Professional wrestler Jon Huber, known as Brodie Lee in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Luke Harper in the WWE, has died at the age of 41.
The former WWE tag-team champion died from lung disease unrelated to Covid-19.
Huber’s career in professional wrestling spanned almost two decades, starting on the indie circuit before he made his WWE debut in 2012.
During his seven-year tenure, he wrestled under the name Harper and won the Smackdown Tag Team championship, as well as the WWE Intercontinental Championship. He was was most known for being a part of The Wyatt Family stable.
In 2020, he signed with AEW as Lee and challenged for the AEW World Championship. During his brief time with the company, he also won the AEW TNT Championship.
His wife, Amanda Huber, took to Instagram to share the news of her husband’s death and illness.
“No words can express the love I feel or how broken I am right now. He passed surrounded by love ones after a hard fought battle with a non Covid-related lung issue," she wrote.
"The Mayo Clinic is literally the best team of doctors and nurses in the world who surrounded me with constant love."
Both AEW and WWE released statements following his death.
AEW called Huber "exceptionally respected and beloved" throughout the industry:
WWE wrote of its sadness at the news:
After Huber's death was announced, a number of members of the professional wrestling community also paid tribute on social media.
Tony Khan, chief executive of AEW, said he was “devastated by the loss” and asked fans to “please keep him in your hearts”:
WWE’s Triple H called him an “amazing talent ... better human being, husband and father”:
Stephanie McMahon, chief brand officer of WWE, also paid tribute and revealed they had “bonded over the love of our children. He was a true family man":
Fellow wrestler and executive vice president of AEW, Cody Rhodes, shared a statement on Twitter:
WWE's Bray Wyatt, who worked closely with Huber as part of The Wyatt Family, shared a statement on Instagram, calling him his best friend and writing that they "changed this whole game because we refused to do it any way but our way":
Miro, who worked with Huber in both WWE and AEW, simply wrote "only the good die young":
Chris Jericho, who also worked with Huber in WWE and AEW, pinned a tweet sharing a memory backstage together in Mexico in 2015:
Wrestler Dustin Rhodes said Huber's passing "stings" and that he will "be sorely missed" while sharing a photo of the two together:
WWE's AJ Styles wrote that he "freaking loved him":
AEW's Stu Grayson, who worked with Huber in The Dark Order stable, wrote that he was "the best, honest and kindest man I've ever known":
Former WWE wrestler Brie Bella wrote: “I’ll never forget what an amazing person, father and husband he was! Gone way too soon.”
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt
Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
The biog
Hometown: Birchgrove, Sydney Australia
Age: 59
Favourite TV series: Outlander Netflix series
Favourite place in the UAE: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque / desert / Louvre Abu Dhabi
Favourite book: Father of our Nation: Collected Quotes of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Thing you will miss most about the UAE: My friends and family, Formula 1, having Friday's off, desert adventures, and Arabic culture and people
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua Based: Dubai, UAE Number of employees: 28 Sector: Financial services Investment: $9.5m Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
