10 WWE Returns That Were Completely Wasted
3. Luke Harper
Around April 2019, the long under-appreciated Luke Harper finally decided he wanted a change and requested his release from WWE.
However, Vince McMahon, despite regularly losing interest in the obviously talented performer, denied his request and added an extra six months to his contract due to the time he'd spent on the sidelines injured.
With his original deal due to expire in November, you sensed WWE would go out of their way to give Harper a decent push at some point in an attempt to entice him into re-signing. In the end, Harper finally popped back up on WWE television in September - for the first time since WrestleMania 35's Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal - attacking Roman Reigns during his battle with Erick Rowan at Clash of Champions and then jumping Daniel Bryan on the next episode of SmackDown.
A top level feud with The Big Dog and a newly face D-Bry? What's not to like?
Well, everything as it goes. Rowan and Harper were decisively beaten by the pair at Hell in a Cell and Rowan was then moved to Raw in the 2019 Draft. Harper was soon left without a partner, storyline or reason to stay in McMahon's company and he was finally granted his release in December.
Harper's return at CoC genuinely blew up the crowd and had them believing this would finally be his time to prove he could hang with the very biggest stars at the top of the card. Sadly, his intriguing comeback was quickly wasted and Mr. Brodie Lee moved on to bigger and better things...