WWE: Is a Universal Championship match too much, too soon for The Fiend (and Bray Wyatt)?

WWE is going all-in on Bray Wyatt with a presumed championship match at Hell in a Cell, but are they pushing The Fiend too soon?

In the current state of WWE programming, no wrestler may be more entertaining than Bray Wyatt is right now. Although the debut of the Firefly Fun House was the ultimate “What the hell is this?” moment, the transition from the Eater of Worlds to The Fiend has been one of the most successful re-packagings in recent memory.

Because of that success, Wyatt is being pushed to the forefront of the Universal Championship picture. With an attack on current champion Seth Rollins to close out Clash of Champions on Sunday night, it looks like The Fiend will be on the fast track, and challenge Rollins for the title at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in two weeks.

It’s great to see a hot gimmick being pushed to the top, but the bigger question is whether WWE is giving The Fiend too much, too fast.

On the positive side of the argument, Bray Wyatt and The Fiend are the hottest thing WWE has going for them. His entrance at SummerSlam is still a treat to watch, and the slew of merchandise which ranges from t-shirts emblazoned with “Yowie Wowie” and even his creepy puppets characters from the Firefly Fun House has likely generated so much money it makes sense to put him in the spotlight.

However, The Fiend’s push has been very unique. Since returning to WWE programming back in April, Wyatt has wrestled in just one match. His opponent, Finn Balor, is definitely not a slouch as the first-ever Universal Champion, but Balor was coming into that match on a losing streak and many fans knew that the Irishman was about to take some time off after being a sacrifice to The Fiend.

After the success of Wyatt’s re-debut, reports came out that WWE wanted to make The Fiend special. As a result, The Fiend was used sparingly and it made sense to use him in spots that had meaning such as attacking Jerry “The King” Lawler.

However, it may have made more sense to use The Fiend against an opponent with more momentum as one final tune-up before his big opportunity.

Even though WWE had five weeks to accomplish this, they had Wyatt sit back and suddenly re-appear with his eyes set on the title. Again, this makes perfect sense, but they almost back themselves into a corner by fast-tracking Wyatt.

While The Fiend is Rollins’ most formidable challenger outside of Brock Lesnar, he’s not in a position to take a loss as that would halt the momentum that has been built over the past six months.

Even if The Fiend wins (and at this point he almost has to), WWE would put themselves into another corner as Wyatt has not been used as a full-time talent, although he’s a full-time member of the roster.

Maybe it will work out with the success The Fiend character has had since its debut, but it all just seems like too much, too fast.