19. Bray Wyatt's Booking

So today I am going to talk about something that has been bothering me lately. Everyone who knows me, knows that Bray Wyatt is my favorite superstar on the main roster. I have followed him his whole career, even as his alter ego of Husky Harris. I never cared for the Husky Harris character, but when he turned into Bray Wyatt, I was immediately hooked. But anyways I am here to talk about the booking of Bray Wyatt from beginning to now. So lets get started...

So in NXT, Bray Wyatt was booked amazingly. Of course, he started out on his own, but then he formed the Wyatt Family with Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. With this new character, he introduced Luke Harper as his first "son" and Erick Rowan as his second "son". I almost saw them as a cult, but with a creepier edge to it. Luke and Erick then went on to win the NXT Tag Team Championships as Wyatt led them. Harper and Rowan then dropped the titles to Corey Graves and Neville. Bray Wyatt never captured singles gold in NXT. I didn't mind it though, because he was built as a top heel in NXT. Bray seemed to have the full package to be the next "Face of Fear".


The WWE started airing vignettes hyping fans for the Wyatt Family's debut. I was so excited. I couldn't believe they were coming up to the main roster. The vignettes were awesome. It would be Bray Wyatt talking to us as if were his "followers" and it had Harper/Rowan in the background. The vignettes began to get creepier and creepier by the weeks. I remember, when it got closer to their debut, they had Luke Harper show us into their "house" and it was really awesome. Finally the night of their debut, I couldn't wait. They debuted attacking Kane after his match on Raw. I was excited and the crowd was into it. They had a really cool, weird look and they capitalized on the debut. The Wyatt Family would then attack several superstars on the roster to prove their dominance. WWE was building them up to be a really destructive stable and it was fun to see. The Wyatt Family began using the phrase "follow the buzzards", which basically meant to "follow" them. Bray Wyatt had his first match against Kane at Summerslam in a Ring of Fire match, in which he won. WWE knew that Wyatt needed this win to prove that he was a legit threat in the business. From then on The Wyatt family would feud with several top stars eventually leading to the split of the Wyatt Family. WWE started to air vignettes of Bray "setting Harper and Rowan free". And I was happy for this because I wanted Bray Wyatt to be solo. He proved himself in the Wyatt Family as being the clear standout. He had such a stamped character and it was time for him to do it on his own.

Bray Wyatt returned as a solo competitor at Hell in a Cell 2014, interrupting the Dean and Seth Rollins match. I went to Hell in a Cell and I had heard about their being speculation on him returning. I was anticipating it the whole night. We got to the main event and I was like "Oh well I guess it isn't happening", because I thought Dean and Seth were going to have a clean finish on their own. But when Dean was about to close in on Seth, THE LIGHTS CUT OUT AND SMOKE APPEARED IN THE RING. AND ALL THE SUDDEN A HOLOGRAM IMAGE OF BRAY WYATT SHOWED UP IN THE RING. I couldn't believe it and neither could any of the crowd. He got the loudest pop of the night. Then Bray Wyatt came out from under the ring and attacked Dean Ambrose. These 2 would then feud over the next couple of months. This feud was ok. I mean I was glad he had a storyline, but wanted him to be in a main event storyline. The feud ended in mid January and Bray Wyatt then went to compete in the Royal Rumble in a losing effort. After this I was kind of wondering what Bray Wyatt was going to be doing heading into WrestleMania season.

Bray Wyatt started doing these backstage, mysterious promos and he was calling out someone. Immediately from the first one, I knew he was calling out the Undertaker. There was rumors going around since 2014 that he would have a Mania match against Undertaker. For the whole month of February he did these promos on Raw and Smackdown. At the FastLane PPV, Undertaker's "druid" music hit and we all thought the Undertaker was here to answer the challenge. It turned out to be Bray Wyatt when he popped out of a casket at ringside. He then went on to make his intensions clear that he wanted Undertaker at WrestleMania. Wyatt ended up doing more promos in March that were more directed at Undertaker. Wyatt and Undertaker had a match at WrestleMania 31 and Bray lost. I wasn't really bothered at the result, of course, in a perfect world I would've had Wyatt win. This feud was about Wyatt being the "New Face of Fear". I knew Taker would win because Taker had to prove that he is and always will be the Face of Fear. And he did just that.

After WrestleMania, that's when it went down hill for Bray. He came off, arguably, the most built up Mania storyline to then feuding with Ryback. Ryback? Really? You go from the Undertaker to Ryback? I am not knocking at Ryback as a competitor, its just that to me he was suppose to engage in a main event storyline. This feud was boring. Bray Wyatt is the best mic worker and one of the biggest heels they have. He has the best character generated out of NXT. WWE has lost touch with his booking. Wyatt and Ryback had a match at Payback and Wyatt won. This is what really made me mad. I am glad that Wyatt won, but the guy he beat ended up capturing the Intercontinental Championship just 2 weeks later at Elimination Chamber. What? How? How does that make any sense? Bray Wyatt beat Ryback and Ryback was the one to get a push? That is ridiculous. Wyatt has been having matches here and there right now. He isn't in the Money in the Bank match this Sunday. Actually, Roman Reigns had to beat Bray Wyatt on Raw last week in order to seal his spot in the MITB ladder match. I was so on the fence with that. I wanted Roman to be in the MITB ladder match, but I also wanted Bray Wyatt to be in it too. WWE hasn't been using Bray Wyatt to his full potential. Like I said he is the best mic worker, good wrestler, and has the best character. He could bring so much to the main event scene, but WWE doesn't see that apparently. It still shocks me that Bray Wyatt hasn't captured singles gold since being in WWE, not even in NXT. He is one of the most underappreciated talents on the roster. So I have a dream booking idea for him....

Okay since Bray Wyatt's new thing is calling out his opponents through promos, I think he should do that again. I think he should return the night after Money in the Bank on Raw and deliver a promo that hints at another Superstar. And then leading into Battleground he can make it more evident that he is calling out Randy Orton. This sets up a match at Summerslam between the 2 and Wyatt wins the match. After his match he then comes out later in the night to attack Ryback after he retains. I know I just got through saying that their initial feud was boring, but now they have history. I want Bray Wyatt to play more mind games and have more matches in their feud. I want them to have a series of title matches at Night of Champions, Hell in a Cell, and Survivor Series. Yes I know that is a lot of matches, but I have a plan. At Night of Champions, Ryback retains clean. Then Wyatt makes it clear the next night that he isn't done with Ryback. Then at Hell in a Cell they have a rematch and it ends in double count out. Then at Survivor Series they have a Falls Count Anywhere and Wyatt wins the belt. They have the tools to make the feud interesting, they just need to utilize them. Then for the big feud heading into WrestleMania, I want a feud with him and Finn Balor. That feud would be so amazing.

In conclusion, WWE needs to make up their mind with Bray Wyatt. They need to give him a much deserved title push. He has all the tools to be a great heel champion. Not taking words from Undertaker, but he could treat titles as his "holy grail". He could bring a different element to a championship. I hope WWE gives Wyatt some main event feuds in the very near future or a singles title push because he deserves it. Thank You!