Tonight’s New Year’s edition of WWE SmackDown on FOX opened up with a graphic in memory of Brodie Lee (Jon Huber, aka Luke Harper), who passed away last Saturday at the age of 41 due to a non-COVID-19 lung issue.
WWE NXT, NXT UK, RAW and Main Event all opened with the same graphic for Lee this week. There were also Superstar tributes on RAW (here) and RAW Talk (here), and WWE released a video of Superstars and Producers discussing Lee in a backstage video filmed at RAW.
The Superstar tributes continued on tonight’s SmackDown as Adam Pearce, Bayley, Daniel Bryan, Otis, Cesaro, SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks, and WWE Intercontinental Champion Big E all honored the former Bludgeon Brother.
E, Banks, Bryan, Cesaro and Bayley all wore “BRODIE” armbands during their matches, the same band that Xavier Woods wore during Monday’s RAW.
Cesaro also paid tribute during the tag team match that saw he and Shinsuke Nakamura take a loss to Otis and Bryan. Cesaro used Lee’s sidewalk slam during the match, while Otis used the discus lariat to pay tribute. Pearce used Lee’s Twitter catchphrase during one of his backstage segments when he said, “You know what that means…”
Big E was close to Lee and paid tribute to his friend several times tonight. Big E wrestled a non-title singles match against King Baron Corbin and used Lee’s Gator Roll at one point. Big E also paid tribute during the tag team match that saw he and Apollo Crews defeat Corbin and Sami Zayn, by yelling out, “Yeah, yeah, yeah…”, at one point.
Big E also paid tribute to Lee during a backstage interview with Kayla Braxton. He mentioned the Toronto Maple Leafs, which was Brodie’s favorite NHL team, and delivered the following line where he name-dropped Brodie’s hometown Rochester, his wife Amanda, and his youngest son Nolan: “Kayla, I’ve had fans celebrate with me from Rome to Rochester. I’ve had little Amandas and Nolans come up to me all excitedly, from a distance, and show me so much love and affection…”
You can see a few shots from tonight’s SmackDown tributes to Brodie below:
We miss you. We love you. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/BFn4blZ2CF
— WWE (@WWE) January 2, 2021
SmackDown:1-1-21 digitals of @WWECesaro paying a tribute to Brodie Lee #RIPBrodieLee pic.twitter.com/c8BXSNL8eP
— Wrestling Unique (@WrestlingUnique) January 2, 2021
*tips hat*
We see what you did there, @WWEBigE. pic.twitter.com/zW08Vh2vBL
— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) January 2, 2021
Training with @WWEGable continues to pay off for @otiswwe!
DISCUS CLOTHESLINE + THE CATERPILLAR!#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/9nQ00ove5Q
— WWE (@WWE) January 2, 2021
DB and Cesaro wearing Brodie Lee wrist bands on #SmackDown. pic.twitter.com/mtD5tvBv6a
— 🆒EIDOSCOPE ANG (@coolangnakulang) January 2, 2021
#SmackDown Women's Champion @SashaBanksWWE has encountered an obstacle in this tag team match… a negative one! pic.twitter.com/9lqE7jV4Om
— WWE (@WWE) January 2, 2021
Y qué les pareció Sasha Banks haciéndole tributo al gran #BrodieLee #SmackDown#wwe#wwesmackdown pic.twitter.com/WA7NM4nzwO
— Lucha Libre Ahora (@luchalibreahora) January 2, 2021
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