What’s the story?
WWE has confirmed that the penultimate episode of SmackDown Live will see WWE World Champion Bray Wyatt take on his former disciple Luke Harper. Harper left the Wyatt Family due to Randy Orton’s insidious meddling and the singles match will represent the former WWE Intercontinental Champion’s first televised one-on-one bout with his former leader.
In case you didn’t know...
From the very beginning of the Wyatt Family, Luke Harper has arguably been Bray Wyatt’s most loyal follower. The two briefly separated in late 2014 when Bray ‘set Harper free’, but by mid-2015 Harper returned to Bray’s side to help the Eater of Worlds in his fight against Roman Reigns.
When Harper was severely injured ahead of the 2016 WWE Draft, many speculated that it could finally be time for the Backwoods Brawler to break out on his own, but Harper later returned to Bray’s side once again to help his teacher defeat Randy Orton.
It was Orton who would eventually drive the final wedge between Harper and Wyatt, causing Harper to turn his back on the Family and truly break free.
The heart of the matter
For a short while, many fans believed that Luke Harper could find his way into the WWE World Championship match between champion Bray Wyatt and 2017 Royal Rumble winner Randy Orton, but despite clearly winning a number one contender’s battle royal on SmackDown Live, that has not turned out to be the case.
Harper will still get his hands on Bray, however, with a singles match between the two confirmed for next week’s SmackDown Live.
The match will take place just five days before WrestleMania 33, with Harper representing a significant diversion on Bray’s Road to WrestleMania. With nothing on his plate for WrestleMania 33, Harper will surely be looking to make a major statement against his former leader and the current WWE World Champion.
The impact
Despite not having anything to do at WrestleMania as of now, Luke Harper will be looking to make a major impact against one of WWE’s true main event talents. Even without the Wyatt Family history, this match would be an intriguing one, but the history that the two men share means there will be more to this than meets the eye.
Don’t be surprised if this isn’t the only time we see Bray Wyatt vs. Luke Harper in 2017.
Author’s take
Ideally, Bray Wyatt would have been kept off of TV until WrestleMania 33 following Randy Orton’s arson attack on Sister Abigail, so it is somewhat frustrating that he will be on TV next week and will also be competing. Even so, a Bray vs. Harper match should be a lot of fun to watch, and as such the SmackDown Live main event comes highly anticipated.
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