At the end of 2016 and start of 2017, Brodie Lee (Luke Harper in WWE), started to gain momentum as a singles competitor during a storyline centered around Randy Orton joining the Wyatt Family.
According to Lee, he knew the storyline would get him over with the crowd as he proved himself to be smarter than Wyatt.
"They did the thing with Randy Orton and Bray where Randy got in the group and I was the one who sniffed him out like, 'This guy is a snake. He's bad for us. He shouldn't be in the group' while Bray was like, 'No, we welcome everybody in.' I told the writers before we even started, 'Organically, I'm going to get over because I'm going to be the smarter one who sees.' They were like, 'No, that's not how it's going to work. That's not how it's going to be written.' Literally, each week, my crowd reaction would go up," Lee said on Talk Is Jericho.
Lee's momentum lasted nearly up to WrestleMania 33 when he competed in a 10-man battle royal on the February 21 WWE SmackDown to determine the number one contender for the WWE Title. Unfortunately, that's when his push as a singles star ended.
"We did the angle with Randy, he turned, I got over, I got all the way to a championship match battle royal with me and AJ as the last two. We did the spot where we were supposed to go to the floor and hit at the same time to do a match next week. In rehearsal, hit it, no problem. Absolutely beautiful. In execution, I fucked it up a little bit. My ass slipped on the apron and it was obvious that one of us touched first. They shot around it and the next week; AJ, who was the heel, ended up making me tap and pinning me. I was like, 'Yup, this is the end.' After that I was off TV for eight months. I did dark matches every week. I would go out there, they would chant my name, and I would think, 'Maybe Vince is watching this week.' And literally nothing came of it," he said.
Lee would remain on television in spots through July before disappearing until October when he returned alongside Erick Rowan as the Bludgeon Brothers. Elsewhere in the interview, Lee discussed Vince McMahon's vision for the Bludgeon Brothers. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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