Saw a few posts that I wanted to chime in about. Starting with the OP so that this thread actually adds to the discussion that the thread was made for.
Is anyone else bored with Bray Wyatt? He's done the same little routine for as long as he has been around and it has grown tiresome. His character doesn't even make any sense. "I'm a monster, you're a monster, the fans are monsters" over and over and over again.
To me, the WWE is molding his persona as a man who tries to convince the fans to see the world as he sees it, his "truths" and his beliefs. He's somewhat of a cult leader preaching his message to those that want to hear and accept it while showing his non-believers that his way of thinking is the real way everyone should believe in. His character really hasn't been claiming that everyone is a monster at heart. He wasn't trying to expose Kane as a monster when he first debuted on the main brands, he was proclaiming that Kane actually
wasn't the monster that the WWE has built up but, rather a "fairy tale" and "a loser." When they fought Bryan and Punk together at Survivor Series, their main objective was to show the WWE Universe that they were just ordinary men even though the fans regarded them as heroes. After Survivor Series, the Wyatts continued their assault on Daniel Bryan in the attempt to convince him that no matter what Bryan does, the "Machine" will always hold him back so, he should join the Wyatts to destroy said machine. Their battle with The Shield was a power struggle between the two major groups at that time.
Then, you had Bray Wyatt calling out John Cena for the monster that he believes Cena really is. A brief history of the subtle changes that's occurred throughout Bray's young career. Wyatt has only been a part of the main roster for the past 10 months or so. It's way too early to be asking him to change his character. Especially, since it seems to be doing a pretty good job at connecting with the fans.
What is he accomplishing? Am I really supposed to believe that someone with his beliefs would be touring the world with a professional wrestling company? And how can I as a viewer buy everything that he is selling when he is so poor with his facial expressions and body language. He comes off more like an obnoxious gym teacher than some "believer".
I wouldn't have a hard time believing that someone with the beliefs of Bray Wyatt would tour with a company like the WWE. As someone on the thread has already stated, what better way to get your message out to the masses then by joining and traveling along with a company that has a major worldwide audience? I'm pretty sure that there's a lot of real life leaders with an underground following who can only dream of getting a chance to be in a position where Bray is. So, it isn't too hard to believe that Bray could do something like that.
Then there is his ring work. Where do I start? Every move it looks his opponent is doing all the heavy lifting. Sister Abigail seems like the kind of move that hurts him more than his opponent. An opponent that he wastes time kissing. And the spider thing is cute but now that we've seen it over and over again with his other three moves how about someone just kicks him in the head instead of just staring at him.
For me personally, ring work as in the amount of moves and how he executes them in the squared circle doesn't mean that much to me in terms of judging a wrestler. It's about playing the same character that you portray in your promos. Wyatt does that in my opinion. The way he carries himself with the facial expressions, how he talks, and then taunts his opponent with things like the spider crawl all makes sense because that's how his character acts both in and outside the ring.And in all honesty, can we really complain about Wyatt taking his time to kiss his opponent on the top of the head when people like The Rock and Scotty 2 Hotty had moves like The People's Elbow and The Worm respectively? Both of which were very over with the fans and took quite a bit of time to execute?
I know the guy works hard at what he does and I respect that but he's become a giant caricature. The fans don't even know how to treat him any more. He just become one of those guys that Vince loves with an interesting look and 80's era DNA.
Part of the reason why the fans may not "know how to treat" Bray Wyatt could possibly fall on the shoulders of John Cena. Cena's on a level where no matter who you put in front of him, there will be groups of fans that will cheer against Cena. If Vince McMahon loves ya, you have an interesting look and act about you, and the reactions that you've been receiving at shows continues to grow, then you're in a pretty good spot within the company as far as I can tell. The world is made of different characters and mindsets, why not have your show reflect that in a somewhat extreme way?
It is time that the guy made a change.
Maybe a few years down the road or when the Wyatts become stale to the majority of the WWE fans. But, for right now, you've got one of the most unique characters the company has produced in quite a while now. Why change that?
I think it's time I spit some truth in here;
Next up...
A. Bray Wyatt wouldn't have survived in the Hogan era. He looks like a star now, but if he were in the era of Hulk Hogan, he wouldn't have the talent to make it. When you had such great heel fatties as One Man Gang, Kamala, and Andre, Bray would look like a joke. He's a star because if the PG Era, and the PG Era is the absolute worst time for the business aspect of pro wrestling.
