Brodie Lee reveals what Vince McMahon told him after he requested WWE release

All Elite Wrestling's newest signee, Brodie Lee recently appeared on Chris Jericho's "Talk Is Jericho" podcast. "The Exalted One" discussed a long string of topics surrounding his WWE exit and his debut in AEW.

During the conversation, Lee talked about asking for his release from WWE on a public forum. Soon after he requested his release from the promotion, Lee received a call from Vince McMahon, and the boss made it clear to Brodie that he can't let him go, due to "business reasons".

I just asked for my release. 'Thank you for everything'. I wanted to do it in public 'cause the court of public opinion was very important to the next move I was gonna make. I also didn't want them to be able to control my narrative. (Shawn) Spears had done the same thing a few months earlier, and they granted his release. I thought they were gonna do it. After the second conversation with Vince, he called me and said, 'Hey man, for business reasons, I can't let you go.', and I said, 'Okay, it's totally fair, it's your decision obviously.'

Lee got his release months later, on December 8, 2019. After weeks' worth of teasing, The Dark Order recently revealed the identity of The Exalted One, and Brodie Lee turned out to be the mystery man. Now that Lee is getting ample TV time on a weekly basis in AEW, it would be interesting to see what he manages to do with the character of The Exalted One.