WWE Rumors: Luke Harper asked for release after backstage incident with Vince McMahon
What's the story?
Harper has been in a very weird position with WWE for the past month or so. He publicly announced on social media that he requested his release from WWE, but unlike a lot of other superstars who did the same, he didn't seem to get his request granted.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter went into detail about Harper's situation and Vince McMahon's reaction to it, all of which led to Harper asking to be released from his contract.
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In case you didn't know...
Harper was injured right around the end of summer in 2018. He took an extended hiatus to recover, but was cleared around February. Naturally, wanting to get back in the mix right away, Harper was ready and cleared, but WWE made him sit on the sidelines because of no plans.
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He returned at the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal and was reportedly slated for a feud against Sami Zayn post-WrestleMania. However, plans were cancelled. Even prior to WrestleMania, Harper expressed frustration over his position in WWE on Twitter and Instagram, stating that he fully believed that he could be a World Champion.
The heart of the matter
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter detailed the incidents that led to Harper asking for release.
One person close to the situation told us that he needs to get out because they made a call that they weren’t going to use him after Vince saw him in his return. Vince said that he didn’t “get him” and complained that he couldn’t even do a Southern accent (that was from them wanting him to do a Southern accent four years ago). He was regularly pitching ideas when he was out with an injury and they turned down every pitch.
The Observer further noted that Vince McMahon, out of the blue, wanted Harper in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal and Braun Strowman messed up his spots, which certainly didn't help The Monster Among Men, despite winning the match.
They went on to say that he was booked for a feud against Sami Zayn, only to be told that he wasn't needed for TV. He then got a call to come back on Tuesday so he could have a match against EC3, where the latter was paired up with Drake Maverick in an "experimental" match.
Essentially, Harper was used to test the EC3-Maverick pairing, but McMahon hated the match and hated the spots. Then, a creative meeting would be what broke the camel's back for Harper
The creative meeting the day of the draft when it was asked about which brand Harper would be on, Vince said how the guy can’t even do a Southern accent, said the match with EC 3 was bad, so they didn’t put him with either brand and that’s when he asked for his release.
What's next?
Harper has reportedly had months added to his contract because it was frozen when he was injured. It's going to be interesting to see how he approaches WWE programming if he's brought back.