Erick Redbeard Talks About How Much Brodie Lee Enjoyed Himself In AEW

The pro wrestling community was dealt a cruel blow almost three years ago when beloved performer Brodie Lee (Jon Huber) passed away at 41 years of age following a battle with illness. In the midst of a tremendous albeit short run with AEW, Lee left behind an indelible mark on the company through his work as Dark Order's fearless leader, having battles with the likes of Jon Moxley and Cody Rhodes.

Prior to working with the promotion, Lee carved out a successful career as Luke Harper under the WWE umbrella, winning multiple championships as part of The Wyatt Family. During his time in WWE, he built a strong personal connection with Erick Rowan aka Erick Redbeard, who made a brief appearance for AEW following Lee's passing. In a recent interview on "Insight," he explained how important the final six months of Lee's career in the ring were to the man behind the character. 

"We talked a lot when he was doing it and I was like, 'I'm so happy for you, it looks like you're having a blast.' He was never given much promo time in WWE so to watch him do the BTE episodes, I would watch that just to watch his segments because he's having fun and he's speaking and he's being this character he wanted to be," Rowan said. "He had this spark under him about how much fun he was having. He was building something for him and we had fought so hard to get out of each other's shadows for so long because we were always connected ... those were great conversations to have."

Rowan — who made a couple of other sporadic appearances with AEW in 2022 — was rumored to join Dark Order following Lee's passing but admitted he turned down the potential move as it was his partner's legacy, and instead opted to work on the independent scene. 

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Insight" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.