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#3 He was unlikely to be used before his contract expired
Given that Luke Harper had made it no secret that he wanted to leave WWE, it seemed highly unlikely that the company would use him on television again before the end of his contract.
According to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, his deal was originally due to expire in November 2019 but WWE decided to add six months to his contract to cover the time that he has been unable to compete due to injuries.
As we have seen with plenty of Superstars in the past, WWE often removes them from television in advance if they are going to be released or if their contract is due to expire.
This even happened with Jon Moxley (fka Dean Ambrose), who was not included on the WrestleMania 35 card despite being one of WWE's top stars. Instead, he was given a send-off on WWE Network special ‘The Shield’s Final Chapter’.
If someone as respected and successful as Moxley was taken off television before his contract expired, there was next-to-no chance that Harper would have been used on SmackDown before his contract expired in 2020.
