Luke Harper
Jon Huber (December 16, 1979 – December 26, 2020), better known by his ring name Luke Harper, was an American professional wrestler. In WWE he was a one-time WWE Intercontinental Champion and a three-time Tag Team Champion.
| Luke Harper | |
|---|---|
 Harper at a live event on April 17, 2015 | |
| Born | December 16, 1979 Rochester, New York |
| Died | December 26, 2020 (aged 41) Jacksonville, Florida |
| Cause of death | Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Brodie Lee[1] Harper[2] Huberboy #2[3] Jon Huber[4] Luke Harper[2] Mr. Brodie Lee[5] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Billed weight | 275 lb (125 kg) |
| Trained by | Kirby Marcos Rik Matrix Tony Mamaluke |
| Debut | October 7, 2003 |
Huber also wrestled under the ring name Brodie Lee, working for promotions such as All Elite Wrestling, Alpha-1 Wrestling, Chikara, Combat Zone Wrestling, Dragon Gate USA, Jersey All Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor. He was born in Rochester, New York.
Career
On March 12, 2012, it was reported that Huber had signed a developmental contract with WWE. He made his debut for WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) at a house show on May 18, working under the new ring name Luke Harper. When FCW changed its name to NXT Wrestling, he debuted on the December 12, 2012 episode of NXT as a follower of Bray Wyatt, who introduced Rowan as his "first son".
Erick Rowan was later introduced as Wyatt's "second son" and Harper started to team with Rowan. They defeated Percy Watson and Yoshi Tatsu on the January 9, 2013 episode of NXT and defeated them again on the January 23 episode of NXT in the first round of the NXT Tag Team Championship tournament. Harper and Rowan defeated Bo Dallas and Michael McGillicutty in the semi-finals but were defeated in the finals by Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey. Harper and Rowan won a triple threat elimination tag match on the May 2 episode of NXT and defeated Neville and Bo Dallas who replaced the injured Grey, on the May 8 NXT (taped on May 2) to win the tag titles.[6] On June 20, they lost the NXT Tag Team Championship to Adrian Neville and Corey Graves.[7]
In 2013, scary videos played on Raw to promote the upcoming debut of the Wyatt Family and they debuted on the July 8 episode of Raw when they attacked Kane.[8] He made his WWE in-ring debut in a tag team match on the July 26 episode of SmackDown, where he and Rowan defeated Tons of Funk (Brodus Clay and Tensai).[9] Harper and Rowan defeated many teams for a couple months but suffered their first loss on the October 11 episode of SmackDown from Cody Rhodes and Goldust.[10]
On the September 29, 2014 episode of Raw, a video played where Wyatt set Harper free, saying that he fixed him and gave him a reason to exist.[11] On the November 10 episode of Raw, Harper made his TV return, throwing an unconscious Dolph Ziggler at Triple H and Stephanie McMahon's feet, and expressed his desire to join their team at Survivor Series against John Cena's team.[12]
On the November 17 episode of Raw, he joined Team Authority and was immediately given a match for the Intercontinental Championship against Dolph Ziggler. Harper would win the match and his first singles championship in the WWE.[13] Harper lost the title back to Ziggler in a ladder match at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, ending his reign at 27 days.
Death
Huber died on December 26, 2020 from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, ten days after his 41st birthday.[14][15] He was hospitalized for non-COVID-related lung problems in Jacksonville, Florida.[16][17]
Championships
- Alpha-1 Wrestling
- A1 Zero Gravity Championship (1 time)[18]
- All Elite Wrestling
- Jersey All Pro Wrestling
- Next Era Wrestling
- NEW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[28]
- NWA Empire
- NWA Mississippi
- NWA Southern Television Championship (1 time)[31]
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Rochester Pro Wrestling/NWA Upstate/NWA New York
- Squared Circle Wrestling
- World of Hurt Wrestling
- WOHW United States Championship (3 times)[44]
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Best Gimmick (2013) – as part of The Wyatt Family[45]
- WWE
- WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)[46][47][48]
- WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (2 times)[49] – with Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton (1)[a] and Rowan (1)[50]
- NXT Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Erick Rowan[51]
- Slammy Award (1 time)
- Match of the Year (2014) Team Cena vs. Team Authority at Survivor Series[52][53]
Notes
References
Other websites
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