"He was one of the ones I’d secure a seat next to" - When Randy Orton poured his heart out about his respect for ex-AEW champion 

Randy Orton is one of the most experienced and respected WWE Superstars. He is also one of the most accomplished names in the company. During his tenure with the Stamford-based promotion, he has shared the locker room with many stars including a few who have gone on to work for AEW.

One of those stars was the late Brodie Lee who worked for WWE from 2012 to 2019 under the ring name Luke Harper. During his time with the company, Brodie shared the ring with some of the best stars like Bryan Danielson and Orton. Lee and Orton feuded when the latter was involved in a storyline with The Wyatt Family. They even teamed together a few times. Their last match together was at a house show in 2017 when they joined forces against Erick Rowan and Jinder Mahal.

After leaving the WWE, Brodie Lee wrestled for AEW where he won the TNT Championship. As the leader of The Dark Order, Lee was just hitting his stride when he passed away in December 2020. Following his tragic passing, Randy Orton took to social media to pen a beautiful tribute to the man he once shared a locker room with.

“You all have heard about how much we all respected Luke [Brodie Lee fka Luke Harper], about how much we all enjoyed his presence. It is a fact. I’m telling ya, on the back of a bus, traveling and away from family for weeks in a row, he was one of the ones I’d make sure to secure a seat on that bus next to. I’m not perfect, never thought I was. Neither was he. But talking to him, and conversing about our families, as most husbands/fathers do on these trips at some point, I learned that he was near perfect when it came to how he loved his sons and his wife Amanda,” Orton had written following Lee’s untimely passing.

You can check out Randy Orton’s heartfelt throwback tribute below:

Randy Orton also spoke about their respective wives’ close friendship

The wrestling industry is like a close-knit family. The wrestlers share a unique bond due to their lifestyles. But this closeness isn’t just restricted to the wrestlers but extends to their families as well sometimes. These wrestlers’ partners oftentimes end up becoming close considering their similar lifestyles. Hence, it should come as no surprise that Brodie Lee and Randy Orton’s wives were close friends.

In the same social media post Randy Orton went on to describe how his wife had grown close to the former WWESuperstar’s wife. He even said that they were meant to be friends.

“His wife was close to my wife, and she considers Amanda one of her dear friends when it comes to the word ‘friend’ in this biz. You see, many times there are acquaintances, or co workers, or fellow talent, but with Kim and Amanda, I felt as if they had that female intuition thing going on and were meant to be friends,” Orton wrote.

Brodie Lee, unfortunately, passed away at 41 when he was doing some of his best work in All Elite Wrestling, but he has not been forgotten by the wrestling world.