Before Lee held on to the TNT title for AEW, he was a constant snub for WWE Championships as Luke Harper. The year 2017 was difficult for Harper because that was when he made the most noise on Smackdown Live and should’ve been WWE Champion that year. They had the perfect setup, make the match a Triple Threat against Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt and have Harper pick up the win. Triple Threats are the best way to protect other wrestlers’ image and give surprising wins. It probably wouldn’t have been a record-setting run, but it was what the fans wanted at the time.

Moving over to AEW was, sadly, Lee’s final destination.  He was taken from us too early, and we never got to see his full potential. People rave about his character and his hilarious promos mocking his former boss Vince McMahon, but honestly, I’d rather see the guy wrestle high-profile matches. Lee lost to Jon Moxley for the AEW Championship but then beat Cody Rhodes to hold the TNT Championship. After seriously injuring Cody, Lee went on to wrestle 3 matches. Tag match, a match with Dustin Rhodes, and a match against Orange Cassidy. And then, when Cody was done filming a talent show, he came back and easily beat Lee. Sadly, Lee died a few months after that match.

Lee/Harper never had “It,” which is something that can’t be logically explained, but you know it when you see it. Braun Strowman was also paired with Lee, Wyatt, and Erik Rowan but went on to hold championship gold and wrestle high-profile matches and feuds with top-tier wrestlers while Lee was there to fill up time slots.

Lee was never Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, John Cena, AJ Styles, or Randy Orton, but he was someone who could lead the mid-card division, and there’s no shame in that. The Miz might be the greatest mid-card champion of all time and can easily make a show great with his presence. The WWE and AEW never really believed in Lee. Smackdown Live’s slogan was “The Land of Opportunity,” and AEW’s business model is to give everyone a chance to shine. Sadly, Lee didn’t shine as brightly as Cody did and never got a chance to live up to his full potential.

What do you think? Was Lee properly used? And what dream matches would we have wanted to see?

World War Joe