10 Best 'Meet The REAL Villain' Moments In Wrestling History

9. Brodie Lee Is The Dark Order's Exalted One

Shawn Michaels It's Him
AEW

Far from scanning as a desperate attempt to fix something that seemed irreversibly broken, the late great Brodie Lee's reveal as The Dark Order was strong enough that it almost waved away months of risible plotting around the beleaguered entity.

Lee felt like a big f*cking deal having shouldered some rough years in WWE, and though he never got the crowd responses he richly deserved due to the pandemic, his legacy was forever assured by the transformative impact he had.

A dominant and dangerous heel atop the group made them a dominant and dangerous heel group overnight. It was that simple and that effective, and that was just what audiences were getting on Dynamite.

As The Exalted One, his Vince McMahon impersonation morphed into something altogether purer on Being The Elite, resulting in the rest of The Dark Order getting over as supremely sympathetic babyfaces in the shadow of their evil heel leaders. And it's in Lee's shadow the group will always remain, but there's presumably nowhere else any of them would rather be.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett