In the Ring with Jordan #13: The Bray Wyatt Problem

If you know me, you'll know that my favorite wrestler is Bray Wyatt. I have been compelled by his character since his reincarnation in Florida Championship Wrestling. Why wouldn't you be compelled by his character?

Bray Wyatt is one of those wrestlers who has an aura about him that is unlike anything fans have seen. Some people compare him to The Undertaker, but the two are very different.

While Bray Wyatt seemed to be on the high road to being the next top star in the WWE, things went for a turn to the worst for him. Today I will be discussing Bray Wyatt's unfortunate descent down the card and what exactly went wrong for booking his character.

For those of you who may not already know, Bray Wyatt debuted alongside Erick Rowan and Luke Harper in 2013. Right off the bat, these guys were RED HOT. They immediately targeted Kane (who already was an established star) and Bray defeated Kane in his debut match at SummerSlam of that year. The Wyatt Family were special. Everything that Bray Wyatt said made people believe in him.

From there on, Bray Wyatt embarked on a fantastic feud with Daniel Bryan. Daniel Bryan ended up joining the Wyatt Family temporarily until turning on them and receiving a huge babyface reaction (arguably the best reaction of the PG era for WWE). It was electric. Although Bray Wyatt ended up coming up on the losing side of the feud (he did beat Bryan at the Royal Rumble 2014 pay-per-view, however), he looked like a star in that match.

As Daniel Bryan ascended up the card, Bray Wyatt encountered his next big feud: John Cena. Here, ladies and gentleman, is where Bray Wyatt suffered. During this feud, the crowd was ANTI-Cena. People were getting sick of him hogging up the main event picture and they wanted the torch to be passed onto someone different. They embraced Bray Wyatt during this feud. The build-up and mind games that the Wyatt Family presented made me fully believe Wyatt was going to head into WrestleMania 30 as a favorite.

He lost. Really? A guy who is that over with the crowd loses his WrestleMania debut in his home state? Wyatt even got Mark Crozier to perform his theme live. It was awesome. Can't say the same about the victor of that match, though.

Cena and Wyatt continued their feud until Payback of 2014. The stipulation of the match was "Last Man Standing". What that means is one wrestler has to wear down their opponent so the referee can count to 10. If a superstar doesn't make it up to their feet before the 10 count, they lose.

In a match that was awarded Match of the Year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated, Wyatt and Cena put on a heck of a match. With that positive, however, comes a negative. Cena literally buried Bray Wyatt under multiple equipment cases to win. This, my friends, was the downfall of Wyatt's career.

After a feud with Chris Jericho that was good but did absolutely nothing for either man, things started to change for Wyatt. He, along with Rowan and Harper, were taken off television for a while. Bray revealed in vignettes that Rowan and Harper were "set free", ending The Wyatt Family partnership. That turned out to be a bad decision. Wyatt then was a singles wrestler and had a throwaway feud with Dean Ambrose.

It wasn't until early 2015 that Bray Wyatt started gaining a little bit of momentum. Bray's next feud turned out to be a great-but-depressing one: The Undertaker. Coming off his loss to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30, Undertaker needed to redeem himself. Instead of having Undertaker beat Lesnar, the WWE thought it would be right to further establish Lesnar by allowing him to beat Undertaker's WrestleMania streak. Bad move.

Bray Wyatt carried the entire feud with Undertaker. Calling 'Taker out and making cryptic promos helped the build, but the failure of an appearance of the Undertaker didn't help the build up. I thought, as a reward for carrying the feud, Wyatt would get his much needed win at WrestleMania. Wyatt, however, lost to The Undertaker.

The WWE knew that they had screwed up. They decided to put The Wyatt Family back together, this time with a new member: Braun Strowman. While they were ultimately successful, injuries ruined their momentum. Luke Harper got injured, and Wyatt got injured. Before Wyatt got hurt, the WWE was showing signs of The Wyatt Family VS The League of Nations (a villainous stable consisting of Rusev, Sheamus, Wade Barrett, and Alberto Del Rio). They tampered with a babyface turn for Wyatt as well, having him team with Roman Reigns against Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio. Boy did Wyatt get a huge reaction.