Times change. Who's to say someone from the Golden/Hulk Hogan Era would be able to pull off the same feats as some to the wrestlers of today? I'm not saying that Wyatt is a sure fire superstar back in those days but who knows? It's basically pure speculation to say something like that and not actually a "truth" as you would put it. He is a star in today's world because he was given the right gimmick, worked very hard on making that gimmick click with the audience, and then showcased his talents in the best way possible, not because he's in the "PG Era". The PG Era quite the contrary has been great for the WWE from a business standpoint. The last 4 WrestleManias have all eclipsed the 1,000,000 buyrate mark and WM 28 & 29 both became the highest grossing WWE events in the history of the company at the time of their event. Despite what we on here say, most of the time the WWE knows what it's doing.
B. Anyone can look great with the people Bray's been working with. Wyatt got to work with CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, The Shield, and John Cena. Of course he's going to look good. Remember when he was working with Kane and R Truth? I do, because it was bollocks. Bray needs to give his spot to fresh heels like The Miz. That would shake things up.
Couple of questions. 1.)
What makes The Miz fresh as compared to Bray Wyatt? People have seen The Miz before, he's been in the game for about 7 and a half years if you start his career from his first match on Smackdown. The Miz has gone on to main event a WrestleMania whereas Bray just got to showcase his talents for the first time at the Grand Stage. As previously mentioned, Bray has been a part of the WWE main shows for under a year. He provides a much different persona as a cult leader of sorts than what The Miz has been given with his cocky heel attitude that a number of wrestlers have already done. 2.)
What spot is Bray really giving up? Is he slightly above The Miz on the totem pole when it comes to where the two are on the card? Yes. But, let's not act like he's consistently closing out Raw every Monday or is involved in the final match on a pay-per-view. Bray is still featured on undercard matches, granted he and his family get to go up against main event level talent on most nights.
C. Bray was out in a high match at Wrestlemania with one of the greatest draws in WWE. They drew 400,000 buys. Dude does not draw an audience.
Pretty sure a few have already beaten me to it but that 400,000 figure is only on the actual ppv buys alone. You add in the other 600,000+ to the people who bought the WWE Network, throw in the international numbers, WrestleMania 30 could possibly be THE most watched WWE pay-per-view in it's near 30 year history. Whether the man can actually draw an audience or not can be put up for debate a few years later down the road if he's main eventing shows and everything. But, according to your logic above Bray Wyatt can indeed draw a pretty good audience.
D. He doesn't look like a monster... He looks like a methhead.
Yeah, Bray's rather shit.
This is not actually a truth rather than just your opinion. I don't know that a meth head really looks like since I don't hang around any of them. But, I did do an image search on Google to see what a number of "meth heads" looked like. Very VERY few actually looked like Bray Wyatt. Okay onto the last thing I saw that struck my eye.
1. CM Punk came out of his feud with Cena looking better because of what he did, nothing that Cena did. His pipe bomb promo set the stage for his jump to the top, not that he was put over by John.
2. The people got behind Daniel Bryan long before John Cena got involved. Regarding that Summerslam match the ONLY reason Daniel Bryan won that match was due to John's injury. WWE's actions following that match with John and basically going up to the Rumble showed that they were being forced to put Daniel over.
3. Much like the two above Wyatt is getting over because of his ability in the ring and on the mic, not because of anything Cena did. You don't get the Super Cena citing? REALLY? Please rewatch the end of that match.
While all three guys were getting their pushes to the top, it seems like that final push to show them and the WWE fans that they've finally "made it" to the main event level of the mountain is by going over John Cena. Many more people will remember CM Punk beating Cena and then walking out of Chicago and the WWE as the champ rather than when he cashed in the briefcase against either JBL or Jeff Hardy. More people will talk about Bryan beating Cena clean at Summer Slam more than his 3 and a half month reign as World Heavyweight Champion when he found ways to escape defeat against the likes of Mark Henry, Big Show, and winning the Chamber match in my opinion.
The end of the WM 30 match between Wyatt and Cena was not an example of "Super Cena." Super Cena comes out when he doesn't get a whole lot of offense during the match (in this case it was a good back and forth between the two), kicks out of multiple finishers (Wyatt only hit Cena with the Sister Abigail one time), and Cena goes right into his "5 Moves of Doom," hits the AA, and wins the match (Wyatt not only kicked out of an AA but he fought himself to the ropes when Cena locked in the STF). WM 30 was a good match that ended the right way that has continued the feud to at the very least one more pay per view.