10 Early Wrestling Predictions For 2017

7. Bray Wyatt Will Turn Face - And Capture Top Tier Gold

Eva Marie
WWE.com

The Bray Wyatt experiment has been a dismal failure. He captured the imagination of fans so thoroughly after his debut that they were reluctant to boo him - not that a supernatural heel is capable of generating heat in modern wrestling, mind you - but he was doused in under a year following a string of dispiriting losses.

Those losses affected Wyatt more than most. His aura could not withstand such halfhearted booking. If he can control arena lightning systems, and possesses the ability to teleport, why can't he win a simple wrestling match?

Luckily, bar a brief, forgotten fortnight, Wyatt hasn't yet occupied the babyface role fans have wanted to see him in since 2013. His rise will be subject to the whims of the creative team, of course, but he wouldn't just feel new - a turn would re-contextualise what is an anachronistic heel act into something far more congruous. Nobody is scared of a wrestling monster in 2016, and nobody is willing to suspend their disbelief that one even exists.

A face Wyatt, retooling his raison d'être to inspire cult-like devotion in fans who remain desperate to support him, would even be able to withstand losses -because they would be incurred through injustice, not weakness.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!