Update on Luke Harper, Why Lesnar Quit MMA, WM37 Location News

WWE Superstar Luke Harper recently informed fans on social media that he asked for his release from the company. However, it was later reported that his request was denied and that WWE added more months to his contract due to the time that he spent away from the ring last year due to injuries. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week, Vince McMahon was not please with a match Harper just had with EC3 on Main Event. McMahon did not like the match or the pairing of EC3 and Drake Maverick, and he let his staff know that he didn’t “get” Harper. McMahon noted that Harper apparently could not do a Southern accent when he asked him to use one years ago. Upon learning about this, Harper asked for his release, but according to the report, WWE has no plans to use him going forward.
UFC President Dana White stated earlier in the week that Brock Lesnar is officially retired from MMA. Lesnar had been rumored to be making a UFC comeback for months, but he is now expected to continue wrestling for WWE. Unsurprisingly, Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Lesnar’s retirement all has to do with money. ESPN+ is now the exclusive pay-per-view provider for UFC, which has cut the average buyrate of UFC PPVs in half. However, UFC’s deal with ESPN makes up for those buys, which means that they are no longer pressured to promote huge fights for their shows. Conor McGregor and Brock Lesnar decided to retire from UFC not too long ago because the amount of money they wanted was deemed too high by UFC officials.
It has been confirmed for a while now that WWE will be hosting WrestleMania 36 in Tampa, Florida next year, but the WrestleMania 37 location appears to be all but a done deal now as well. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the new Los Angeles Stadium will be hosting WrestleMania in 2021. WWE supposedly wanted to come to LA for WrestleMania in 2022 to break the Super Bowl attendance record, but the city wants to bring in WrestleMania first as a trial run before the Super Bowl, which they are set to have February 2022. The new stadium can fit between 70,000-100,000 people depending on the event, and it is set to open in 2020. Expect WWE to announce the location for WrestleMania 37 early next year.