WWE Rumors: WWE Doesn’t Grant Release Request Of Former Champion But Extends Contract
WWE has been in a bit of backstage turmoil over the last couple of months with a number of injuries and releases. Goldust requested his release and it was granted. A number of others have seen their relationships with the company suffer. Now, longtime veteran Luke Harper requested his release, but it doesn’t appear as if it will be granted. As a matter of fact, WWE actually extended his contract by six months once he asked to be let go.
Harper did ask for his release in the middle of April and he made the request publicly on social media. According to Wrestling Observer Newsletter, by way of Cageside Seats, WWE is not planning on granting his release and will even add on time to it due to time he missed because of injury.
The thought is that Harper’s contract was set to expire in November of this year, but he did go out last year due to having surgery on his wrist. He’s missed a great deal of time and WWE actually froze the time on his contract while he was out which means he has a lot more time left to stay with the company.
Less than two weeks ago, Harper made his request on Twitter with the hope that he would be allowed to leave before his deal was even set to expire.
— Brodie Lee (@ThisBrodieLee) April 16, 2019
If it is accurate that Harper’s contract was set to expire in November, WWE has now added six months onto it to make up for time missed. That means he would not be able to leave until shortly before WrestleMania 36 and he’d still be with the company for around another year.
Harper has barely been seen since before going out due to injury. He was in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 35 and had a match during Axxess weekend, but he’s not been seen on TV since that time.
Before his injury, he was having a rather successful run with Rowan as the Bludgeon Brothers.
There is nothing known about what Harper will do if and/or when he gets his release from WWE. For now, if he’s forced to stay for nearly another year, it will be interesting to see if he’s even shown again on television or if he chooses to work at all.
The Inquisitr reported recently that Sasha Banks is set to sit out the remainder of her contract with WWE due to being extremely unhappy with her position in the company. Luke Harper could possibly choose to do that, but if WWE already added time on once, that’s not to say they wouldn’t do it again.
