Comparing the "Three Faces of Bray Wyatt" to the "Three Faces of Foley"
Last night on SmackDown, Bray Wyatt brought back the Firefly Fun House and confronted Braun Strowman. The strange segment also featured the return of a familiar face in the form of “Cult Leader” Bray Wyatt. It seems like Strowman’s next title defense will be against the “Eater of Worlds”. This has prompted fans to compare the “Three faces of Bray Wyatt” to the “Three faces of Foley”, and it’s a fair comparison if I am being honest.
For starters, you have the "goofy" face i.e. Firefly Fun House Bray and Dude Love for Mick Foley. This persona falls in the "goofy/fun-loving" category. When the aforementioned Superstars don this persona, their opponents tend to not take them seriously, for obvious reasons. The goofy or fun-loving face is also the most unique when compared to the other two versions of the said performers.
Next, you have the semi-dangerous personas in the form of “Eater of Worlds” Bray Wyatt and Mankind for Foley. This persona should be taken seriously since it poses more danger to the opponent than the "goofy" one does. This face also allows Wyatt and Foley to take losses from time to time without losing much momentum as their weaknesses could be easily exploited.
Despite being effective, the "semi-dangerous" persona falls flat when compared to the Superstars' third and final form. I am referring to the Fiend for Bray Wyatt and Cactus Jack for Mick Foley.
This is the form that these Superstars bring out to inflict pain on the one(s) standing across the ring. It poses the most threat to their opponents and barely has any weaknesses that anyone could capitalize on. Because this "final form" holds the most credibility, it must be kept fresh and used seldom to indicate the severity of the situation.
Could Bray Wyatt benefit from playing multiple characters?
A great thing about Bray Wyatt seemingly going with a multiple personality gimmick and adding another face in the form of the "Eater of Worlds" Bray, is that it keeps the Fiend character fresh and saves it from getting overexposed.
Now, WWE can easily keep the Fiend locked away until he is needed. The ideal event for the Fiend's return would be this year's SummerSlam where it is likely that Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman would clash again.
Moreover, the return of the Cult Leader Bray Wyatt also allows the Superstar in question to wrestle differently. For example, Fun House Bray is the character that is the weakest and should be booked to be dominated in matches. The Fiend falls on the opposite side of the spectrum, as he should not sell at all, or very little at the most. As for the Cult Leader Bray, he is a character that could go back and forth in the ring and either lose or win, depending on the storyline.
As you can see, there are tons of similarities between what Bray Wyatt is doing now and what Mick Foley was doing in the 90s. Moreover, there are other advantages of letting Wyatt’s character evolve and add new faces, as it keeps the Fiend fresh and strong, as well as shows just how creative the man, Windham Rotunda, truly is.