It May Be Time For WWE To Move On From Bray Wyatt
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Let's get this out of the way first. Bray Wyatt is the most creative wrestler in WWE. The look, the charisma, and the promo skills are all off the charts. It's a shame that his run as the Fiend wasn't always booked properly, from that awful Hell in a Cell match with Seth Rollins, to a loss to Goldberg of all people. Still, no matter what happened, his fans loved him. It was WWE, and specifically Vince McMahon's fault, for everything that went wrong with his push. But then Wyatt came back last year, with McMahon gone and Triple H now in charge. Things should have been much better, but instead, this run has been worse than how the last ended. No matter who is to blame, whether it's Triple H, Wyatt, or a combination of both, the sad reality is that Bray Wyatt's return to WWE hasn't worked. It makes one wonder, should both sides just move on from each other?
The Fiend Was Peak Bray Wyatt
Bray Wyatt had the whole word in his hands when he debuted on WWE's main roster alongside his Wyatt family. With his hat and Hawaiian shirt, his cult leader gimmick was the creepy, supernatural gimmick WWE needed to replace The Undertaker, who by then was usually only appearing around WrestleMania season. The only problem was that he wasn't treated as anything even remotely close to The Undertaker. Sure, he'd get the cool entrance and deliver a well crafted and chilling promo, but so many of his feuds went nowhere and ended in a loss.
It was evident that Wyatt needed to change things up, and he knocked it out of the park with the arrival of his Fiend persona in 2019. The music changed, and the look for sure changed, with Wyatt now wrestling in the freaky Tom Savini designed mask. Then there was The Firefly Funhouse, the bonkers kid's show where Wyatt's creativity really got to shine. As great as it looked though, it never went anywhere. There was a lot of smoke, but so little fire. Thankfully, Wyatt at least got recognized with a world championship, but embarrassing feud endings at the hands of Goldberg and Randy Orton hurt his reputation. Finally, Wyatt was released by WWE, to the disdain of fans who saw so much potential in him.
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Bray Wyatt's WWE Return Has Gone Absolutely Nowhere
Fans lost their minds when Wyatt returned to WWE last year. It was one of the best comebacks in company history. It also turned out to be the peak of Wyatt's return. It was good to see Wyatt do something new, with The Fiend gone, and now a more babyface but conflicted acting Wyatt being tormented by the bizarre Uncle Howdy. However, it turned into the same old shtick, with well delivered promos followed by little action, with the smoke and mirrors of Wyatt's theatrics followed by nothing concrete to grab onto and be interested in. There was no reason to care about Uncle Howdy when there was never any progression in his character. Every week became the same old thing.
Thankfully, Wyatt's first dance partner was LA Knight, a man so gifted on the mic that he could help carry the feud. That shouldn't have been happening though. The "rookie" shouldn't have been carrying the veteran. And then came their absolutely awful Royal Rumble match, one that was hidden behind the theatrics of strange lighting and face paint. It couldn't hide how bad it was, and noting could cover up that Uncle Howdy botch on LA Knight.
The LA Knight feud looked to be followed by one with Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania (after Brock Lesnar smartly said no thanks to a Wyatt WrestleMania match). The two were mismatched, with Bobby Lashley known more for his in ring presence rather than the promo and character skills he'd need to compete with Wyatt. One week in though, and Wyatt was gone. There were rumors about creative issues, but it looks to be some sort of undisclosed physical issue instead. Wyatt shouldn't be punished for that. Still, the feud was immediately forgotten like it never happened, and now poor Lashley has lost his WrestleMania moment to compete in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on SmackDown. LA Knight is in that match, rather than at WrestleMania, as well.
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Can Bray Wyatt's Career In WWE Be Saved?
The question must be asked: Is it time for WWE to finally move on from Bray Wyatt? Normally, if, over a period of years, a wrestler isn't working for whatever reason, you just let them go. It happens every year. Bray Wyatt isn't working. He has grown boring and predictable, and when he does wrestles, which is rare, his matches are forgettable. So it's time for WWE to let him go, right?
It's not that simple. It's not the man behind Bray Wyatt, Windham Rotunda, that is the problem. It's the character that needs to go. Windham Rotunda, by all accounts, is a great guy with a brilliant mind like few others. He has great matches when the focus is on actual wrestling and not theatrics. The problem is that so much overthinking goes into the character of Bray Wyatt, as if Rotunda and others are saying, "What if this happens, or what if this happens, or this, or this?," without ever settling on anything. We end up with smoke and mirrors and no stories with solid beginnings, middles, and ends. The Undertaker lived on theatrics, but his character also told a compelling story with a resolution. That doesn't happen with Bray Wyatt. His character is a premise with no payoff.
Windham Rotunda doesn't need to go. He's too good to give up on. But it's time for WWE to let go of Bray Wyatt.
