Bray Wyatt Proves Bodies Don’t Make Superstars Anymore
For those of you who remember the 1980’s, we had some remarkably jacked up guys who looked like they were south of two percent body fat. They were so muscular, in fact, that if you get a chance to watch some of them being pinned, it’s hilarious…because they’re so big they can’t get their shoulders totally down to the mat. Bray Wyatt has shown us that those days are over.
Remember when a hulking body was about all you needed to get over as a monster heel? Guys like Sid Vicious and Hercules were believable as monsters just because of their look. Of course, neither could cut a sensible promo and
both were simply horrific
neither were much in the ring.
Sure, we’ve still got John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Ryback and others who have that larger-than-life look, but when we consider who the big stars have been over the past year or so, it shows us that we’re trending back in the other direction. We could talk about Daniel Bryan for a whole piece (and we just may soon) but for now let’s focus on Wyatt.
BRAY WYATT’S STRENGTHS
There’s no question that Wyatt’s biggest strength is his promo work, combined with his gimmick. He pulls off the slightly nuts/leader of the crazies as well as anyone has in the past. He doesn’t fumble through his interviews and his mic work has been nothing but engaging and terrific thus far.
Luckily, Wyatt isn’t as green in the ring as he once was. There’s nothing worse than the awesome mouthpiece that simply can’t put together a good match to save their lives. Bray is very agile and athletic for his size (listed at 6-foot-3, 285 pounds) but there’s no question that beneath his attire is a body that many of us can relate to.
His ring work has been solid and his “Sister Abigail” finisher is one of the more unique moves we see in the WWE today. Perhaps just as importantly, he works the crowd well and ensures they’re watching his every move.
WEAKNESSES
With any character like this, there’s a fear that they’re being painted into a corner. Gimmicks don’t tend to have long shelf lives unless they’re in one of the top spots (see: Cena, John). Where could they go from here with Wyatt? He’s already toeing the line between heel and face and a complete face turn could see him drop his cronies, but WWE tends to shy away from the completely crazy faces these days.
Other than that and the fact he’s somewhat limited to the kind of attire he’s wearing now (unless they want to show off his lack of definition), Wyatt has been a godsend for a company that’s been short of legitimate heels. He’s been durable, exciting and the writing team has done him a lot of favors in the way he’s been booked.
Wyatt proves that a strong gimmick, when done well by the performer, can completely overcome a shortfall like a (relatively) bad body. Wyatt does just enough in the ring, is terrific on the mic and is a believable character. So what if he’s a bit more “normal” than the others.