After posting a column trying to connect COVID-19 to the death of Jon “Brodie Lee” Huber when it was revealed that COVID was not the cause of his death, Pro Wrestling Torch revealed that it launched professional wrestling writer Bruce Mitchell after 30 years with the company.
In a statement, Torch founder Wade Keller revealed that Mitchell’s column “did not go through the normal verification and editing process” and, after discussing the matter, the column was deleted and Keller later announced that Mitchell was fired and he apologized to Huber’s family.
Huber died on Saturday at the age of 41. AEW fighter known as Brodie Lee and former WWE Luke Harper, Huber’s hospitalization was kept secret from the public until his death, when his wife Amanda revealed on Instagram that Jon had an “uphill battle with an unrelated lung problem. to COVID. “
Mitchell’s column tried to suggest a potential cover-up and hinted that COVID-19 had a role to play, citing AEW’s recent past of trying to hide injuries. The greatest example was Matt Hardy falling from a scissor lift and mainly hitting the concrete with his head and back and deciding to continue the fight in an abbreviated way. Publicly, AEW and Hardy revealed that, although he suffered injuries, Hardy did not suffer a concussion because of the fall, but many doubted it for one reason or another. In addition, WWE banned the words “coronavirus” and “COVID-19” in its programs and disapproved of anyone in WWE who publicly revealed whether the test was positive, even if these are things that AEW did not do during the pandemic.
Not to defend anything Mitchell wrote, but given the background of pro wrestling, it’s not the worst idea in general to ask questions to get to the truth when something tragic happens within the industry. Whether to prevent the stories from being spoiled or simply because they can, the professional wrestling industry (especially WWE) is not exactly honest with the general public, so the confidence in them to tell the truth when a tragedy happens is quite low . For example, when Owen Hart fell to his death on a WWE pay-per-view, WWE would not offer the fact that the quick release carabiner, which they deemed necessary due to concerns that it took too long for Owen to take out the belt before a match, was unable to hold Hart’s weight and broke while he was in the air and falling to his death in front of a crowded arena. There is a good chance if it weren’t for Owen’s wife, Martha, investigating the tragedy and suing WWE, many would have assumed it was simply a tragic accident and not because WWE was negligent.
When a beloved public figure dies suddenly at such a young age in any industry, questions will be asked about what happened. The point in this scenario is that Mitchell seemed to take freedom from what he wrote and bypassed the editorial process when it was not for an article as serious and controversial as this one, and these are massive ethical violations.
Mitchell posted his article less than 24 hours after Huber’s death, when the only thing anyone publicly knew was that it was a “lung problem unrelated to COVID,” as Amanda said. But that didn’t stop Mitchell from trying to make the COVID connection when, in addition to being specifically not the case, there wouldn’t be much reason for Amanda to lie about it. If it is COVID, it is COVID; if it is not, it is not. Perhaps in some wild hypothetical scenario, AEW might have a reason to lie (not saying they did) if they feared that an outbreak would result in the death of one of his fighters, but considering that it is now known that Huber fell ill weeks after he left the hospital. TV for a planned hiatus in the plot and he had tested negative for COVID-19 before and during his hospitalization, which eliminates any motivation to lie about Huber’s condition besides respecting the family’s wishes.
It is possible that someone develops a lung problem and has nothing to do with COVID. And it is also entirely possible that, in order to keep the Huber family’s wishes to keep things as private as possible, Jon’s condition was kept secret and has nothing to do with a cover-up. While those in the professional wrestling media industry sometimes need to ask the tough questions and be some kind of industry watchdog to make sure things are right, Mitchell’s article looks more like a conspiracy theory that was making a lot of assumptions in order to fit the point he wanted to make. It was posted very early due to a lack of information at the time and Mitchell chose the wrong time to try to make a connection to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because every step taken by the AEW and Huber family, and the reasoning behind keeping things private for the past two months, is totally realistic. Not to mention that when it comes to COVID, the AEW fighters may not have been perfect at avoiding large crowds and protecting themselves against the possible hiring of COVID-19, but the company has taken precautions for some of the older members of the company and they seem having been somewhat transparent when it comes to fighters who tested positive or were exposed and ensuring that they are quarantined for the appropriate period of time. Even if it means massive rewriting of your programs.
Professional wrestling and professional wrestling media have not had the best relationship over the years. An industry that is shrouded in secrecy, many in professional wrestling do not have a positive view of the professional wrestling media because it is as if they are trying to reveal secrets that people are trying to keep hidden. That and the quality of the news within the wrestling media industry varies widely and you can never be sure whether a news story is really true or not. What Bruce Mitchell posted last weekend is not going to help improve this relationship and potentially damage a relationship between the professional wrestling media industry and AEW, a company that has been striving to embrace independent media inside and outside the professional wrestling.
AEW will have a Jon Huber tribute program at Dynamite this Wednesday night at TNT. Each fight will consist of a member of the Order of Darkness, where Huber was “The Exalted”, while Huber’s 8-year-old son, Brodie Jr., will see his favorite fighters (Cody Rhodes, Orange Cassidy and 10) take on Team Taz.
[Pro Wrestling Torch/Photo: GreensboroSports via YouTube]