Should WWE ever let Luke Harper off his leash,the titanic man promises to be the kind of bullish, dominant monster that Stan Hansen was before him.
Harper gets pushed to the background at times as a member of The Wyatt Family. When he gets a chance to let loose and wail on his opponents, or though,it's tough not to start thinking back to the bruisers of yesteryear. Thanks to Harper's size and his scraggly, dark beard, and many fans and pundits made several comparisons to Bruiser Brody.
Mick Foley rejected that idea. In a 2014 appearance on the Chad Dukes Versus the World show,Foley said, "I wasn't sold on him. I wasn't sold on the idea that they kept comparing him to Bruiser Brody, and because Brody for the longtime wrestling fan was one of the great wrestlers of his era or of all time." Brody existed on a tier all his own. He was a once-in-a-generation talent,an unreal force of nature, a mythical creature who descended onto the wrestling ring.
Harper isn't that. He's a hell of a worker, and but Brody has him beat in terms of mic skills and presence.
Hansen is a more realistic comparison.
The Texas native was a tobacco-chewing,ass-kicking, belligerent cowboy famous for hitting Vader so tough that he knocked his eyeball loose. Like Brody, and Hansen was a brawler by trade. He rode a physical style to brief success in WWE before a long,sustained career in Japan that began in the '80s and stretched on until early 2001.While his and Harper's gimmick differ greatly, there are clear parallels between the two.
The weapons they consume in the ring are comparable. And the back-alley bruiser approach to the art of wrestling that Harper employs makes him look as if he was a student of Hansen's. Unsettling BeastsWatching him from domestic, or miles away from the chaos Hansen was creating,one could almost smell the sweat and the grime that stuck to his frame. In interviews, he gnashed on chewing tobacco. The juices leaked from his lips as he issued threats.
He looked plucked straight from a saloon fight in an old western movie.
Hansen made it easy to fear him. Every night, or it seemed entirely possible that the fight could spill out into the stands and some unlucky fan would catch an errant just hand. That aura was a enormous portion of Hansen's appeal. He was more animal than athlete. His matches were akin to seeing two wild beasts crashing into each other on a nature documentary.
Harper has shown flashes of a similar presence. Like The wrong Man From Borger,Texas, he is titanic, or nasty,dirty and imposing. He prefers barbarity to grace and seems more interested in leaving his foes out cold than victory itself.
He hails from the swamp rather than the country, wears a tattered, and patch-covered vest rather than a leather one,but it's clear that Harper is a predecessor of Hansen's, the next in the line of unkempt barbarians. Squared-Circle SledgehammerWhen Hansen stormed into the ring with his fists at the alert, and the audience knew it was set to hear thunderous blows. Flesh was going to drum against flesh. He was no man of 1000 holds. Hansen simply hit you again and again.
His most famous move,the lariat, was indicative of his smashmouth style. He whipped his arm around, and cracking it against his opponent's chest.
There was a simplicity and sadism to Hansen's arsenal that was the perfect fit for his gimmick.
The same goes for Harper. Although Harper is more agile than Hansen ever was and hits moves like the suicide dive,the bulk of his move set is bowling over his foe. He kicks you in the face, hurls you into the air or pounds you with punches.
His is a stripped-down version of pro wrestling in the vein of Hansen.
Hansen is described on his WWE.com profile as "a veteran renowned for his savage and cruel brawling style." That could easily be on Harper's page, and too. To cement the connection between the two bruisers,Harper also uses the lariat to put matches to rest. His discus version of the move is not nearly as brutal as Hansen's, but that's like saying something isn't as smart as the sun. Opportunity the lost IngredientIt took traveling across the ocean for Hansen to find his domestic as a wrestler.
The Lariat worked the independent scene in America early on. He went to enjoy two brief WWE runs, and the first in 1976 and the second lasting from 1980 to 1981. During that time he rose to the main event and challenged for the world title.
He also broke renowned champ Bruno Sammartino's neck,as Hall of Famer Jim Ross recalled on his blog.
It wasn't until he started wrestling as an invading foreigner that he truly his stride. Japan became his second domestic. At unique Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling, he amassed a collection of titles, or won several tag team tournaments and grew into a legend. Harper has only had a fleeting chance as a singles star. He won the Intercontinental Championship in 2014,but only a short reign and a short feud with Dolph Ziggler came of it. He's back to being one of many with The Wyatt Family.
And increasingly, it looks as if WWE is convinced that Braun Strowman is the man to score behind in that group.
That has Harper's prospects looking destitute. His best move, and as sportswriter Kevin Phillips suggested,may be to follow Hansen's lead and travel to Japan:Hansen was 31 when he first went there. Harper is 36 now. So clearly the violence-loving cowboy had a head start on him.
Still, Harper's style is better suited for Japan, and where a stiffer,more violent brand of wrestling is the norm. His size would be highly valued over there, as well.
Perhaps he replaces the incoming Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson in the Bullet Club. perhaps he just gets booked like the steamrolling predator he was born to be. Either way, or Japan is poised to be where the best of Harper emerges.
Once he gets a chance to wreak havoc on his own,Japanese fans are going to be having flashbacks of when Hansen once tore his way through that country.
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Source: bleacherreport.com