WWE SmackDown Takeaways: Bray Wyatt fears one man

The final episode of WWE SmackDown before the Money in the Bank Pay Per View was quite solid. Here are five takeaways from the show.

Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose went to battle, Sasha Banks and Bayley lost a tag team match, Sheamus and Jeff Hardy had a war of words, and Bray Wyatt made one last plea on the final episode of WWE SmackDown before Money in the Bank.

Here were the five biggest takeaways from Friday Night SmackDown.

Bray Wyatt is afraid of Braun Strowman

He calls himself the “Face of Fear”, so it’s only natural that he doesn’t want to show the slightest bit of fright. But when watching how desperate Wyatt was to avoid facing Braun Strowman, constantly begging for Braun to give up the title peacefully and “come home”, it’s abundantly clear that Wyatt fears the Universal Champion.

Wyatt believes he “created” Strowman, and while this view is entirely delusional, it does speak to a crucial element of Bray’s fear. See, Wyatt knows Strowman’s power and knows that he helped develop Strowman in his formative years as a wrestler. Therefore, Strowman knows Wyatt just about as well as Wyatt knows him, and Strowman’s strengths, beyond those that are physical, can be used against him.

Although Strowman did seem understandably creeped out by Wyatt’s overtures and his puppets in this segment, remember that Braun has the upper hand here. This is a match Wyatt wants for the sake of the title, but Strowman is the last opponent Wyatt wants to face.