WWE Raw: Bray Wyatt Needs A Reset

“The Eater of Worlds”, Bray Wyatt, has been treading water in WWE for the last year. It’s time for a change.

Last night on RAW, Bray Wyatt obliterated Heath Slater and Rhyno. It didn’t matter. After the beatdown, Bray Wyatt cut another cryptic promo, stating that he was “coming” for “Woken” Matt Hardy. Other than the possibility of seeing a “Final Deletion” style match in the near future, this didn’t matter either. No matter what, it never seems to matter what Bray Wyatt does or says. That’s a shame because the talented third-generation wrestler should mean more.

Since his feud with John Cena a little less than four years ago, WWE has booked Wyatt as a choker. Wyatt is basically the Kansas City Chiefs, or any Washington D.C. team, or the Chris Paul-era Los Angeles Clippers. He ALWAYS loses big matches, no matter the opponent. When he finally did pull off a momentous win last year, the bookers wasted all that momentum with TWO substandard matches against Randy Orton (including the universally panned House of Horrors match).

Wyatt possesses all the skills necessary to work at the top of the card. He’s a great talker, has a cool look, and is good in the ring. He just needs a reset to freshen up his character. It honestly wouldn’t take much.

Empty words

I howled with laughter during Wyatt’s promo during the go-home edition of RAW last week when he’s said that Hardy was nothing but empty words and broken promises. He said this with absolutely no self-awareness. This has been a consistent problem with Wyatt. Almost all of his promos consist of the same rambling and meaningless platitudes. He often sounds like someone who Googled “things a cult leader says” and put all the quotes together into one long speech.

Wyatt’s words mean nothing primarily because he seldom backs them up in the ring. This makes it easy to tune out his soliloquies and ignore his matches. All of his feuds follow a similar pattern: Wyatt wins the first match, then loses the next two (the last match usually carries a stipulation).

Wyatt’s character, a composite of Max Cady from Cape Fear and Waylon Mercy, represented a breath of fresh air when WWE called him up in 2013. His promo style was unique and there was an element of danger to him and his then-stablemates Luke Harper and Eric Rowan. As time went on, the company slowly de-fanged Wyatt, making him feel like just another member of the roster. His WWE Title win last year gave him a little momentum, but WWE promptly undid that with bug projections at WrestleMania last April and a dingy house the following month.

Can WWE rebuild him?

When it comes to fixing Bray Wyatt, the meaning of Occam’s razor comes to mind: the simplest solution is usually the best. If his character is a charismatic, bearded cult leader with a god complex, give him actual followers. If his words seem hollow because of his flimsy won/loss record, give him meaningful wins. This isn’t rocket science, even if WWE often makes it out to be.

Next: WWE Raw Review, Highlights, Grades, and Analysis

Wyatt’s lack of credibility has hindered his feud with Hardy. Well, that and the fact that they do nothing but cut promos on one another and laugh at each other. Wyatt’s warning that he is coming for Hardy might hopefully lead to a tussle at the Hardy estate in Cameron, North Carolina, giving Wyatt, the feud, and Hardy a much-needed jolt. But for Wyatt to recapture his early magic, WWE needs to take better care of a delicate gimmick before it’s too late, and that expiration date is closer than they think.