Sister Abigail... a low point for Bray Wyatt?

[neildittmar]

To be clear, I don't think WWE bringing Sister Abigail to life as an actual character is necessarily a bad thing. This is despite my feelings that "she" has far more potential and longevity as a never seen, never heard from, but ever-present apparition in the mind of Bray Wyatt. I'm also not against Bray Wyatt playing the part of Abigail himself, as I believe he's talented enough to pull off the character in a way that's both entertaining and downright freightening.

Unfortunately, the segement I saw on RAW last night revealing Sister Abigail was neither of those.

My guess is that someone in WWE creative must really have an affinity for early 90's WCW. Upon the lame warp effect used to transform Wyatt into Abigail, this segment had Black Scorpion written all over it... from the dimly lit shrouded figure to the cheap vocalizer effects that would routinely fail out, revealing Bray's own voice when he began speaking after a pause. All that was missing was Abigail throwing random dates and locations at Balor and they would've had the whole thing. I wonder if next week Abigail will disappear a tiger or make a fans head spin around in a circle...

Jokes aside, I've got to imagine that there was a much better way to not introduce, but unleash Abigail upon the WWE Universe. Personally, I would've preferred her to be in the ring with Balor rather than via satellite. Build up her entrance and give her the slow creep a la Undertaker. Everybody knows it's Bray under the shroud so why even try to obscure those details? Pull his hair back into a makeshift ponytail and smear blood red lipstick on him as if it were applied with one of those extra large permanent markers. Give her some variant of Bray's own attire with burn marks on the bottom half representing Abigails pain. Scrawl something like "Inside Out" backwards across her forehead. A shrilly, screetching voice is probably on order here, along with a bouquet of dying roses for Balor. Blowing a kiss to Balor as she makes her exit could provide the exclamation point.

In other words, use "Abigail" to solidify the concept that there is something truly, truly wrong inside the mind of Bray Wyatt. I think his current character is at somewhat of a crossroads where WWE needs to either pull the trigger and go big or begin walking it back. Honorable mention to Finn Balor though for trying his heart out to sell the debut of Sister Abigail as something truly cringe worthy.

I definitely cringed.

 

[HeenanGorilla]

I have to be honest...it was the first time in over 10 years that I actually made a point to DVR Raw because I wanted to see what happened with this. ...and I liked it! Haha!

Now, to be fair, my favorite eras of wrestling were back when characters and storylines were big deals. So, this was a welcomed throw back for me. I am someone who got the Network and, aside from Mania and the end of a few other PPVs that I didn't realize were on until I went to watch something else, I have watched nothing but 80s and 90s PPVs, Raws and Prime Time Wrestling (and Tough Enough Season 1...but that didn't take long). My point is, I am not "today's fan". I can see how someone who takes WWE seriously can find this disappointing or, worse, infuriating. But for me, the casual fan who enjoys old school wrestling way more than today's product, this was cool.

Bray needs to realize that the voice distortion only works for certain pitches and not when he gets louder or whispers, but otherwise, it was cool. Not so much what he said or how it looked...just that brief moment of craziness from years past coming back--it was a welcomed segment. I find Bray awesome--his entrance, his mic work, his matches...more so how he carries himself in them than the results or his usage...but I find him a very rare interesting character that is missing, for me, in today's product. I saw some mention of the birth of the hand or Katie Vick. I don't think it was anywhere near that ridiculous. It might end up being bad, but so far, I liked it! It has potential and, although recent history tells me otherwise, I'll watch and hope it becomes something memorable. But, like I said, it's easier for me to accept it failing because I am not invested anymore. For those that are, I hope we are all pleasantly surprised.

 

[The Perfect Max]

Perhaps the production element could have been improved, but I have to say that I really enjoyed it. The idea that Bray is possessed by Sister Abigail entertains the hell out of me, and I definitely don't think that it's too far fetched an idea. It's fresh for Bray and in ways I think it brings him down to earth as a character who appears less supernatural, and more insane.

