Opinion: Why Bray Wyatt should not win the Universal Championship at WWE Hell In A Cell 2019
Disclaimer: The views of the author do not necessarily reflect those of Sportskeeda
Since WrestleMania 35, nobody in the wrestling industry has been as consistently entertaining as Bray Wyatt. Whether he is dropping cryptic clues on the set of Firefly Fun House or terrifying Hall of Famers and fellow Superstars in WWE arenas, everything that the former WWE Champion has done from April 2019 to September 2019 has been phenomenal.
With that in mind, we should probably sit back and trust that whatever happens next will turn out to be just as good as everything else we have been treated to over the last five months. After all, every step of this bizarre split-personality journey has gotten better and better by the week.
That being said, the entire build-up to Seth Rollins vs. Wyatt at Hell In A Cell has been about The Fiend attacking legends and current rivals when they least expect it. So far, Finn Balor, Mick Foley, Kurt Angle, Jerry Lawler, Kane, Braun Strowman and Rollins have felt the wrath of Wyatt’s alter-ego, and the “Fun House” version of his character has been crossing people off his list on a weekly basis.
Interestingly, the one thing that Wyatt has hardly mentioned throughout his various promos is the Universal Championship, despite the fact that, barring a surprise win for Rey Mysterio on the season premiere of RAW, he will be challenging for the title inside Hell In A Cell.
Looking at this rivalry from Clash of Champions – the event where The Fiend first targeted Rollins – until now, there has been nothing to suggest that he wants the Universal Championship. All he wants, it seems, is to hurt the people who have wronged him in the past.
If hurting Rollins means taking the title from him, then fair enough. But, based on everything we have seen on television so far, this storyline is all about revenge and not at all about the Universal Championship, which now feels like an afterthought after over three years of being built up as the most important title in WWE.
Bray Wyatt as Universal Champion - too much, too soon?
Sportskeeda’s Tom Colohue recently reported that WWE originally planned to have Drew McIntyre feud with Seth Rollins after Clash of Champions, which suggests Bray Wyatt was not supposed to enter the Universal Championship picture after just one win – versus Finn Balor at SummerSlam – as The Fiend character.
To reiterate, whatever WWE has planned for Wyatt is bound to be great, regardless of these reservations, but it cannot be ignored that it feels a little too much, too soon for him to potentially win the Universal Championship.
The biggest issue here is that The Fiend is expected to win all of his matches right now, which is understandable given that the character is still being built up. However, it is one thing to have a non-title Superstar win several matches in a row, but will people begin to tire of him if future Universal Championship match outcomes become too predictable?
Realistically, if he does win the title at Hell In A Cell, who could represent a serious challenge to The Fiend? Rollins already stomped his way through almost the entire roster before winning clean against WWE’s most dominant Superstar, Brock Lesnar. Meanwhile, Braun Strowman recently lost against Rollins and it would do his character a lot more harm than good if he got involved in another title rivalry that he would almost certainly lose.
If Wyatt defeated several non-title opponents before winning the title at a later date, then everyone will have seen a long-term story play out, culminating in a reign that people have been waiting for.
Instead, as good as this Wyatt build has been, it feels like the Universal Championship is irrelevant in the storyline and The Fiend should not be near the title at this stage of the character's development.
Does that mean he should lose against Rollins at Hell In A Cell? Not necessarily. Much like last year's no contest between Roman Reigns and Strowman, it might not be the worst idea if WWE produced similar shenanigans in 2019 to prevent the Universal Championship from changing hands.
Listen to Sportskeeda's Korey Gunz and Nick Paglino discuss Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt and much more!
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