Wyatt's injury set back a match for him at WrestleMania 32, and he was fought off by The Rock and another injured star at the time: John Cena. It was a segment that did absolutely nothing for any of the men involved and hurt Wyatt's character.

Fast forward to the 2016 WWE Draft. The Wyatt Family were split up. Bray and Erick Rowan were drafted to SmackDown, while Braun Strowman was drafted to Raw and Luke Harper wasn't drafted at all.

Wyatt's change to SmackDown started the slow momentum increase that he needed. He feuded with Randy Orton, which ended up in one of the most compelling storylines of recent memory. Bray Wyatt manipulated Randy Orton into joining The Wyatt Family and Bray and Orton ended up winning the SmackDown Live Tag Team Championships, Wyatt's first title in the WWE.

Wyatt and Orton made it to the final three of the 2017 Royal Rumble, with Randy winning the Rumble. This is where WWE messed up. You'll see why as I discuss more in depth shortly.

Bray Wyatt then entered the 2017 Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship. Bray Wyatt, the man who lost to John Cena, The Undertaker, Roman Reigns, etc. won the WWE Championship that night. The WWE Championship is the top prize in all of WWE. It was at that moment where I thought the Bray Wyatt character had redeemed himself. He was on top of the world. Just a couple of days after winning the championship, Wyatt successfully defended it against John Cena and AJ Styles.

Keep in mind that Randy Orton was the winner of the Royal Rumble, so he gets a world championship match against the WWE Champion at WrestleMania. Orton ultimately split from the Wyatt Family, burning down Wyatt's compound.

I went into WrestleMania 33 with the idea that Orton and Wyatt would tear the house down. Their match seemed rushed and had fans uninterested. And ORTON won. Just a mere 49 days holding the title. Wyatt's main event status came to a halt.

Shortly after, Bray Wyatt was drafted to Raw as part of the Superstar Shakeup. Wyatt didn't even receive his obligated rematch for the championship.

Wyatt stands today as someone who can be a top star on Raw, but they fail to capitalize on his character time after time. His feuds with Finn Balor and Seth Rollins did nothing for his character and left fans with a sour taste in his mouth. As we approach WrestleMania 34, Wyatt's name is not mentioned in the top matches.

What this means is that Wyatt most likely will end up in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, a throwaway match for most wrestlers that WWE do not have any plans for.

Given the situation that Wyatt is in, I'm going to provide a way to fix his character and provide him momentum to be a top star again. First off, Bray Wyatt needs to win the feud he currently is in with "Woken" Matt Hardy. As much as Hardy needs momentum to establish his new gimmick, Bray Wyatt needs it more. Wyatt needs to look dominate in their final match together. He already has two wins over Hardy.

This upcoming Monday will feature a "second chance" fatal four way match for the final slot in the #1 Contender's Elimination Chamber match. Wyatt lost to Roman Reigns this past Monday, so this fatal four way is exactly what he needs to gain momentum. Wyatt dominated last year's chamber, so this year should be no different. While it's easy to predict Roman Reigns as the winner, Wyatt should have that last spot. Wyatt could eliminate Elias and have a brawl with ex-Wyatt Family member Braun Strowman.

After the Chamber match, have Wyatt heavily promote the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. At one point in his career, Andre the Giant was a heel. He'd terrorize top babyface stars like Hulk Hogan. Wyatt could make similarities to The Million Dollar Man being Andre's driving force, while Sister Abigail is his.

Have a top babyface enter the battle royal as well. Have Bray Wyatt dominate the battle royal and win it. Last year's Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal did nothing for Mojo Rawley, so handing it to Wyatt would be a step in the right direction.

After WrestleMania, I'd assume the Superstar Shakeup is going to occur again. Bray Wyatt clearly got lost in the shuffle on Raw, so drafting him back to SmackDown would help. Have Wyatt get Harper and Rowan back. Reunite the Wyatt Family. The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) win the Tag Titles. Bray Wyatt wins back the WWE Championship after a long feud with Shinsuke Nakamura.

What do you think the WWE needs to do with the Bray Wyatt character? Let me know. Thanks for reading.