There's quite a few people who have hated on this, and honestly some of their arguments are so flawed. People think that this makes Bray seem like more of a supernatural character and that WWE are insulting their intelligence. This is just dumb because if this was Undertaker or Kane, nobody would complain. Sure, Bray isn't either of them two, but the point still remains. Plus, I don't think this insults our intelligence as I didn't see this as some supernatural weirdness, although I'm perfectly okay if it was. I saw this as more of an extension of Bray's deranged character.

Again, I understand the flaws in production. But the idea was there and I really enjoyed the concept. Hopefully this grows. I don't think this is a new low for Bray at all. But by now we should all be used to who Bray Wyatt is and what role his character fulfils.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Huh? You can't possibly draw conclusions from anything you saw on Raw. That was just a creepy promo that drove the story in no particular direction. It could just be mind games, it could be some ugly lady, it could be a gender fluid Bray, it could anything. This story has had no payoff at all as nothing was really "revealed".

Don't get me wrong. Wyatt has been one of the most disappointing characters in WWE history with his long winded promos, directionless actions, hypocrisy, and booking but this storyline has not even begun to climax. I expect that climax to come at TLC or SS.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

It was seriously dumb. Only thing that could match that is when Bray shows up and acts like Goldust in his early career.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Do people not realize how much this is drawing from Psycho and Norman Bates? I honestly think if you look at it from that perspective as opposed to “lol a man dressing as a woman, that will never get over” then it works or much better.

Besides, the same lot of you who are criticizing this are likely the same ones who get erections over The Demon, which is just as stupid as you are trying to make this out to be. “Oh man, he uses the same music and same move set and still sells the same but now he puts on red and black body paint and wears some headdress.”

 

[Dagger Dias]

Calling this a "low point" would be an understatement. That "Sister Abigail" promo destroyed what little credibility Bray Wyatt had left. They ruined a perfectly good opportunity to bring Paige back or even to bring Ruby Riot up from NXT for the character. Bray is a man. No male should be portraying a female character. I can only suspend disbelief so far, I have to draw the line here. It was extremely stupid. Maybe not Fake Trump VS Fake Rosie levels of stupid, let alone Katie Vick or Mae Young's Hand levels of stupid, but it was colossally stupid. Easily the worst thing I have seen on WWE television in the last several years. I was a big fan of Bray but I'm at the point of giving up on him forever. If he truly is playing the "Sister Abigail" character and comes out into a match dressed up like an undead girl, I'm boycotting Bray. People criticized him summoning bugs into the ring at Wrestlemania. That was nothing compared to this. It was horrible and whoever at WWE Creative made the decision to not have a woman portray the character should be ashamed of themselves.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I enjoyed the promo last night and I didn't really expect to and it had a lot to do with some of the mystique of the Wyatt character being on display. Bray Wyatt used to do some creepy stuff and say creepy stuff in his promos and last night was a return to that.

The feeling I get is that Bray will come out as though he's "transformed" somehow like Balor when he's in his "Demon" persona. My initial reaction to that was that I felt pretty underwhelmed but now I'm not so certain. Could he be both transformed and could Sister Abigail actually appear in person? I'm not sure as the promo was still sort of vague in that sense.

As a fan, I think I've let myself be influenced too much by the general pessimism of the internet and I want to work on that. Wrestling is all about suspension of disbelief and while I agree that there are limits, over the top stuff like this is part of what made wrestling so enjoyable 20 years ago.

 

[Navi]

Do people not realize how much this is drawing from Psycho and Norman Bates? I honestly think if you look at it from that perspective as opposed to “lol a man dressing as a woman, that will never get over” then it works or much better.

That was seriously the first thing I thought of when it happened. Psycho was one of the first horror movies I watched and that scene in the shower lives on with me.

