We reported earlier today that Luke Harper left the SmackDown tour this week but at the time of press there was no explanation as to why.

PWInsider reports that the reason Harper left the tour early after Thursday’s WWE Live Event in Lima, Peru was due to his wife going into early labor and giving birth to their son.

Harper is currently scheduled for the television tapings this week, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was given additional time off to spend with his family.

The post Reason Luke Harper Left The SmackDown Tour Early This Week appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

As seen on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, Eric Rowan and Luke Harper re-debuted on the show as The Bludgeon Brothers.

WWE has updated the roster pages for the team and made a slight change to their names. As individauls they will no longer be going by “Eric Rowan” and “Luke Harper.” They will simply be “Harper” and “Rowan” moving forward. They have done this in the past with several WWE Superstars such as Rusev, Cesaro, and, Neville.

The post WWE Makes Slight Change to Two SmackDown Superstars’ Name appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Luke Harper and Erick Rowan were using their new Bludgeon Brothers’ gimmick at the start of the European Tour but it now appears that WWE may have stopped the gimmick already.

During today’s WWE Live Event in Leeds, England, both Harper & Rowman came out using their old music with their old attire. There’s no word exactly why the company has done this, but one could speculate that the gimmick could have been dropped. It is very unusual that they would work all the events up until today using the new Bludgeon Brothers gimmick, only to stop using it.

@nodqdotcom @aaronrift looks like luke harper eric rowan dropped the bludgeon brothers gimmick tonight in leeds, luke was massively over tonight here pic.twitter.com/T125Zo2lgx

— Gareth Smith (@Gstraitz) November 8, 2017

The post WWE Already Dropping The Bludgeon Brothers Gimmick? appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Block 1:

Taz opens today’s show speaking about the rumours that Neville has asked for his release from WWE. He says he has no idea what went on behind the scenes, but we’ve seen this story play out before with Austin Aries. He believes there’s a huge issue with pigeonholing talents in the Cruiserweight division, because once you’ve reached the pinnacle of that division there’s really nothing else for the talents to do.

Taz gets into his analysis of last night’s episode of Smackdown Live. He thought WWE put on a pretty good show last night which touched on all the main programs, and had several good video packages as well.

He says he was happy to see Luke Harper and Erick Rowan return to WWE television last night, but he wasn’t overly impressed with the way their backstage promo was shot. He thought that this video, which featured mallets and other weaponry, was somewhat hokey for 2017 and this is the creative team’s fault, not the talents’ fault.

Taz was very impressed by the promos cut by both Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn last night. He particularly enjoyed the mic work of Zayn, who clearly explained why he saved his former rival at Hell in A Cell. He admits that towards the end of the promo Zayn and Owens started to remind him of Jericho and Owens from several months ago, and he believes that this is something that WWE and Owens need to be careful with.

The post The Taz Show Recap – Smackdown Live Analysis, Neville’s Release Request, Harper & Rowan Return, More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Dave Meltzer mentioned in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that it is very possible that Primo and Epico could be revealed as the individuals who have been attacking Breezango.

Primo, who has been out of action since June due to a knee injury is expected to be back imminently. WWE has kept Epico off television although he has been working WWE Live Events regularly.

Meltzer reported that the original plan was for Erick Rowan & Luke Harper to be revealed as the attackers as those two have not been used on television either.

The post Another Possible Team Behind the Fashion Police Attacks appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Erick Rowan took to his Twitter account and posted the following cryptic message:

Sometimes a shadow emerges from darkness, quite different than one might expect. pic.twitter.com/X4A1pYDHRF

— Erick Rowan (@ERICKROWAN) September 10, 2017

As previously reported, Rowan hasn’t been used on WWE television because the company doesn’t have anything for him right now. While Rowan has been working some live events this summer, his last match on television was back on July 4th. Rowan & Luke Harper were originally set to return as the individuals behind the attacks on The Fashion Police, however those plans may have been nixed.

The post Erick Rowan Posts Cryptic Message on Twitter appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

During the mailbag segment of today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer was asked about the whereabouts of Maria and Mike Kanellis and if there was any resentment from peers because they skipped going to NXT when they arrived to the company.

Meltzer indicated that the company has given up on the couple but doesn’t know exactly why. When Bryan Alvarez asked, “Where is the guy?”,  Meltzer responded, “I don’t know…. I don’t know, it appears that they have gave up on them.”

Meltzer would then point out there are a lot of guys on the SmackDown roster that they have given up on. “Luke Harper, Erick Rowan;  hopefully they’ll do something with those guys,” said Meltzer.

The post WWE Has Reportedly Given Up on Maria & Mike Kanellis appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Block 1:

A listener calls into the show asking Taz how he’d get heat from fans if he was still wrestling as a heel today. Taz says that first and foremost, it all depends on the type of push he’s receiving. His approach as a heel all depends on whether he is getting pushed as as ‘killer’ heel, a ‘comedic’ heel or a ‘cowardly’ heel. Braun Strowman gets heat in a far different way than someone like The Miz.

The listener also asks Taz if he thinks it’s a good idea as a performer to get some intentional heat backstage, as a way to show your confidence and move up the roster’s depth chart. Taz says that you’ll never see a new talent come into the locker room like a hotshot because quite frankly that would be career suicide. Some veterans can give their opinions and that may result in some heat with another talent, but it’s never intentional.

Tye Dillinger vs. Aiden English – Tye Dillinger
* Taz doesn’t see Dillinger losing this match. The NXT call-up is still getting established on the main roster, and Taz would be very shocked if English picked up the win here.

Luke Harper vs. Erick Rowan – Erick Rowan
* Taz thinks WWE is going to get behind Rowan for a push. He points out that Harper was the recipient of a small push for a period of time, but that has apparently slowed down. Taz isn’t sure why WWE gave up on Harper, because he thinks with a few changes to Harper’s look, he could be a gamer.

The post The Taz Show Recap – Backlash Predictions, New Champion Will Be Crowned, How Would Taz Get Heat as A Heel Today? More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.