with All Elite Wrestling and will be given the opportunity to join the company once he is old enough.
“Knowing that Brodie was very sick and knowing it was holiday time, and I guess knowing that for him to kick out, it was going to be, I don’t want to say a miracle, but it was going to be very difficult to kick out. They had brought little Brodie to TV and wrestling is his life. He is 8 years old. He really is a great kid. They made him a member of The Dark Order. They put a mask on him. He came out with a kendo stick. He beat up a lot of people. This of course was at a TV taping with nobody in the audience. They signed him to a contract. They legitimately signed him to a contract and when he gets of age, he will be with AEW. They have taken care of him and he follows guys around all the time in the back and he becomes a part of us. Amanda is back there. When we do TV tapings now, we will have a live show or a taped show, Dynamite, and then we will have sometimes 13 dark matches. We are there until 2 am sometimes. I was sitting back there with Amanda when Dark was going on and she said, ‘I’m dead tired. I need to get back and get some sleep but he (Brodie Jr) just loves this so much, I’m going to wait.’ So, she waits until it is all over and he gets involved with the guys and sits in the gorilla position. He sometimes comes out with a mask on and does some crazy things. It just shows you how the roster loved Brodie and how we are family… When Brodie was hired, we all said, man that’s a great hire because we knew he could work. Then when we got to know him, we thought, not only is this a great hire talent-wise, but he is a great hire because he is a great person backstage. It was a tough day when we got the news and it still is.”
Thanks to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.