When Brodie Lee arrived in AEW in March, he effectively saved a group and a gimmick that was stuck in the mud.
Lee's reveal as The Exalted One and leader of the Dark Order gave the group extra lasting power and ultimately took them to new heights. Perhaps no one benefitted more from Lee's arrival than John Silver, who became the breakout star of the group as part of Being The Elite.
Silver and Alex Reynolds had been AEW staples throughout 2020, but weren't signed to full-time deals until July. It was Brodie who helped push for them to be signed.
"He just went out of his way to help," Silver told Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated. "I won?t forget that, or what he shared with me. Brodie could have taken The Dark Order in any direction he wanted. But all he wanted to do was help us. A lot of people don?t know this, but after that match, Brodie was the one backstage telling everyone that the match was great and that we needed full-time deals, which we ended up signing. That?s just one example. There were so many other little ways he constantly went out of his way to help us. Brodie was an amazing person. I can?t picture him not being here."
Tony Khan revealed on Twitter that he wanted to make Brodie and Silver the new Raven and Stevie Richards due to their on-screen chemistry and dynamic.
Silver said about the compliment, ?Someone tagged me in that video on Twitter, and watching it has just made me cry. Tony Khan had this idea for us to be like Raven and Stevie Richards. So we had those moments where I?d say he was great and then he?d hit me, or he?d ask me to hold up his belt and then he?d knock me off the apron. Thinking about it just makes me so emotional. I never want there to be another ?Exalted One.?"
Silver is set to team with Hangman Page and Alex Reynolds on Wednesday's AEW Dynamite, which will serve as a tribute show for Brodie Lee. You can view the full lineup for the show by clicking here.
Fightful will have live coverage of AEW Dynamite beginning at 8 p.m. ET.