This was the perfect opportunity to turn Wyatt into a face....

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

The Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton storyline. Such a nice build-up, but the conclusion sucked big time. Their match at Wrestlemania did not deliver. The feud is now considered finished by everybody, since Bray is going to RAW, Orton will win Bray once again in his own environment and Bray leaves this one having gained absolutely nothing. Only a paper run as champion for 6 weeks with one title defense. But his character is in the same place he was when he entered the feud.

I'm wondering. Okay WWE. Orton took the fall against Lesnar at Summerslam. A pretty hard one. I like the whole story of Orton's comeback and Orton sure did made a comeback. His character looks fresh. He won another Royal Rumble and is the WWE champion. But Bray sacrificed so much for this to happen.

Orton enters the Wyatt family, completely disbands them, gains Bray's trust, then betrays him, then burns his house, then burns the remains of a dead person and then beats Bray in his own game. And then Bray comes back and attacks Orton with Rowan's help like a complete loser.

Instead, Bray could be written off TV for some time. He just lost everything. He needs time on his own to find himself. To rethink. To reconnect. Orton already has some heat. So mainwhile, Orton gains more and more heat. And then Bray makes his triumphant return and is after Orton like a real man, head to head, not like the mind games Orton used.

I guess it's too late for that and Bray finds himself again staring from the bottom. A feud with Balor right after his loss to Orton really doesn't help.

 

[Navi]

Bray's character as an evil cult leader doesn't warrant a babyface turn, as much as the fans want to cheer him. The biggest problem is that the WWE has pigeonholed him into staying a heel.

I was very interested in this feud from the get go. It's the most excited I've been to seen Orton in a long time. The break up of the Wyatt's gave Luke Harper a chance to strike out on his own, he's too good to stay in Bray's shadow. And with the retirement of the Undertaker this was also the perfect opportunity to keep the dark, spooky side of a character within the WWE as well. Instead we got pictures of bugs on the canvas. It was shocking at first, but for those of us that don't like bugs made me turn away anyway.

They also had a chance to finally introduce a physical form of Sister Abigail into the mix. Unfortunately they wasted all of those opportunities. Orton is back as WWE champ, he didn't need the title. Bray took a huge step backward as he doesn't even have his family anymore. I won't count Rowan, he's been out so long totally forgot about him. To top the whole thing off Bray is now on a roster that has bigger names in front of him, Lesnar, Reigns and Rollins. They will be in line for title shots before he even gets a sniff at the belt.

I really don't know where they are going with Wyatt now. His work on the mic is spectacular, although it seems to be the same thing over and over again, and where it really counts in the ring, let's face it he's good but not great. So you have a cult leader without any followers, where do they go from here, I have no idea. They took what could have been a great character and kind of ruined it.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

The move to Raw is an odd one. On SDL he's a top three guy, on Raw he's behind Reigns, Rollins, Lesnar, and he has Strowman, Balor, Ambrose, and Miz to contend with.

Lesnar is a tween and part time, so realistically the top heels on Raw right now are Wyatt, Miz, and Strowman. Turning Wyatt face now means he has all three Shield guys plus Balor Jockeying for position.

Wyatt is incredibly over and probably should have become the face versus Orton. If he turns face now, someone has to turn heel. I'd nominate Rollins seeing as he's been fairly dead in the water as a face despite the match at Mania being better than expected.

If Wyatt had stayed on Smackdown, the face turn would have been the best way to go. It could have kept him in the title picture by changing the dynamic with Orton. That feud has been done to death though, and would have a required another competitor to keep it interesting.

But Wyatt didn't stay on Smackdown. Unless I missed something, would a Wyatt victory at Payback bring the WWE title to Raw?

They made it clear on Smackdown that the winner of Owens vs Jericho goes with the US title to SDL, so why is there no such stipulation on Wyatt vs Orton?

It's most likely a mistake, but it seems odd that they would take measures to lower the predicability of the US title match, but not the WWE title match. Again, most likely an oversight, but what if it's not?

