Brodie Lee Opens Up About Trying To "Pick Up The Pieces" With The New Dark Order

"The Exalted One" Brodie Lee of The Dark Order stopped by on The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast with Wrestling Inc.'s Nick Hausman to discuss his situation post-WWE and relating that to The Dark Order's place in AEW. Lee felt that it was a perfect match for him to debut in AEW as The Exalted One and leader of The Dark Order.

"Last December, they've kind of, as a unit, lost their their track, kind of got way off of what they were intended to be," Lee recalled. "At the same time, in December, I was home sitting in prison, just got released from WWE [and] not knowing what my next move is going to be. So we kind of were both down and out at the same time, and I saw it as an opportunity for me to jump into AEW and put myself right near the top but also to have a pretty great backing too."

Lee spoke on how different The Dark Order has become since he took over as leader. While Lee will not be defending his TNT Championship at All Out on Sep. 5, The Dark Order will hope to re-establish themselves on a big stage in their eight-man tag match against Scorpio Sky, Matt Cardona and The Natural Nightmares.

"That's basically the thing, since I've come in, I've been of the belief that I was here to pick up The Dark Order, to make it an entity of a different feel, a different vibe [and] a different output, and now that we've struck gold for lack of a better term, we can't take a step backwards now," Lee said. "So in an eight-man match, it's impossible. If we don't go in there and show what exactly the new Order is, then we're taking a step back and that is detrimental to me and to my success."

Lee praised his Dark Order members noting that he has a close connection with many of it's members. He also highlighted Anna Jay as someone that can be a homegrown star for AEW in the future.

"I've known Stu and [Evil] Uno for the better part of I want to say 16 or 17 years," Lee revealed. "I know the people that trained [John] Silver and [Alex] Reynolds, and they speak very highly of them. 5 (Alan Angels) and 10 (Preston Vance) and Anna Jay were students that I had seen and saw something in. I think Anna Jay is an absolute star and going to be a homegrown star for AEW for years to come. We're pretty much set up."

On his upcoming match-up, Lee discussed Cardona's change since being released by WWE. He noted how formidable his opponents at All Out will be, but he reiterates that the new Dark Order will have to show up and show themselves.

"That's a scary prospect to me because I know exactly how he feels. I know exactly what's going through his head right now," Lee pointed out. "He looks in absolute phenomenal shape. Matt Cardona's a scary prospect right now, and that's something we really have to deal with. Dustin Rhodes, always a scary prospect, and he's now he's coming to get me because I've wronged him in his head because I disrupted his brother's career, beside the point.

"There's some very big problems on that other side, and we have already begun to discuss that, but to me, Matt Cardona, Scorpio Sky, QT Marshall and Dustin Rhodes as a unit, very formidable. It's a challenge, and again, we have to be up to the task to show exactly what this new Dark Order is. So not only do we have to beat them, we have to beat them in a fashion that is true to Dark Order."

Lee also showed admiration for Dustin Rhodes' transformation post-WWE as well. He talked about how scary it is to see that he has gotten so much better even at 51 but noted that won't stop him from holding back on his strikes.

"It's wild to me to be watching old footage of him, so man, 25-30 years ago now, and watching him now, maybe being [in] better shape, maybe be faster [and] maybe be more precise. It's terrifying to think that the man with this much experience, of this much knowledge, is physically this good still," Lee remarked. "His mind is right, and it's very scary. Nothing but respect for Dustin, but again, respect doesn't stop me from punching and kicking a man in the face when the chips are down."

Earlier in the interview, Lee made it clear that he will not maintain the open challenge that Cody had established for the TNT Championship. However, he showed respect for Sky and stated his interest in working with him for a TNT Title match.

"We were waiting in the room with the camera crew waiting to honestly speak to whoever won the match. I had my sights on Cody only because he had taken it to my guys a week earlier," Lee noted. "What if this guy were to win that match? I got plenty to say to him too, and then again, looking into his eyes last week, with just the ring between us, there was something there that I didn't really feel easy about when he stared at me. But again, I'm not saying I have an open challenge, but once things settle down and Scorpio Sky his shot, I'd very much like to work against him."

Brodie Lee and The Dark Order take on Matt Cardona, Scorpio Sky and The Natural Nightmares this Saturday at AEW All Out on PPV. Lee's full interview aired as part of a recent episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.