10 Brodie Lee Matches To Rewatch And Relive
The best of the best from the 17-year career of The Exalted One himself, Brodie Lee.
A whole lot will be written about Brodie Lee in the coming weeks, about the man behind the performer and the legacy he leaves behind. The Exalted One was a consummate professional and hall of fame family man, one of the best big men of his generation and a terrific promo to boot. An excellent professional wrestler, from top to bottom.
It is important to emphasise that last part. Brodie Lee was an excellent professional wrestler from top to bottom, an experienced veteran who retained the enthusiasm of a rookie every time he stepped into the squared circle. WWE primarily used him as a tag team wrestler, but that didn't stop him starring in a whole host of excellent matches before AEW finally gave him a chance to show his skills as a top-level singles wrestler.
Brodie Lee was in his prime when he was cruelly taken from the world, and fans will be left dreaming of matches that never came to be, of potential classics against Kenny Omega, Tomohiro Ishii, Will Ospreay and lord knows who else. These are the best of the best from the 17-year career of Mr. Brodie Lee.
10. Luke Harper Vs. Randy Orton (WWE Elimination Chamber 2017)
WWE missed a trick by not putting Luke Harper into the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 33. Well, WWE also missed a trick by having Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton do battle in a ring with bugs superimposed onto the canvas, but that is another story entirely. Orton's dismantling of the Wyatt Family was actually a decent story before the abominable match, a match that would have been exponentially better if Harper had been involved.
Fans had to make do with a battle between Harper and Orton prior to WrestleMania, a criminally-underrated slow-burner of a match that saw the crowd embrace the future Exalted One in the hope of a babyface saviour in a feud full of heels. This should have been Luke Harper's coming out party.
The fact that Harper and Orton worked so well together only adds further insult to injury. Luke Harper led the way throughout, a standout performance that laid bare what everyone surely already knew; that he was a main event big man waiting to be given the chance to shine.
Luke Harper had to make do with a spot in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal instead. A travesty.