What if Wyatt wins the title at Payback? It would be better use of him on Raw, then Smackdown doesn't have a champion?

The SDL after Payback, Bryan and/or Shane come out and address their no world title situation, then reveal a conditional move from the shakeup. If Wyatt won, Raw gets the WWE title, but Smackdown would get the Uni title plus Brock.

Lesnar comes out, gets presented with a new blue Uni title. It would be huge for Wyatt, as he'd be champion again, and champion on Raw nonetheless. SDL gets Lesnar, and opens up new feuds for him (Styles, Nakamura).

I doubt this happens though. Most likely Wyatt loses to Orton and slips down the card. Wyatt as champion on Raw would make the Balor feud make more sense (Finn should be owed a world title shot, and they aren't addressing it), and it would open up new feuds with Strowman down the line. Reigns vs Wyatt has been done to death, but I don't think Rollins has had a solo feud with Wyatt yet.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

It looks like Wyatt went on RAW so that we can get Balor vs Wyatt, Strowman vs Wyatt and Lesnar vs Wyatt. These seem like feuds that WWE wants Bray to take part in for the time being. The sad thing is, I don't really see Bray winning any of these.. Era of Wyatt.. Such a letdown.

 

[Navi]

The move to Raw is an odd one. On SDL he's a top three guy, on Raw he's behind Reigns, Rollins, Lesnar, and he has Strowman, Balor, Ambrose, and Miz to contend with.

Geez I had forgotten about Ambrose, Miz, Balor and Strowman. Okay so he can't feud with Miz or Strowman, both are heels and Strowman is involved with Reigns.

Rollins just turned face so doubtful he would go back considering I don't think the HHH thing is over and done with. Wasn't there a rumour that he and Samoa Joe (who I just remembered as well) are going to be going at it since Zayn went to SD Live.

But I think you are right in that if Wyatt wins the title goes to RAW. The WWE might swerve us saying that Lesnar now has to go to SD Live with the Universal Title. And in saying that, the Universal title was one that was created when the brands split, right. It has always seemed weird that it was on the flagship show. This might be a way of getting the WWE Championship Belt and the Universal Title on the show they really want them on.

And if that happens where does that leave Balor? He has a rematch clause for the Universal Title not the WWE title.

 

[The Perfect Max]

If Wyatt loses at Payback - and let's face facts here, he will probably will - then to me that is an indication that they simply don't know what the hell they are doing with him. It seems as if the whole plan with Orton joining The Wyatt Family was to further the both of them, but the booking (primarily Orton winning) meant that it only furthered Orton. Why WWE needed to do that for Orton I don't really understand.

I would have rather had Wyatt retain at WrestleMania, and if they HAD to move him to Raw, have him defend the title at Payback against Orton in his "House of Horrors" match and have Orton win. That way, I guess when the two can eventually cross paths again, there's the whole thing about how Wyatt never got his rematch and that they have unfinished business. I wouldn't mind that sort of long-term (I guess) booking. But that isn't what happened and yet again Bray Wyatt is heading into a new direction, coming off a LOSS.

As others have said above, so many missed opportunities with this feud too. It was definitely very good, but not great. Had they introduced a physical Sister Abigail, or something else, then maybe that could have helped Bray after the loss. It gives him something fresh to work with heading to Raw OTHER than a feud that he will likely lose.

We assume he's feuding with Finn Bálor. I like that feud a lot, because eventually Bálor will release the demon. The demon vs. the cult leader. But is Finn going to lose his first feud back? Which, when you think about it, is actually his first feud in the company. Sure, he had the feud with Rollins for the Universal Championship but that was purely for the belt. If Wyatt loses this too, he truly is directionless. I doubt Finn loses this feud.

