When it comes to “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt, the reviews are often mixed between those that don’t like over the top monsters and those that love them.
It usually doesn’t leave a lot of gray area, but that’s what often makes a wrestling superstar just that. They break down doors and grab our attention whether we like them or not.
Bray Wyatt has created characters that have done just that, but he’s faced his share of opposition.
Burying the old
His old incarnation that headed the Wyatt family was a dominating monster type, but it’s been rumored that the Bray Wyatt character was destroyed by WWE Creative after they have him lose too often.
It’s not a surprise, since Vince McMahon has long run his company as a face/hero based brand.
If we look at their long list of former champions, only Brock Lesnar had multiple dominate runs as a heel champion.
It’s often cited that the Undertaker wasn’t a draw when he was champion, but there’s an argument over his reigns not lasting long enough to justify that.
Especially when we consider the thunderous cheers he came out to during the Attitude Era.
Because of that, it’s apparent any evil monster type has a limited shelf life in Vince’s eyes.
So, the Bray Wyatt character was virtually destroyed, and while those in the business may not agree, this is the opinion of most fans.
Rebirth
Here’s where it gets interesting. There are plenty of rumors and reports online that claim WWE Creative came up with the Fiend character to make up for their mishandling of the Bray Wyatt character.
What makes this really cool is Bray Wyatt is said to also have major creative direction in the Firefly Fun House segments with the writing and planning.
They even gave him a really awesome theme song and entrance that is the best in the WWE today.
It rivals the Undertaker’s entrance on nearly every level except pageantry, but that’s because it doesn’t need it.
Around this time last year, it was reported that the Fiend’s merchandise was sold out and that the WWE struggled to fill the order.
WWE can’t stand prosperity
Fan videos of his dark matches against the OC (3 on 1) and Drew McIntyre in a steel cage surface showing the fans absolutely loving the character.
They even booed soundly when someone gained the upper hand on him.
Then came Hell in a Cell and the character was nearly derailed because Vince McMahon allegedly wanted the ending to be like a horror movie with the referee calling it only to have the Fiend resurface unharmed.
The deafening boos are one thing, but the reaction of Sean Waltman (X-Pac) while watching it really struck home how bad an idea it was.
Fast forward to this year and the debacle when Bill Goldberg defeated the Fiend in a squash match for the Universal Championship.
Fans were livid and booed Goldberg then, and when he appeared on Smackdown.
Our favorite had been destroyed once again for the sake of the WWE trying to cash in on a Goldberg-Roman Reigns WrestleMania match that few if any fans wanted to see.
Then the pandemic hit and Reigns chose the health of himself and his family, leaving the WWE to change their plans.
So, they started to rebuild the Fiend in a cinematic match against John Cena at WrestleMania.
Now, the Fiend appears to be a dominate monster once again and he has Alexa Bliss at his side as the Fiendess.
We need more, but not too much
While championships would be nice, the Fiend is more of a destroyer who should have long running storylines where he dismantles his opponents. Anything less would be an insult to Wyatt and the fans.
Of course, this leads to us wanting to see him in action more than we’ve gotten, and that proves another interesting problem.
The Fiend is so awesome because we’re not overexposed to him. He’s an attraction like Andre the Giant and others that were unbeatable so they didn’t wrestle in the same territory for long.
To balance this out, we generally see the Fiend in matches at pay-per-views with the Firefly Fun House vignettes and attacks in the ring to keep us engaged.
With his final appearance on Smackdown being his first match on the show, it feels wrong to have waiting nearly a year to see that.
Maybe the WWE could mix it up some and have the occasional match on Raw since he’s been drafted there?
Not too often, like a once a month appearance like in the dark matches. They could alternate his pay-per-view matches with the show.
That’d also allow Alexa Bliss to get more focus in a pay-per-view match so we can see the full effect he has on her.
It’d also pave the way for the Fiend to be her escort and appear if she needs help and vice versa.
There’s plenty of room to play around with this, and we’re happy to see “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt become dominant once again.
We’re going to hope for the best and keep our fingers crossed.
What are your thoughts? Do you want to see more of the Fiend in the ring? Let us know in the comments below.
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