Bray Wyatt is not the right fit for All Elite Wrestling

“Go to AEW” has become the mantra used by wrestling fans to describe the next steps for their favorite superstars that have been deemed “misused” by WWE. That’s an easy phrase to throw out there, but that doesn’t mean it’s the correct step for everyone. Rumors are growing that Bray Wyatt may be heading over to AEW but looking at what AEW has established in nearly two years, one must wonder if that location is the right move for him.

When CM Punk returned at AEW Rampage there was a lot to take from his promo. The fans and viewers hung on each of his words, as they should have. But there was one important distinction that he used that should come into play during this conversation. That idea is the difference between sports entertainment and professional wrestling.

WWE calls itself a sports entertainment provider, looking to give fans what it thinks consists of high drama and intrigued, mixed in with the sports element of wrestling. While the quality of said content is up for debate, that’s the presentation that the company tries to give off each week. AEW is a different side of the coin, where that promotion thrives in providing excellent wrestling, without so much of the pomp and circumstance found in WWE. From the beginning, AEW was meant to be showcased as more of a sporting platform rather than the wild entertainment and so far, that goal has been reached.

That brings the conversation to Wyatt and where does he fit into that equation. Wyatt certainly falls more onto the sports entertainment side of the debate. His gimmicks consist of characters that are bigger personalities outside of the ring than they are inside. It would be hard to name many of Wyatt’s top in-ring performances being ranked along with the likes of Seth Rollins, Kenny Omega, Johnny Gargano, or even younger talent like Darby Allin. Where he excels is as a character that captures and maintains fans’ interest when booked correctly.

There are few examples to date of AEW being interested in booking those types of characters. “Broken” Matt Hardy and Abadon are two examples of such. Both gimmicks are more like Wyatt than they are to anything else that is seen frequently on AEW television. The “Broken” gimmick was enjoyable initially but was quickly shunned for the more “believable” aspects of Hardy’s character today. Abadon had a brief run toward the AEW Women’s World Championship but was shuffled to the back of the roster as well.

These types of characters seem to not work in AEW. Yes, there are some examples such as Omega that work as over-the-top characters, but that is more along the line of them being a scummy movie villain, rather than an individual with superpowers like Wyatt’s characters tend to perform.

There’s a space for these such characters in sports entertainment, but one must wonder if they will directly fit in the world of wrestling where in-ring performance matters just as much if not more. Taking that into consideration, AEW may not be the best platform for Wyatt to make his return to wrestling.