As others have said as well, he's a long away from the top on Raw. And I think WWE will have a much better direction for Miz, Ambrose, Joe, Rollins, Reigns, Strowman and company than Wyatt, purely because they really are higher up on the scale than Wyatt. And that's because, yet again, Wyatt has been wasted. It's a damn shame because I REALLY believed WWE was going to do the right thing by Wyatt for a change, but surprise surprise, Bray suffers again.

 

[MWRedskins]

As someone mentioned, it's pretty hard to keep Wyatt as a face (even though fans want to cheer him) since his gimmick is/was that of a cult leader type character. it's something i think they should keep, keep Wyatt as a cult leader character. in fact, i'd make a new Wyatt Family where The Drifter Elias Samson and Bo Dallas join the Family. Bo Dallas needs a story, so have Bray take him hostage and brainwash him and have Samson show up "drifting" only to walk into a Wyatt room and also get brainwashed.

but back to the point, Wyatt as a face would be interesting, but it wont happen. as for his move to RAW, i was shocked by it. it's a bad move for his career as he wont be WWE Champion (clearly) and will likely lose another feud. Wyatt is a guy who needs to back up his mic work with his in ring work and i dont mean that Wyatt cant wrestle, i mean, wwe needs to book him to win instead of being the loser that always loses a feud.

 

[MyndZero]

You guys mentioning the titles gave me a cool idea, unlikely this will be the case but it would be interesting none the less.

If bray does win the title, and takes it to RAW that leaves the US title as the only single title on Smackdown, and henceforth becomes THE title on Smackdown.

In this scenario, Smackdown would be similar to NXT in terms of it's titles, but Smackdown is a 2 hour show and I think it may be a great opportunity for even greater development than if they had 2 singles titles.

Every 'single' competitor would be going after the US title, so you can build them ALL to be a challenge to that, and those who aren't in the title picture storyline can feud with others in the similar situation, perhaps one is a future shot at the title, perhaps another is two guys that have a beef with each other from their previous shots at the title. Point being is, we would end up with more meaningful storylines that don't have to do with titles, but rather the competitors and if they do it correctly, when those competitors get their shot at the title it will mean more.

Probably won't happen though.

 

[ShinChan]

You guys mentioning the titles gave me a cool idea, unlikely this will be the case but it would be interesting none the less.

If bray does win the title, and takes it to RAW that leaves the US title as the only single title on Smackdown, and henceforth becomes THE title on Smackdown.

In this scenario, Smackdown would be similar to NXT in terms of it's titles, but Smackdown is a 2 hour show and I think it may be a great opportunity for even greater development than if they had 2 singles titles.

Every 'single' competitor would be going after the US title, so you can build them ALL to be a challenge to that, and those who aren't in the title picture storyline can feud with others in the similar situation, perhaps one is a future shot at the title, perhaps another is two guys that have a beef with each other from their previous shots at the title. Point being is, we would end up with more meaningful storylines that don't have to do with titles, but rather the competitors and if they do it correctly, when those competitors get their shot at the title it will mean more.

Probably won't happen though.

I agree that it won't happen but I like your idea.

But where does it leave Universal Championship? If WWE Championship gets to Raw, Universal Championship either stays on Raw which won't happen or goes to Smackdown.

As for the thread, I've been waiting for Bray Wyatt to turn face since long. To anyone unsure of him being over as a face, just watch his two weeks long face stint last year after Wrestlemania. Crowd was cheering him loudly. I guess that my wait won't be over anytime soon just like my wait for Roman Reigns' heel turn.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Some have hit the cause, but not quite the reason why WWE is very iffy on turning Bray face.

The idea of a cult leader is somewhat problematic for many sponsors/groups and even The Wyatts have been toned down over time. Let's face it, they could be portraying him much more "Manson-like" but that would cause controversy. Many fans see it as The E not giving him the right push when they are actually doing the right thing by him... It only takes one dumb religious nut/group to seize on this "cult leader" being portrayed as a hero and Windham Rotunda is suddenly where Mark Copani was as Muhammed Hassan... was it his fault idiots blew up London the day his gimmick aired? no.. but it cost him his career cos more idiots couldn't seperate truth from fiction (and this is from a guy who was booked to be in Kings Cross when the bombs went off...)

