Brodie Lee/Luke Harper

[Dylan Waco]

Discuss Here.

[concrete1992]

The more I think about it the less likely it is that The Big Rig gets left off my ballot. Admittedly he is going to benefit some from being the focal point for my local promotion for a few years and creating a genuine aura in 2CW.

 

In WWE I think he has been a victim of a lack of opportunity. Even then he has tended to come across as one of the top handful of wrestlers in the promotion having stellar performances on C-shows.

 

Lee/Harper is also one of the best short match workers in the 21st century possibly? At least in America where in WWE he's knocked it out in that department and on the indies he was doing that as well. In an environment where longer was usually viewed as better he was knocking it out of the park in under 15. Lee has an absolutely lovely match with Jon Moxley from EVOLVE that is like 6-8 minutes and a totally bonkers match.

[Dylan Waco]

Huge fan of him, and hadn't really considered him, but he does have some strong points in his favor.

 

For starters I think he is one of the top two or three bases in the world which is something that I think is increasingly important. He's just excellent at being a human balance beam for flyers and getting over their offense to boot.

 

Another micro plus - he works stiff and has varied offense. At this core Harper is a brawler, but he's got a ton of tricks up his sleeve. I am a huge mark for guys who have multiple ways of putting you away or getting credible near falls, and while Harper isn't Sheamus level in that regard, he's got a lot in the holster for a guy who is never pushed hard.

 

Both is indie run and WWE run are really, really underrated. In the case of the indies he's a guy who is a victim of two things. First he was on that scene when it was really deep with "name" talent that he was never going to be seen as on the level of, no matter what he did between the bells. Secondly, he seemed to peak right before he got signed. I always thought he was good, but he hit another level in the 10 months or so before inking his deal and he had a GREAT run in the closing months. I remember having him insanely high in my WKO100 that year (number 9 I think) based on matches he was having in 2CW, but also bouts v. guys like Tatanka and Danny Doring that were legitimately really good. In a weird way I think another year on the indies would have given him a bigger rep as a "great" indie worker, even though he was already someone with a lot of fans when he was signed.

 

In the WWE he's been tremendous really, but he's just been completely lost in the shuffle. For my money he was the best guy in the best match of the year last year (the EC Shield v. Wyatts tag), and was also awesome teaming with Rowan after the Shield v. Wyatts feud fell apart. In fact Harper had great matches in trios, tags and singles last year, and was legitimately one of the best guys in the World. For a while this year he took over the mantle of the best t.v. match and B-Show worker in the promotion, which seems like a minor positive, but this is a company that produces a lot of t.v. and has had some really strong stuff on B-Show's in recent years. Aside from Cesaro and maybe Sheamus there probably isn't anyone in the company over the last two years who has as many good matches against as many different opponents in as many different settings in terms of card placement, shows, style of match, et.

 

I actually think Cesaro kind of curses Harper in the sense that if Cesaro isn't around - or better yet was getting a push - Harper would be the obvious unsung big guy, with indie cred, a unique look, and incredible skills, who isn't being used to his full potential. As it stands he's even second tier in that regard which makes him feel almost wholly irrelevant. It's a shame because he's really fucking great, and I don't see him as an outlandish lower end pick for this project at all.

[concrete1992]

Not that it is probably entirely relevant to most here but in a promotion where the main draw was ex-WWE attractions more often than not, Brodie Lee was consistently one of the most over acts in the company.

[InYourCase]

I think the way Sam feels about Brodie is the same way I feel about Mark Briscoe. Great worker, even better when you watch him live more than once. I don't see Brodie making my list, but 10 years from now, that certainy isn't out of the question. I think I've seen most of his pimped indie work away from 2CW and most of his Chikky stuff, so if there's anything online that I HAVE to see, send it my way.

[concrete1992]

Though the reason that seeing Brodie live, specifically in a promotion that treated him like a big deal, is probably a lot different than why you think Mark Briscoe is even better live.

[El Dragon]

Well, this is a bummer of a write up that’s next on the docket.

Brodie Lee’s untimely passing really sucks for a few reasons, the largest obviously being by all accounts he was a good man that nobody has a bad thing to say about. But, this is a discussion about a case for a Top 100 all time, and I think Brodie had the chances to get there, but his death might lead to a general feeling of “There just isn’t enough” to his case. And even though I think he was awfully damn good at his peak, it’s gonna be hard for me to disagree.

But, let’s talk about what made him awesome first.

Brodie’s run as the Big Rig on the indies was always really impressive to me, and, as a bit CHIKARA fan at the time, I got to see a lot of the development first hand. A couple of things jump out at me from that era, as huge pluses for Brodie, and that’s everything he throws out looks great, and the dude was a fantastic base. Not quite at the Claudio level, but possibly second best of any US based wrestler this century. He didn’t fall into the trap so many of modern “big” guys did, where they focus on what they can do (flips or super athletic spots) and instead focus on what someone there size should do (great looking strikes, and using your athleticism intelligently to maximize your moments to show them off). That said, I honestly think his size limited him on the indies. Nobody was willing to go all with him as a dominant champion heel monster, which is a role I think he’d have thrived. It led to him working a bunch of 50/50 stuff which he was good at, but did feel it was him somewhat limited.

So, then phase 2 of his career starts in the E, which can be described as “when given an opportunity he is clearly great, but he’s just never given enough god damned opportunity.” Great performances as a Wyatt member, probably the best guy in the match for the first Shield/Wyatt Six Man, his singles runs were always really good then immediately cut off at the knees because he wasn’t once of Vince’s guys, and it was a frustrating my time as a Brodie fan and for Brodie personally. He still clearly added to his case in this era, as he was still clearly really good, but it once more felt like a missed opportunity. 
 

And then we have the move to AEW, we’re it feels largely like thinks click into place. He’s given a push at the forefront as soon as he signs, and fits in perfectly, has some really strong in ring performances. It feels like he’s ready for that extended run that truly solidifies him as one of the best performers of his generation.

And then he dies. Fucking sucks.

Basically, I have no real negatives to say other then his case feels incomplete in a way that frustrates me. His AEW run felt like the start of the 3rd act of a movie that just ends after 5 minutes. The best comparison I can give is, try imagining a world we’re Eddie Guerrero passes away in late 03 instead of late 05. It feels like we are really missing that 2 year run that kind of cements Brodie as a worker that really locks in the type of case he has. As stated, Fucking Sucks.

 

At present, Brodie Lee Is at 81st on my list. That’s pretty firmly in my “will finish somewhere between 120-160” block of wrestlers, were it would be pretty surprising if they made my top 100, but firmly in my top 200. If I further deep dive Brodie I might be able to move him up a bit, and he should be worth deep diving for basically everyone, as man could the big guy work.

[NotJayTabb]

Really enjoying these write-up's @El Dragon, especially for guys like Brodie Lee who I've always liked, but haven't thought much about in the context of this project. I'm already planning a CHIKARA deeper dive for Kingston, Hallowicked, Hero, Claudio and (sigh) Quackenbush, but this now has me excited for Brodie there too.