– The situation with Luke Harper is that after he asked for his release, Vince McMahon responded in writing by telling him that he wouldn’t let him go. Harper was being positioned to work a program with Sami Zayn after WrestleMania, but that was scrapped after Vince didn’t like what he saw in Harper’s return from injury.
– The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Vince told people that “he didn’t get him” while also complaining about the fact that he felt Harper couldn’t do a Southern accent – something stemming from four years ago when WWE wanted him to do such an accent).
– Harper was said to be constantly pitching ideas to WWE creative while he was sidelined due to injury but was turned down on everything nor was he booked anywhere after being cleared. Out of the blue, McMahon though wanted to know why Harper wasn’t in the WrestleMania battle royal and so he was quickly put in that. When the Zayn storyline fell apart, Harper was told he wouldn’t be used on TV but then was booked in a match with EC 3 that was essentially to “test” out the EC 3/Drake Maverick pairing. Ultimately, Vince hated the match and didn’t even put him on a brand as part of the Superstar Shake-Up and that is when Harper went public with his request for a release.
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