By keeping him heel, the WWE gets round it and Bray actually stays a strong character... while he might not have his full "family" anymore in terms of talent, he has the fans in his thrall... the fireflies, the clamour for more push for him..We're part of the cult of Wyatt and it's so subtle that the "normals" and would be troublemakers for such a polarizing character don't get what's going on. Arguably Wyatt is WWE's version of Scientology... imagine what happens when they work that out!

He got a title run and went to Mania as champion... that's actually enough for now, just as it was enough for Taker and Kane to have very short first reigns. Over tiime they can perhaps go more into the cult side as a heel before reinventing him in a more face like role... It worked with Undertaker, who they are clearly looking to replace with Wyatt long term.

Bray on RAW right now is a good move... I can even see Balor turning to join with him... and not as a "ruse" but legit be part of the group for a while... if he can't "summon the demon king" then he's just a man...

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Mick Foley went from being a psycho with a mask to one of the biggest babyfaces ever. The Undertaker of all people, a guy that sacrifices and burns people became a face. Even Triple H who almost killed a guy.

Don't give me the "different era" arguement. Anything can happen given the right story. Why can't a bad person leave his past life behind him and turn into a hero? That's the perfect story and gives out morals to the kids.

Too bad WWE knows that their brand sells. They have forgotten all about stories. Not that they ever had anything special going on anyways.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

To be honest, it's about time Vince and company stood up to the imbeciles who complain at storylines. Wrestling hasn't been presented as legit in decades. Critics will not tolerate a face Bray Wyatt because of similarities to Manson? That's funny because one of the biggest fave turns on tv in recent history is Jaime Lannister on Game of Thrones, originally portrayed as an incestuouos king slayer and all round too heel, but by season 5 was the third biggest face in GoT behind Daenerys and Tyrion... I don't see the critics complaining.

Ultimately, WWE *should* be listening to the fans who attend shows. Wyatt has been popular - and has shifted a lot of March - since his Cena feud. This is despite his shambolic booking. Now I firmly believe that Vince et al don't necessarily equate booking repeated losses as damaging to characters, but in Wyatt's case, it had certainly been. If anything, WWE should have reversed the Royal Rumble storyline and had Wyatt win (just switch Orton and Wyatt) and Orton win the title at Elimination Chamber. Then have Wyatt win the WWE title at Wrestlemania. But moving Wyatt to Raw is in my opinion a terrible move, just as it is for the Miz. Two of the guys who most benefited from the. Rams split, both had progressed their work on Smackdown and now both will likely be lost in th shuffle on a top-heavy Raw - and neither is a legit contender for Lesnar at this stage. The best thing for Wyatt would definitely have been to remain on Smackdown.

The sad thing is, it feels like the only reason for WWE switching Wyatt was to have a world title match on Payback, having painted themselves into a corner with Goldberg and Lesnar...

 

[Spencesc11]

Wyatt belongs on Smackdown!!!

He was way over as the #1 heel. Should've moved Orton over to Raw and kept Bray on Smackdown. Plus reform a new Wyatt Family with Bo Dallas, Rowan, Kane, and Mika Rotunda (Sister Abigail). That's what I would've done. Mika could have white paint on to make her look very pale and demonic. This is what I would've done. And they still could if they add to the Title match that the winner returns to Smackdown and the loser goes to Raw. Have the new "Wyatt Family" appear at the PPV assisting Bray and then send Orton to Raw. If your building Reigns vs. Lesnar for Mania next year then Orton gives you another match for Lesnar as the "revenge factor" is already there.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

The problem I have with having a physical 'Sister Abigail' is that she would likely look like the Envhantress from the Suicide Squad movie. And that's not a good thing...

Bray Wyatt doesn't need Sister Abigail at this stage. What he needs is for the booking committee to actually decide what they want to do with him