AEW: Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts and Brodie Lee are a match made in heaven
Expected to debut any day now, Brodie Lee being revealed as Jake “The Snake” Roberts’ mystery client would be the best way for him to be introduced on AEW TV.
Jake “The Snake” Roberts’ confrontation with Cody on the Mar. 4 edition of AEW Dynamite threw everyone for a loop, but even more surprising was his tease of having a client.
Fans immediately started to speculate who his mysterious protege could be with names such as Lance Archer and Matt Hardy being among the most popular choices. Archer is already signed by AEW and is expected to debut on television any day now, while Hardy is rumored to be coming in sooner rather than later.
However, no one makes more sense for that spot than Brodie Lee, f.k.a. WWE’s Luke Harper.
After initially requesting his release from WWE in April 2019, Lee’s request was finally granted on December 8th. His 90-day no-compete clause supposedly ran out on Sunday, Mar. 8, meaning he’s now officially free to appear anywhere he wants, including AEW if that’s what he has in mind.
Even while Lee was with WWE, fans figured he would be best suited for AEW given his aura and in-ring style.
There can be no doubt that he was vastly underutilized during his lengthy stint in WWE. Aside from a criminally short Intercontinental Championship run in late 2014, he was largely relegated to the tag team ranks, and although he was a perfect fit for The Wyatt Family, the company clearly never saw him as anything special on his own.
Lee’s likely AEW debut couldn’t come at a more appropriate time. As star-studded as their roster already is, AEW could benefit from bringing in more agile giants and, of course, Lee fits that bill.
Although he wasn’t afforded many opportunities as a singles star in WWE, at least he was able to showcase his skills in several standout matches with The Shield, Dolph Ziggler and Randy Orton over the years. Fans recognized his talent between the ropes and knew he’d break out somewhere eventually.
It should be noted that Lee didn’t cut many lengthy promos as Luke Harper, so the jury is still out on how well he can talk. A mouthpiece such as Jake Roberts would be huge for him assuming there was a reason why he stayed silent for most of his WWE tenure.
If his quick interaction with Cody last week was any indication, Roberts is still among the very best promos in the business. That last line about how you should never turn your back on those respect, only for Roberts to walk away with his back turned to Cody, was pure brilliance.
He left viewers wanting more and wondering who his client could be.
Archer proved with his run in New Japan Pro-Wrestling that he is very capable of speaking for himself. Furthermore, Hardy would be a logical leader of The Dark Order as The Exalted One or doing something else entirely not involving the WWE Hall of Famer.
Lee and Roberts, on the other hand, would be a match made in heaven.
Unless Lee becomes a regular on AEW Dark or joins The Dark Order (which would be no different than putting him back in The Wyatt Family), he must be positioned as a big deal from the get-go. Being associated with a legend like Jake “The Snake” Roberts would accomplish that.
AEW has done an excellent job of utilizing names from the past the right way. They realize that there’s still value in having managers around. Roberts doesn’t have a ton of experience in that role, but there’s no reason to think he wouldn’t thrive as an advocate for Lee.
Not only should Lee be revealed as Roberts’ client on an upcoming episode of Dynamite (specifically on the March 18th episode emanating from Lee’s hometown of Rochester, NY), his first feud as a member of the roster should be with Cody.
Interesting from Cody on @LukeHarperWWE...
— Alex McCarthy (@AlexMcCarthy88) December 17, 2019
"He would be great as part of AEW. He's a name that when you hear they've asked for their release, you definitely think about that and the next steps, for sure. I think he's going to flourish with what he does next, he's very special."
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Cody is coming off a loss to MJF at Revolution, and although that rivalry will culminate with Cody beating him at some point, it shouldn’t be any time soon. For now, he can help elevate Lee and establish him as credible right out of the gate.
The matches would also promise to be stellar, not to mention that more verbal exchanges between Cody and Roberts would be welcomed by fans. Beyond The American Nightmare, the possibilities are endless for the amount of exciting opponents Lee can work with in AEW.
Roberts being back on weekly wrestling programming in 2020 is an absolute win, and the knowledge and wisdom he can bestow upon Lee would be invaluable. It would be even cooler for the former Intercontinental champion to adopt the DDT (the move Roberts made famous) as a finisher for himself and condition viewers to take it seriously again.
Next. AEW and two other promotions that need the ‘Undead Bride’ Su Yung. dark
To their credit, AEW has largely been succeeded so far in listening to their audience and giving them what they want to see. Given the overwhelming positive response the idea of Jake Roberts managing Brodie Lee has already gotten from fans online, the company would be letting a lot of people down if they didn’t go in that direction.