Thinking about it, it's the only thing they can really do outside of bringing an actual woman into it. And with the PG rating, you can't have Balor fighting a woman in the ring. It will be interesting to see how they bring out the Sister Abigail character when Bray is in the ring now, but I didn't hate it.

The only thing I do question is, why did he ever need a family when he had Sister Abigail waiting in the wings the whole time.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Low point? Where were you guys when Ghost Bray came out of a lantern? Where were you when a projector showed stock video of bugs at Wrestlemania? Or every single cheesy jumpscare ending of a Bray promo? He can possess a choir fool of children but being possessed by the spirit of an old chick is crossing the line? Please. He's supposed to be doing creepy things. There's a whole list of horror movies that do what Bray is obviously doing. If this is what breaks your suspension of disbelief, I don't know how anyone survived Undertaker and Kane.

Paige and Ruby Riot aren't remotely like what Bray described Sister Abigail to be. It would have been a huge disservice to the fans who watched Riot and Paige somehow randomly develop that gimmick. This was the only logical thing they could have done with Sister Abigail, especially since Balor can't outright fight Paige or Riot. Time will tell if this sucks but there was nothing wrong with Bray's promo. If anything the digital effects could have been loads better. But that acting? Top.

Finally they're doing something with Bray that isn't his normal blabbering bullshit. I'm pretty stoked.

 

[Wildcat66]

I think what people forget is that Bray Wyatt is supposed to be in the veins of The Undertaker and Kane in that they tend to dark, brooding creatures; but they also have a bit of cartoony charm to them to make sure they remain characters.

As for Sister Abigail? Not gonna lie: I loved it. The idea that Sister Abigail's spirit is alive but not her body creates the potential for some great storylines; Sister Abigail could be like a exorcist type character that possesses whoever Bray faces, sort of like what Papa Shango did to the Warrior back in '91; but infinitely better.

However, this basically would mean that Bray has to win his next match with Finn Balor; if he does, then all of his credibility could probably be dead in the water.

 

[Eyebrows]

It was corny as hell. But that's what Wyatt is now. He's so far removed from what he was in NXT. Mind-games/trickery would be one thing but the way they played it up with Balor talking about unleashing evil, it's like they wanted everybody to think that he is legitimately possessed.

There's the chance though that he is just messing about and they'll give him a valet which would be a much better way to freshen up his act. This is just more creepy Wyatt. Maryse did wonders for Miz, so not sure why people are saying in a PG era they couldn't do anything with her because Balor can't fight her? Just have him not fight her because he's a face?

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

That was awful. I'm trying to come up with a reason to like it, and I can't.

You have a cult leader who is over with the fans and has a ton of talent. What do you do? Well if you answered lose every match, lose all his followers, and pretend to be a woman (who's dead), then congragulations! You just won a spot on the WWE Creative Team!

In all seriousness, how could anyone get excited for this, knowing Bray will lose?

 

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

Personally I'm just hoping that Triple H pretends to fuck Sister Abigail's corpse while wearing a Kane mask.

Seriously though, it better be drag queen witch Bray in action at TLC. And anyone who wasn't absolutely howling with laughter at the sight of the promo on RAW this week has zero credibility. It was an abortion. It made me hate Finn Balor for selling it. As soon as kids in the crowd are laughing, time to call an audible there Finn.

Just when you thought the haunted house match was the lowest point in Bray's career, you get this. I couldn't be happier, the guy has been hot garbage for years.

A lot of wrestling today is lame, boring, or generic. But this has potential to be YE-TAY level of terrible. I can't wait.

 

[HeenanGorilla]

In all seriousness, how could anyone get excited for this, knowing Bray will lose?

