Every WWE To AEW Defection Ranked From Worst To Best

Since Brodie Lee passed away from a serious lung issue in December 2020, the wrestling world has looked back on Brodie’s career with much fondness and appreciation, especially his short stint in AEW.

In April 2019, the-then Luke Harper requested his release from WWE to fulfil his potential elsewhere having been largely forgotten about. WWE denied the request, and relegated him to being a lackey for his former Bludgeon Brothers teammate Eric Rowan in his feud with Roman Reigns. In December that year, Harper finally got what he wished for and was let go of his WWE contract.

Harper was determined to prove himself as a big-time player when he debuted for AEW on March 18th, readopting his Brodie Lee ring name. It was bittersweet for Brodie, given the show was supposed to take place in front of a jam-packed audience in his hometown of Rochester, New York but there was no crowd due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee was declared ‘The Exalted One’, the mysterious leader of The Dark Order. It finally gave Lee a chance to shine in a lead role. In August, Lee squashed Cody Rhodes for the TNT Championship in a fantastic angle where he came across as a monster unleashed by attacking The Nightmare Family afterwards.

Lee had great showings against Dustin Rhodes and Orange Cassidy for the title on episodes of Dynamite before finally losing the belt back to Cody in an outstanding and bloody dog collar match, which would ultimately be his last match before passing.