Jon Huber was the best of us. He was one of us.
If you're reading this, you're probably a wrestling fan. So was Jon Huber, and it would show in every time we saw him, an undying urge to work, improve, learn, and teach.
I had very limited interaction with Jon Huber. We spoke about MMA, his children, "the next step" after leaving WWE, and he joked with me "just listen to every single thing I say and you'll learn some shit about wrestling." I didn't have the good fortune of knowing him well, but I had the good fortune of witnessing him create art in a form in which we both loved. He provided the wrestling world with countless memories that we'll always cherish.
The outpouring of positive memories, thoughts and wishes is reflective of his real-life personality. Though his on-screen persona didn't show it, that was the beauty of his ability as a performer, as an artist. He had the range to make you think he was demented, deranged, obsessive, aggressive, and delusional. By all indications, that portrayal couldn't be further from the true man.
We've been lucky enough to see Huber ply his trade on a variety of platforms, and watched those special moments unfold. It's heartbreaking to know that the family that he loved so much has decades fewer of those memories than they deserved.
Over the past day, we've heard stories of Huber's kindness, hilarious personality, funny ribs, tough love. Stories of people who were able to work with him. When Huber parted ways with WWE, there was a seemingly unanimous excitement even among his co-workers there that a creator was going to have a new opportunity to create. Huber, again known as Brodie Lee, was given a blank canvas and painted us a masterpiece in 2020 that so many of us will cherish. His accomplishments in the ring seemed to be matched only by that as a family man.
His new co-workers respected and adored his family too, per the reactions that have been filtering in. Respecting the family's wishes, they helped create special moments for his children, and kept Huber's condition quiet ahead of the shocking news of Saturday. In the span of only seven months on screen, "Mr. Brodie Lee" had a memorable debut, a PPV world title match, a shocking TNT title victory, and a huge championship match on cable TV -- all of this in addition to him revamping the image of a group that had struggled to gain footing in the Dark Order. He also broke out on Being The Elite, finally able to show his comedic timing and skills. On a summer Saturday, I witnessed one of the year's best show closing moments in seeing him rip the TNT Championship from the grips of Cody Rhodes in dominant fashion.
All of this was after we were treated to debuts, championship wins, returns, reunitings, and classic matches throughout 7 years in WWE, and almost a decade on the indie circuit. Bless technology, as so many of these moments are captured forever more, and we'll have the ability to refer to him when glowing about him from a performer standpoint.
Jon Huber was an artist, and one of the best I've ever seen. He was taken far too soon, but here's to hoping we remember him for what so many are lamenting. He was a good person.
