WWE never granted Luke Harper's request to be released from his contract, but the former Wyatt Family Member appears to be getting closer to exiting once and for all.

Back in April, Harper took to Twitter and revealed his desire to be released by WWE. Instead, the company tacked put more time on his contract to make up for the action he had to miss due to injury.

According to Steven Fernandes of PWInsider.com, Harper has trademarked the ring name "Brodie Lee." This was the wrestling name he used earlier in his career long before joining WWE.

As noted by Fernandes, Harper had the name trademarked for shirts as well as "Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer."

This is a strong indicator that Harper is bracing himself for a WWE departure once his deal expires. According to Fightful.com, his contract runs up in "late 2019," though it was noted that time could have been added.

Once Harper's contract expires, WWE won't be able to do much in terms of keeping him on board. After all, they can't add more time to his contract since he's not missing time due to injury.

Related: Luke Harper Sends Goodbye Message To Erick Rowan

Harper is not the only superstar who has asked to be let go from his contract. Mike Kanellis, Sin Cara and most recently Oney Lorcan have followed suit, but WWE hasn't granted any of their wishes.

Triple H recently sounded off on the comments and suggested that unhappy superstars shouldn't be doing it on social media, and for them to handle their "business like a professional." This didn't sit well with Lorcan, who took to Twitter and called out Triple H for "burying talent publicly."

Harper Is About To Get His Wish

It's been quite the wait, but Harper is inching closer to finally getting out of WWE once and for all. There should be no shortage of interest when he becomes a free agent, and it's logical to believe that AEW will make a serious push for Harper's services. They were able to land former WWE talents like Chris Jericho, Dean Ambrose (now Jon Moxley) and Jack Swagger (now Jake Hager), so they may as well make a play for Harper.

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