During the latest edition of the “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, Arn Anderson commented on working with Brodie Lee (Luke Harper) in WWE, his resurgence in AEW, and more. You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On working with Brodie Lee in WWE: “When you’re in six-mans or tags, somebody, especially on the heel side, has gotta be the flow guy to make everything work. At 6-5, 275 pounds, he’s as much a monster as Big Red or Bray Wyatt. The thing I figured out pretty quickly with him – his first goal was to make sure the babyfaces got what they needed from him. His offense was incredible, but the fact is, he took a hell of an ass whipping. In today’s mentality, not a lot of guys are willing to go out and get their ass kicked properly. It’s like, ‘I’m too big for that.’ He never felt like he was too big for anything. Just the fact that he was willing every single night – first thing he would say when he came back through the curtain was, ‘What you got?’ He was wanting criticism. That’s the kind of guys that get better. He’s just one of those rare commodities that could guy go out and wrestle a Chris Jericho, feature your stuff, and still when it’s time, rip your head off with a high boot and change gears, and everybody in that building becomes worried for Chris Jericho. That’s an art.”
On Lee’s resurgence in AEW: “Here is where he got to do what he was capable of. He came out dressed nice, and when they beat the crap out of Cody and myself and Dustin and all those guys, that was carnage. That was where you do what you’re capable of and it’s someone’s worst fears. He’s a big man in our business, and he’s a big man in any profession. But when you can move like that and he had the offense on top of that, plus he had the thought process to cheat – man, you’ve got a dangerous combination. And the fact that he was allowed to talk and express what he wanted to do and dress the way he wanted – a nice, maroon suit – he’s still got that beard, he’s still got that wild hair, and you know it’s a facade. Deep down in there, this guy is dressed to the nines, but you know there’s a monster down there. Those are the ones that really scare you. The first time in his eyes from a distance, he had those cold, steely eyes like a shark until I caught him coming through the curtain – ‘What you got, what can we fix?’ Those eyes became so soft and so caring, and what I was seeing from afar was not what I saw up close.”
On Lee’s ability to play his character despite being the opposite outside the ring: “A lot of guys will start something and they’ll dump out of it before they’re done. He had the presence of mind to stay with it and he flipped the whiskers and all that stuff. Chris Jericho is pretty close to who he really is. The Rock is really close to who he is. Austin, Flair, Hogan – all those guys really got over big time – were pretty close to that character, except for Brodie.”
On Lee driving 500 miles after a show to eat breakfast with his family: “Many nights I would come out of the building after having either their dark match on the last day of the loop or something, and I’d be walking across the parking lot. Some nights I’d be heading to SmackDown and he’d be heading to RAW or he’d be heading home. I’d go, ‘You have an early flight in the morning?’ He would go, ‘No, I’m driving.’ I would go, ‘How far is that?’ He’d say, ‘It’s about 490 [miles].’ I’d go the flight you’ve got would probably get you home in about the same time. He’d say, ‘No, if I can get the jump on it right now, I can have breakfast with the family.’ He was gonna drive 500 miles to get there two hours earlier to have breakfast. That’s who he was, and that’s what he’ll always be to me. He wasn’t being braggadocious about it, he was just rather sit in the car all night to get home two hours early to be with his family.”
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)
