Luke Harper Talks Vince McMahon Yelling At Him, Advice From John Cena, Braun Strowman's Potential
Luke Harper recently made his Talk Is Jericho debut, sitting down with the first-ever WWE Undisputed Champion, Chris Jericho, to talk about his WWE career thus far. Harper discussed getting yelled at by Vince McMahon, his ladder match against Dolph Ziggler at WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs... and Stairs, advice he received from John Cena, and Braun Strowman's potential.
Harper recalled that McMahon yelled at him on the November 17, 2014 edition of WWE Monday Night RAW. Harper won the Intercontinental Championship from Ziggler that night, but he failed to speak with a southern accent in his promo before the match.
"I won the Intercontinental title, I beat Ziggler for it. Yeah, I thought it was great. I thought everything was good. [I] came to the back and Vince yelled at me because I didn't speak in a southern accent, so [it] kind of put a damper on things for a little bit." Harper added, "I had to say, 'I'm a team player' [in the prematch promo], but I had to say it southern because that was his vision of me and it might still be. I hope not. Yes, and our vision of it is our people come from everywhere. [Bray Wyatt's] message is nationwide. He's from the bayou, but us, his followers, aren't necessarily. We kind of pick and choose where he got us."
According to Harper, his ladder match at WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs... and Stairs for the Intercontinental Championship against Ziggler the following month was one of his favorite matches and neither competitor realized how violent the match was going to be. Harper said that he got word the night before that he was going to drop the championship to Ziggler at the pay-per-view. Harper's short stint with the title gave him more incentive to put on a great match with Ziggler.
"I was pissed because I thought I didn't get a fair run with [the title], really. I hadn't really done anything with it." Harper continued, "I thought 'this is bulls–t.' So I remember talking to Dolph and I said, 'hey man, I want to do something special here because I'm pissed.' It was in Cleveland [Ohio], his hometown, so it was, like, again, a perfect storm of stuff."
Harper admitted that he always tries to keep in mind advice that he received from Cena after he lost the Intercontinental Championship.
"I was told by one of the top guys in the [professional wrestling] business, John Cena, that if you have an at bat and you hit a double or something or you hit a single, you'll get another at bat, so that [has] always been my mindset now. When I get the ball, do what I can with it. Control what I can control. And if I can go out there and do something special, then, that makes them happy and it makes everybody happy, I'll get another at bat."
As for Strowman, Harper believes that the newest Wyatt Family member has great potential.
"For as little experience as he has, he's unbelievable. And the thing is, if he wants it, and wants to continue to learn, the sky is the limit for him."
Harper said that he thinks the Wyatt Family should continue to add new members and quickly agreed with Jericho's suggestion that the group add a "creepy" female to its ranks.
"New blood. I've always said that, I thought with a cult like that, we should always have kind of [new members joining] and [grow] bigger." Harper continued, "I think [adding a woman] gives us more diverse things and more ways to go instead of just saying, 'hey, we're going to beat you up.'"
On this entertaining episode of Talk Is Jericho, 'Y2J' and Harper discussed wrestling in the Middle East, Harper's long road to WWE, and much more. Click here to listen to the entire show.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Talk Is Jericho