I can't speak for everyone, but I don't see what "losing" has to do with enjoying an angle. I understand a lot of fans get wrapped up in "pushes" and winning and losing. That's fine. But you don't seem to understand that others watch to be entertained, not worried about who loses or where this is going. Not necessarily saying you, but so many people watch wrestling like a chess match; looking several moves ahead. If that's your thing, ok. But how many times do your predictions and assumptions have to be wrong before you just sit back and watch what is happening when it's happening? So many people write out these long programs in their mind--or voice them here, mistakenly thinking what they think matters--and then get disappointed when their imaginations don't match what the shot callers actually come out with. In my opinion, that is why most fans will never be happy. But, if a guy eventually "losing" a predetermined match prevents you from enjoying anything in the meantime, that's on you. Just seems like a tough way to approach this kind of theater.

 

[neildittmar]

Lots of good comments so far... seems fairly split down the middle.

One thing I'll add from my OP are that first impressions are important. While none of us really know exactly how things will play out, I think it's tough to dispute that the segment on RAW was at the very least underwhelming (if not damaging) for the character/angle.

Also in response to the Katie Vick / Mae Young hand comparisons, I'll submit this as an addendum to the thread topic:

The resemblance here is pretty striking and for me personally, signs of a problem.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

If Bray can sell me the fact that he's not Bray Wyatt and he's someone else when he's in that form then I'm all for it. If this ends up being a costume like the Demon King ended up being nothing more than an entrance, then screw it. Until then I'll wait and see what happens.

 

[El Rev sXe]

Calling this a "low point" would be an understatement. That "Sister Abigail" promo destroyed what little credibility Bray Wyatt had left. They ruined a perfectly good opportunity to bring Paige back or even to bring Ruby Riot up from NXT for the character. Bray is a man. No male should be portraying a female character.

Why not? Maybe it is because I am a psychologist, but I find it really interesting in character development. Like some poster said it before, it has this Norman Bates feeling, and I think it's very innovative.

It's taking a risk of course, and could be completely shit, but we have seen only one apparence from her and people are already bitching and moaning without seeing where this is heading.

Maybe it brings a new fire into Bray Wyatt's career, or simply is just another fail atempt.

Either way let's see how it unfolds in the upcoming weks and it may Bray or the writers, but at leat with Bray Wyatt, the WWE are constantly trying new things.

 

[Slick21]

I'm really surprised that a good portion of people hated that promo. Don't get me wrong, with WWE, they can take a wrong turn for this like usual. I'm still holding up to that possibility, but I thought the promo was well done and it has opened up some potential for Bray. It's not the greatest thing ever, but I'll say this much, the way Brays face change through that screen did creep me out a little. I don't think I ever felt that way ever since I first saw Kane from 97 or watching the Ministry terrorizing the WWE.

As for the sister abigail character, I don't believe it's going to be what most people think it is, like when Santino Marella changed over to Santina. I think the idea is that he's still Bray, but has the mind of Norman Bates believeing that a dead person is still with living him. The new look could just be face paint resembling the creepy pretty lady mask that Leatherface had or some kind of other scary figure. I'm not sure how to feel about this for Bray though. It played it out well in the horror movies, but in WWE, it's a whole another story. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Spencesc11]

One way to save this....

Balor goes for his finisher at TLC, the lights go out. When they come back on a pale faced woman is in the ring with Wyatt. Balor looks stunned. Then Bo Dallas comes out to distract Balor and Wyatt hits Sister Abigail. Then have Bo Dallas change his name to Bo Wyatt and have the brothers start tagging on Raw. Division needs more depth and what a storyline. I would even have Mika Rotunda play Abigail for full family effect!!!

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

One way to save this....

Balor goes for his finisher at TLC, the lights go out. When they come back on a pale faced woman is in the ring with Wyatt. Balor looks stunned. Then Bo Dallas comes out to distract Balor and Wyatt hits Sister Abigail. Then have Bo Dallas change his name to Bo Wyatt and have the brothers start tagging on Raw. Division needs more depth and what a storyline. I would even have Mika Rotunda play Abigail for full family effect!!!

I thought Bo was doing a great job in the Miztourage, so I wouldn't split them up so soon.