Yesterday at No Mercy, Luke Harper returned after the lights went out, and distracted Randy Orton to help give Bray Wyatt the win over The Viper. According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the original plan was for Erick Rowan to come out and distract Orton, thus giving the Eater Of Worlds the win over Orton.
However, due to Erick Rowan suffering a torn rotator cuff and undergoing surgery, Luke Harper took his spot. In fact, Harper was originally supposed to be on Monday Night Raw. He even returned at Raw for the South American tour of Chile, Peru, and Ecuador that concluded this past weekend.
As noted, The White Sheep Erick Rowan suffered a torn rotator cuff, the same injury that has kept John Cena and more recently Shelton Benjamin on the shelves for a while. The estimated time for recovery is at least six months. Judging from the fans reactions, however, it appears that they were very happy about Harper's return.
Also, many fans believe that Harper is one of the most underrated, if not the most underrated worker in the WWE, and has been greatly underutilised. Also, with the creative directions and storylines being far more simplistic on Smackdown Live than Raw, there is no saying where the limit for Harper can be on the blue brand.
The good part about Harper’s character is that he is treated more as Bray Wyatt’s right-hand man than as a minion. He also does not take pinfalls the way Erick Rowan does, so he is not looked upon as the “weak link” of the Wyatt family.
Smackdown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan said on Talking Smack that he had signed Harper to Smackdown Live, but had not expected him to make an impact so soon. However, it looks like Bray Wyatt may be on the right path finally.
What is interesting about the whole scenario is that now that Braun Strowman is on Raw being repackaged as a different character, the original Wyatt Family will be back together fully sometime next year.
As John Cena and Daniel Bryan said, Smackdown Live is the land of opportunity, and this may be an opportunity to finally elevate Bray Wyatt to the next level while also helping to elevate Harper as well. Smackdown Live is a great place for him to showcase his potential as a singles star.
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