10 WWE Releases That Could Have Been Easily Avoided

It turned out to be one of WWE's worst kept secrets just how frustrated Luke Harper had become before his eventual release in December 2019.

But, it shouldn't have been this way.

If you listen to anyone who has ever had the pleasure of working with the former Brodie Lee, they will all tell you just how supremely talented he is and how under-utilised he was as one of Bray Wyatt's stoic goons.

Numerous attempts to push him as a tag team specialist all fell flat and Harper's one saving grace in the company came after being 'set free' by Wyatt, which led to him winning his first (and only) singles title in the form of the Intercontinental Championship.

Injuries wouldn't help his cause at times. However, it often felt as though the company weren't ever entirely sure how to present Harper, frequently finding themselves torn between him being a terrifying monster and an unlikely fan-favourite babyface.

This lack of direction reared its ugly head again in 2019 when Harper returned to assist old pal Erick Rowan at Clash of Champions in his match against Roman Reigns. The two were easily disposed of by Reigns and Daniel Bryan at Hell in a Cell and Rowan would then find himself with a weird burlap sack-covered cage on Monday Night Raw, leaving Harper in the wilderness once again.

Hopefully, in his old Brodie Lee guise the star can go on to prove how good he really is in another promotion and highlight the level of star WWE could have had on their hands if they'd just allowed him a decent stretch as the unorthodox babyface he had the potential to be.