.png)
Professional wrestler and Rochester native Jon Huber had passed away at 41 years of age following complications from a lung issue that was not related to the Coronavirus pandemic. His death was announced on Instagram by his wife, Amanda, late at night on Saturday, December 26, 2020.
"My heart is broken. The world saw him as the amazing Brodie Lee (fka Luke Harper) but he was my best friend, my husband, and the greatest father you would ever meet," Amanda explained. "No words can express the love I feel or how broken I am right now."
Huber had wrestled on the independent circuit from 2003 until 2012, when he signed a developmental contract with the WWE and made his television debut as Luke Harper, the "first son" of the villainous Wyatt Family stable on NXT. Following a successful 69-day run with the NXT Tag Team Championships, Harper would later disband from the stable and defeat Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship before losing to Ziggler 26 days later.
Harper would later rejoin the stable and be recognized as a SmackDown Tag Team Champion under the freebird rule when stablemates Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton defeated inaugural champions Heath Slater and Rhyno on December 4, 2016. Following a 23-day reign, Harper would regain the titles at WrestleMania 34 for a 135-day reign before losing to Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods of the New Day in a no-disqualification match on August 21, 2018.
Harper would last wrestle for the company in a 20-man battle royal at the 2019 Crown Jewel pay-per-view in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and later make his debut for All Elite Wrestling on March 18, 2020 as Mr. Brodie Lee, the leader--or "exalted one" of the villainous Dark Order stable and eventually win the TNT championship on August 22, 2020. Lee last wrestled against the inaugural champion, executive vice president Cody Rhodes, for the title in a dog-collar match on the October 7 episode of Dynamite.