10 Reasons Why Bray Wyatt Is WWE’s Worst Modern Creation
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At WWE's Payback pay-per-view, Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton will wrestle for presumably the last time, concluding a programme that has miraculously ran since before SmackDown Live!'s first exclusive supercard last September.
In theory, a storyline lasting upwards of 9 months should be showered with praise in the modern age. With a tag title reign, a swerve turn, a twist in the middle and a WrestleMania WWE Title match, the programme has been a central point of action on the blue brand for the bulk of the time it has ran separate from Monday Night Raw.
However, the story has fallen off a cliff like just about everything Bray Wyatt attaches himself to.
After their WrestleMania match completely tanked following Orton's arson attack and the usual low concept mumbo jumbo, Wyatt ordered a rematch inside a 'House of Horrors', without divulging anything more about what such a contest would entail. He couldn't. The company didn't even know themselves.
Wyatt's move to Mondays in the 'Superstar Shake-up' threw the bout further into disrepute. Commentator John 'Bradshaw' Layfield bypassed it entirely when discussing Jinder Mahal's title match 'against Randy Orton' at May's Backlash, tacitly confirming that the feud-ender wasn't worthy of WWE Title contention.
It's just the latest in an unending line of disasters for the persona. Looking back through nearly four years of fails, here are 10 reasons why Bray Wyatt is WWE's worst modern creation.
10. A Call-Up Gone Wrong
Possibly the worst thing about Bray Wyatt is what a failure he's been as an NXT call-up.
WWE's record with transitioning Full Sail success stories to the main roster has been mixed at best, but Bray Wyatt was the first significant misfire, and cast some doubt on the successful transition of future NXT standouts.
His reimagining as a woods-dwelling cult leader after a middling run as Husky Harris on the main roster was one of the original talking points of the niche developmental broadcast following the wholesale move from Florida Championship Wrestling.
Outstanding vignettes promised malevolence with a smile from Bray, whilst Harper and Rowan made for frightening henchmen.
Tag title victory for the duo alongside Bray legitimised the unit, and they were expected to run roughshod over the main roster as soon as permitted.
Reality highlighted how complex the transition for the gimmick would actually be.
Despite a amenable July 2013 Monday Night Raw debut that saw the triumvirate beat down Kane, the fluff of the character overwhelmed Wyatt himself in his in-ring debut at SummerSlam just over a month later.
The 'Ring of Fire' (inferno) stipulation was employed presumably to maintain the group's fearsome aesthetic, but the flames only made the group look cautious and fearful. Furthermore, the match was a complete mess, with Wyatt falling at the first hurdle of transferring character histrionics into his in-ring repertoire.