At the tail end of 2020, wrestling fans were hit with the news that Brodie Lee had passed away. Very few outside of Lee's closest family and friends even knew he was ill, hence the news that he was no longer with us coming as such a shock. Lee battled with a lung condition for a number of months, passing away on December 26, 2020. Shortly after he died, AEW held a tribute show for him, even though Lee hadn't even been with the company for a year at that point.
Dubbed the Brodie Lee Celebration of Life, the show took place in Daily's Place. Lee's wife and children were a big part of the show, with the TNT Title being awarded to Brodie Jr. at the end of the show. Every match featured members of The Dark Order, and for one night only, everything in AEW, whether it be angles or the new year show that was originally planned, was put on hold.
Keeping Lee's Illness A Secret
The show will forever go down as one of the most memorable not only in AEW but all of wrestling history. Although WWE has put on tribute shows in the past, this one felt like a step above. A company coming together and paying tribute to one of their own in a way that Lee probably would have loved. It clearly had a big effect on those outside of AEW at the time too, as was shared on social media at the time and has been built on since.
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After CM Punk made his debut for AEW, he fielded questions from the media. Punk revealed that he had been speaking with Tony Khan for more than 18 months and that he effectively knew he'd be All Elite at some point in early 2020. Since neither party wanted Punk to debut in an empty building, his triumphant return to wrestling was put on hold. During that time, Lee passed away, and Punk got to experience AEW's tribute to him like the rest of us, as a fan.
Punk revealed during the aforementioned post-show scrum that the news of Lee's illness not leaking convinced him that the business had changed, and AEW was the reason why. That the locker room knew about Lee and it didn't make it into the press until he had passed away and his family was ready to share the news was a miracle. Punk said that would never have happened in the past, and as soon as the news got out backstage it would have been all over the internet.
Convincing Danielson To Become All Elite
While the AEW wheels were already in motion for Punk when Lee passed away, that wasn't the case for Bryan Danielson. However, the former WWE Champion has also revealed that Lee's Celebration of Life was what got him thinking that he wanted to sign with AEW. Danielson said that seeing everyone in the company stop what they were doing to honor and remember someone he and so many others in WWE loved so much really moved him. A pivotal moment in Danielson's career that convinced him he needed to sign with AEW.
While there isn't a single person out there who wouldn't want Lee back if given the option, it's really telling to see and hear how those outside of AEW were affected by his passing and the way the company reacted to it. That someone with a damaged relationship with the business was convinced a corner of it had healed, or that someone under WWE's employ at the time was persuaded that AEW was the place to be. Even though the loss of Lee will be one the wrestling business might never shake, it's heartwarming to know he continues to have a positive effect on the industry.
Fans are being reminded right now that wrestling has an incredibly dark past. Whether it's the resurfacing of acts that were buried or shrugged off years ago or new revelations that weren't out there before. At times like this, it's nice to be reminded that even though wrestling has a dark past, it might have a bright future. It's early days yet, but you'll be hard-pushed to find anyone with a bad word to say about the AEW locker room right now. There will undoubtedly be issues and perhaps even troublemakers in the future, but it sounds like anyone who poses a risk to the harmony the company has backstage will be dealt with and perhaps even removed from the equation pretty quickly. Staying classy and keeping that harmony will be key to AEW's future success as it continues to change the business for the better.