WWE: Is Luke Harper Main Event Material After WrestleMania 33?

Luke Harper is proving to have the potential to become a big star in WWE, but it may have to wait a few months.

Luke Harper had always been the right-hand man of Bray Wyatt since their days in NXT in 2012. This carried to the main roster and through the multiple incarnations of the Wyatt Family. However, with the exception of a four-month run as a babyface from late 2014 to early 2015, we have yet to see what Harper can do on his own.

The first taste had potential, but fell between the cracks after Harper fell out of Intercontinental Championship contention. Wyatt didn’t have much success either, so these two joined forces for the next 18 months.

Well, after the first real Wyatt Family split, as the breakup in 2014 didn’t feature anything on TV, Harper is now on his own. The difference between then and now is he’s a babyface, something only tested on Erick Rowan two-and-a-half years ago. This failed because WWE didn’t really use the Wyatt Family’s White Sheep as anything more than Big Show fodder, so he moved out of the equation and rejoined the Eater of Worlds as a heel.

What’s going to separate Harper and Rowan’s babyfaces is how WWE positions the latter is a weak babyface crop on SmackDown. However, if we’re using the past two weeks of the Blue Brand as a takeaway, then so far, so good for the future of the 37-year-old — so good that it may be good enough to warrant a main event level role after WrestleMania 33.

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Getting a babyface cheers and a heel heat seems like one of the most impossible tasks in WWE in 2017. Roman Reigns can’t get a cheer to save his life, but AJ Styles has his name chanted at every opportunity. Even look at Dolph Ziggler being told by the Key Arena to hit Apollo Crews and Kalisto with a chair “one more time”. So to see Luke Harper receive a genuine, intended pop is refreshing.

The prelude to the cheers featured Harper using facial expressions and his body language, an underrated part of the Superstar dynamic. It’s why Sami Zayn works so well as an underdog babyface and how Alexa Bliss comes off as a self-centered brat of a heel. Harper stood there, shaking as he went face-to-face with Wyatt, following up on the previous week when he had been reluctant to lay a finger on his long-time leader. He then turned, mustered up the courage, and shook Bray to the core with a devastating discus clothesline.

It was a thing of beauty to see and the crowd bought it, adding to the impact. This came after the crowd seemed confused about Harper’s role at Royal Rumble and before that, not knowing if he should be cheered or not after the Wyatt Family conflict throughout January.

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Factor in Luke Harper’s wrestling ability here too. He’s often been overshadowed in matches to put over babyfaces or in tag bouts, but he’s a skilled, athletic big man that can fly around the ring better than you think. A crisp dropkick, drive through the ropes, and the previously-noted discus clothesline is just a few of the many things he’s capable of in the ring. It’s something we have yet to see tested out on a big stage in a singles match, however, which is a different ballgame. If WWE puts enough stock into Harper after WrestleMania 33, then we could see this come to fruition at one of the SmackDown-exclusive shows.

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If the facial expressions, body language, and wrestling ability all click — which he seem off to a good start of — then we could be witnessing the rise of a top babyface on SmackDown. Being a good guy may be the most beneficial thing here for Harper’s potential move to the main event scene because there’s simply too few faces on Tuesday nights. It starts with part-timer, John Cena, Dean Ambrose, then falls off a cliff with Apollo Crews, Kalisto, and Mojo Rawley. This may very well make Harper the No. 3 face by default.

After WrestleMania 33, the dust will settle and we’ll see the direction for quite a few Superstars for the summer months. If this results in a particular rumor from the Wrestling Observer coming true, then this could really open up the door for Harper in the main event scene.

A Harper vs. Wyatt feud wouldn’t need much of a build, as the story is already there, enough to place the former in a headlining position for the first time ever. You could have him win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, then step into SmackDown two nights later, and make the challenge for the WWE Championship. This would ride off Harper’s momentum that started in February and continued in a Cesaro 2014-esque fashion, except WWE never followed up on it. This time they would to set up the inevitable program that could be money for SmackDown, which has been a storyline-based show. What better way of doing this than using two terrific storytelling wrestlers?

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Harper can then be left in the main event scene for the next few months to go head-to-head with Wyatt, getting the most out of a story that’s years in the making. Maybe Rowan joins in on this too, taking the side of the New Face of Fear.

One day, this is going to be “It’s Sunday. You know what that means”. It will mean a WWE Championship match for Luke Harper at a PPV. Give it a few months, but the opportunity is there as long as he continues his early success.