AEW star reveals Brodie Lee called him his "White Knight" backstage, personally spoke to Tony Khan and got him signed

AEW and the entire wrestling world suffered a massive loss on December 26, 2020, as Jonathan Huber tragically passed at the age of 41. Known as Brodie Lee in All Elite Wrestling, the highly-regarded grappler left his mark industry-wide, both on-screen and behind-the-scenes. Now, a familiar face is opening up about their relationship.

The Exalted One is credited with giving another wrestler his big shot. Preston Vance aggressively branched out as a member of La Facción Ingobernable, but he got his first real push with The Dark Order. Vance debuted on January 1, 2020, at AEW Dark tapings in Jacksonville and went to work for a couple of Dark matches before debuting as stable's masked Ten in a Dynamite vignette on April 22, 2020. After Brodie's tragic passing, he stayed with the faction but turned heel in late 2022 to join Rush.

The Dangerous Dog recently opened up on how close he was with the former Luke Harper of WWE, revealing how Brodie went to QT Marshall, Cody Rhodes, and Tony Khan to get him signed with the Jacksonville-based company. Speaking to The Irish Wrestling Podcast on Bodyslam, Vance described the backstage atmosphere at his first AEW Dark tapings as awesome. He recalled his first interaction with the former Bludgeon Brother.

"The next tapings were in Atlanta at QT's school, where we filmed like six weeks of TV in two days, and that's where I had met Brodie. So Brodie walks in, and I'm like, 'This is awesome,' because I was a big fan of The Wyatt Family. So, Brodie walks in and we instantly just clicked," Preston Vance said. [From 7:59 to 8:22]

Preston Vance continued by describing how Brodie had talked to Tony Khan about giving him a job. The former MFPW Heavyweight Champion also revealed how Lee referred to him as his "White Knight" behind the scenes.

"So we really clicked. Then he went to Cody and QT [Marshall], and was like, 'Hey, does this guy have a thing with WWE coming up?' and they said no. He's like, 'Why isn't he signed?' and they didn't know. So Brodie went to Tony, and was like, 'Put him with me, I'll take him under my wing, backstage and on-screen, kind of like my 'White Knight,' that's what he'd always call me. So, that's how I got signed at AEW," Preston Vance said. [From 8:23 to 8:49]

Vance split from Rush last fall and has not wrestled in the AEW ring since his loss to his former faction leader on the August 10, 2024, edition of Collision. Since then, Vance has worked nine ROH matches.

Updated lineup for this week's AEW Dynamite

This week's AEW Dynamite will air live from Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, CA. Below is the updated lineup:

MJF will appear live
Adam Page will be in action
Deonna Purrazzo vs. Harley Cameron
International Championship: Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs. Orange Cassidy
Bounty Match: Will Ospreay vs. Bryan Keith
FTR and Daniel Garcia vs. Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, and Roderick Strong

The next round of lucha libre matches will also be taped by AEW and ROH tomorrow night to air on HonorClub. ROH Women's World Champion Athena will defend against La Catalina, and trios action will see Gran Guerrero, Euforia, and Valiente vs. Blue Panther, Dark Panther, and Blue Panther Jr.