#bruce mitchell

LC by The Durutti Column is Sapphic!

On December 27, the Pro Wrestling Torch ran a column by Bruce Mitchell, speculating that Brodie Lee’s death was related to COVID-19 and that AEW and Lee’s family were concealing that fact.  On the 28th, Torch editor-in-chief Wade Keller announced the removal of the column, which “did not go through the normal vetting and editing process.”  On the 29th, Keller revealed his decision to remove Mitchell from the Torch staff.

Mitchell remains defiant about the matter, apparently feeling that wrestling fans have missed the point he was making. He’s concerned the sports world (including pro wrestling) is too cavalier about pandemic safety measures, for the sake of running events and making money.  One major story about an active athlete dying from COVID would topple that house of cards.  So if Brodie had COVID-19, Mitchell believes AEW would be strongly motivated to cover it up, which would be bad.  But that “if” is where his line of reasoning falls apart.

The entire case for a cover-up is a) Brodie Lee died of a “lung issue” and b) AEW insiders managed to keep it quiet for 11 weeks.  The case against that is a) Lee’s widow expressly stated it wasn’t COVID.  Mitchell doesn’t come out and say Amanda Huber is lying, but he does suggest she and AEW have an obligation to be “forthright, whatever they are, about all the circumstances surrounding his death.”  This is the sort of thing truthers say to shift the burden of proof away from their circumstantial evidence.

The bottom line is, even if Mrs. Huber really was lying for AEW, Mitchell’s insinuation wouldn’t be enough to put a stop to it.  I suppose he thinks that merely raising the possibility will cause the truth to out, and then he’ll be vindicated.  I assume he’s willing to bet his reputation on it because he thinks he’s speaking truth to power, holding Big Sports accountable for unsafe working conditions.  I guess maybe a 30-year career muckraking in the pro wrestling industry would make a gamble like that seem feasible.  But this isn’t Vince McMahon bringing a briefcase to the police station right before the cops stop questioning Jimmy Snuka.  The simplest explanation for the secrecy surrounding Brodie’s death is that he wanted to keep his private life private, and the insiders all respected him enough to keep it from leaking.  It’s on Mitchell to prove otherwise.

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