Jonathan Huber, Pro Wrestler Known as Brodie Lee and Luke Harper, Dies at 41

Obits

Huber wrestled as Lee for All Elite Wrestling and as Harper with WWE

Jon Huber as Brodie Lee AEW
From the official Brodie Lee Twitter account

Jonathan Huber, a professional wrestler with both WWE and All Elite Wrestling who was best known under his ring names Brodie Lee and Luke Harper, died Saturday from undisclosed causes. He was 41.

His death was made public by All Elite Wrestling, with whom Huber had been signed since March.

“The All Elite Wrestling family is heartbroken. In an industry filled with good people, Jon Huber was exceptionally respected and beloved in every way — a fierce and captivating talent, a thoughtful mentor and simply a very kind soul that starkly contradicted his persona as Mr. Brodie Lee,” the organization said in a statement.

“Jon’s love for his wife Amanda, and children Brodie and Nolan, was evident to all of us who were fortunate to spend time with him, and we send our love and support to his beautiful family, today and always,” the statement continued. “Jon’s popularity among his peers and influence on the wrestling word was worldwide and transcended AEW, so this loss will be felt by many for a long time.”

While his cause of death has not been made public, Wrestling News reported Saturday that Huber’s wife said in a statement on Instagram that he had recently become ill.

Born in Rochester, New York, in 1979, Huber began his career as a backyard wrestler in the late 1990s. He was signed to Rochester Pro Wrestling in 2003, where he came up with his Brodie Lee ring name as a tribute to the character Brodie Bruce, played by Jason Lee in Kevin Smith’s 1995 movie “Mallrats.”

In 2007, Huber began wrestling for Philadelphia-based wrestling promotion Chikara and for Syracuse, New York-based Squared Circle Wrestling, and the next year added Jersey All Pro Wrestling and independent matches to his résumé.

Huber signed a development deal with WWE in 2012 and began using the new ring name Luke Harper that year. Primarily associated with the Wyatt Family stable, Huber remained with WWE until December 2019. Around that time, he registered a trademark for Brodie Lee, and in March of 2020 made his debut under that name with All Elite Wrestling.

Huber’s fans and professional wrestling peers paid tribute following the announcement. See a sample below:

Ross A. Lincoln

Ross joined TheWrap as a news editor in 2017; he was previously associate editor at Deadline from 2015-2017, and before that comics editor at The Escapist, and features editor at Game Front. As a writer, in addition to TheWrap his bylines can be found at Deadline, Box Office, The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, The…

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