Jim Ross discussed his favorite memories of Brodie Lee during a recent edition of Grilling JR.
“My biggest memory, my biggest takeaway from my relationship with Brodie was that he was so thankful to finally get this opportunity in AEW to mold his own character and his own mindset. That’s one of the great things about our company. Tony Khan listens to everybody’s ideas, and if you’re a talent and you have an idea of how to get yourself over and how to best be presented from a TV persona aspect, then you go for it. I think [Brodie] was just so relieved that finally he was getting a chance to explore his own creativity. For a lack of a better term, he could steer his own ship. That’s what I found to be extremely positive about him. He wasn’t bitter about the past, he was more focused on looking forward to the future.
“I don’t think we ever had a conversation that he didn’t talk about his family in glowing terms. The most prominent family man I think I may have ever met in wrestling. He had so many good traits, and he loved Bruiser Brody. That was his role model. We told stories about that because I knew Brody when he started his career in the early 70s when he and Stan Hansen were a tag team……you can’t be this popular if you’ve got a reputation for not being a good person. He was certainly a good person. I loved being around him, and his positivity was great. But finally, the great thing about it for me, again, was he’s 40 years old and he was starting over and excited about that. The match he had with Cody – the Dog Collar Match – was a hell of a match. One of the best matches we’ve ever had on the show. All good vibes with him. Always smiling, funny guy, great sense of humor. It’s a sad, sad time for all of us. He impacted so many on our roster that it kind of went off the radar. He’ll be very missed.”
H/T to 411 Mania
