Bray Wyatt has taken the wrestling world by storm with his new character, the Fiend, and it’s led him to facing Seth Rollins at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in a Hell in a Cell match in his official third match with this gimmick.
It’s an unexpected rise through the ranks that have many excited, but also saying it’s too soon for his character to win the Universal championship. They may be right, but here’s the thing: he’s the most popular superstar currently. He regularly gets the loudest pop (standing ovations) and has fans salivating, so it’s only natural the WWE would have him go for the Universal championship to also push Rollins, whom they’ve spent a great deal of time and money pushing (many would say down our throats) over the last year. It could be beneficial to both superstars and given Rollins a rebirth of sorts.
How?
By following in Shawn Michael’s footprints.
While AJ Styles is often credited with being this generation’s version of the Heartbreak Kid, the similarities between Rollins’ opponents and Michaels’ are apparent. Both have been part of a protective group (in story, Diesel was Michaels’ bodyguard and was his own Shield, followed by DeGeneration X). Michaels then broke away from both, and his matched against Diesel are legendary.
Rollins faced not one big man, but two in Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman, each at least two times. Rollins, like most superstars anymore, use an acrobatic style similar to Michaels, so that comparison is pretty weak. But both survived their matches against the big men, but this is where the angle kind veers slightly.
Michaels’ second big man was the Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match in which Michaels was dominated and was a stain on the Undertaker’s boot before Kane appeared, ripped the door off, and took out the Undertaker for Michaels to pin.
Fast forward twenty or so years, and Rollins is now faced with the Fiend, and though Bray Wyatt isn’t technically a “big man” like those previously mentioned, his gimmick is very similar to the Undertaker’s, so their matches kind align again.
What does this mean?
Here’s where it gets fun and we get to play the what if game. Fans have been clamoring for the Fiend and Undertaker to meet at the next WrestleMania for the Universal championship, but we probably won’t have to wait that long.
Next week, the Fiend will claim Rey Mysterio as his next victim, and Rollins will probably fight back finally. Then, in their Hell in a Cell match, they’ll face a scenario similar to Michaels and the Undertaker way back when.
Expect for Wyatt to dominate until…
Flashback
A few weeks back on Smackdown Live, the Undertaker was commenting, “Now, we usher in a new era of superstar” and was interrupted by Sami Zayn. It’s possible he was going to call out the Fiend, Bray Wyatt. Possibly for partially stealing his gimmick and/or for intruding on his territory (the night/dark).
Since the Undertaker never got to finish that though, we’ve been left hanging possibly for this moment.
Many expect Strowman to interfere, and while he’s a logical choice, the Undertaker needs to even the score for what Wyatt did to Kane as well as solidify himself as the true threat in the dark.
Logically, given the Undertaker’s ability to just appear, similar to the Fiend, he’d join them in the ring and he and Wyatt would begin their fight. The end would result in Rollins winning and the Fiend gimmick surviving an important loss by sidestepping into a feud with the Undertaker that could possibly lead to WrestleMania, depending on how they play it out.
Who says history doesn’t repeat itself?
What are your thoughts? How do you see it playing out?
