Ranking Every AEW Surprise Debut From Worst To Best

5. Brodie Lee

Jon Moxley
AEW

As mentioned elsewhere, one of the biggest early misfires of All Elite Wrestling was the Dark Order.

In the past year or so, this faction has clearly been a far more enjoyable, entertaining part of AEW programming - and one of the major factors in steering the Dark Order in the right direction was the reveal of Mr. Brodie Lee as the Exalted One.

The existence of a higher power pulling the strings behind the Dark Order had been teased for months before the big reveal came on the 18 March 2020 episode of AEW Dynamite. And that reveal, of course, saw Brodie pull down the hood to show himself as the head of the Dark Order table.

Immediately, this shock reveal gave the Dark Order not only a shot in the arm, it also brought a newfound sense of legitimacy to the oft-mocked group. Lee was a powerhouse with a reputation as one of the best big men in the business, and so many fans were crying out for the former Luke Harper to be given an opportunity and platform to show what he could do away from the shackles of Vince McMahon.

The wrestling world tragically lost Jon Huber far, far too soon, but his AEW debut, and his impact on the Dark Order and the wider All Elite product will long be remembered.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.