10 Precise Moments Wrestlers Wanted To Jump Ship

1. Mr. Brodie Lee

Dean Ambrose Gas Mask
AEW

Status In WWE:

Wildly under-utilised, to put it mildly. Luke Harper was a giant who helped redefine the working big man standard; if you'd seen a million tall men, as Vince chased his most lusted-after dragon, you hadn't see one who could go as hard as Harper did. He was an incredibly gifted talent who had no right whatsoever to fly through the air at the clip he did. Not that he was only capable of executing a high spot better for its incredulity; the man was a master craftsman, evidence for which could be found in the last three minutes of all his matches. He built his performances incredibly well and restored what the word awesome meant. He was terrifying. He was witty. He was creative. He was motivated.

He was perfect.

He...

Why And When They Wanted To Leave:

,..wasn't southern. He had to be southern.

He also had to contend with ridiculous start-stop booking even by WWE standards, and spoke to Busted Open Radio in May 2020 before his tragic passing in December of that year.

He formally requested his release on April 16, 2019, by which point his mind had been made. His WrestleMania 35 weekend was an insult, in which he was asked to experiment with a new role and was pitched for another that never happened, all in the space of less than a week. He recognised the utter chaos within a system that in turn did not recognise him as one of the "chosen ones".

As the Exalted One, the bone-chilling and wickedly funny cult leader, he proved that he should have been.

AEW's buzz and acclaim has intensified, post-pandemic, which is remembered as an uneven, bittersweet period not without massive highs in which AEW gave it the old college try under dire circumstances.

It was significantly better than that, and Brodie was among the very best characters of the period.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!