'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
SummerSlam 2020 is officially in history books and the main event of the PPV saw "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt defeat Braun Strowman to become the new Universal Champion. While many expected the WWE Championship match between Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton to be the main event, it was the other world title match that closed the show.
It was at SummerSlam 2019 where "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt made his in-ring debut by defeating Finn Balor. So much went down in the year since then with the character going through several positive and negative upgrades. One year later, Bray Wyatt captured the Universal Championship for the second time in his career.
Let's take a look at the five reasons why Bray Wyatt became the new Universal Champion at SummerSlam 2020. Be sure to comment down and let us know your opinions and reaction on the same.
#5 Bray Wyatt gaining back the title that he shouldn't have lost
As mentioned above, this was the second Universal Championship victory for Bray Wyatt. It was last year at WWE Crown Jewel when The Fiend defeated Seth Rollins to win the Universal title for the first time and held on to it before something disastrous happened.
After building the character so well for several months, WWE decided to let a returning WWE Hall of Famer, Goldberg defeat "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt clean at WWE Super ShowDown earlier this year. The decision led to a massive backlash from the fans and definitely affected the momentum of Wyatt badly.
With Bray Wyatt winning back the Universal Championship at SummerSlam tonight, WWE would like to undo the mistake they made earlier and let him have a solid run this time. Though with Roman Reigns returning to close out the show, things aren't looking too good for Bray Wyatt's title reign. More on that later!
#4 "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt couldn't afford a straight second in-ring defeat
Adding up to the previous point, this was the first in-ring match of "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt after his crushing loss to Goldberg at WWE Super ShowDown 2020. A loss in this match would have meant two straight in-ring losses for The Fiend, completely killing all his mystique.
After Super ShowDown, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt appeared in two cinematic matches. The first one was against John Cena at WrestleMania 36 in a Firefly Funhouse match, and the second one was last month at "The Horror Show at Extreme Rules" when The Fiend appeared during the closing moments of the Wyatt Swamp Fight between Bray and the Monster Among Men.
With Bray Wyatt being unable to defeat Braun Strowman in his Firefly Funhouse avatar, The Fiend had to step-in to finally take down the Monster Among Men, which he did at SummerSlam tonight and thus taking away the Universal Championship from him.
#3 This was always supposed to be the endgame for Bray Wyatt vs Braun Strowman
Ever since Bray Wyatt introduced his sinister alter-ego gimmick of The Fiend, WWE Universe was waiting to see the clash between him and the former "Black Sheep" of the Wyatt Family, Braun Strowman. While we got an interaction between the two last year on RAW when The Fiend attacked Strowman, the full-blown feud started this year after the Monster Among Men won the Universal Championship from Goldberg at WrestleMania 36.
While fans expected Braun to have a filler feud before going up against Bray Wyatt, WWE threw a curveball as they pit the two against each other immediately following WrestleMania 36. There were some concerns of WWE rushing towards the feud, and while it was the case to some extent, they did a good job of keeping this long feud interesting and delaying the eventual clash between The Fiend and the Monster Among Men. We even saw Alexa Bliss getting involved in a huge way!
But, the endgame of the feud was always supposed to be Bray Wyatt regaining the Universal Championship from his former follower. While the "heel turn" of Strowman did create some interest, it was not enough to book him to go over Bray Wyatt at SummerSlam.
#2 Bray Wyatt could rule the ThunderDome era of WWE
Starting last week, we finally saw WWE move away from the Performance Center era to the new ThunderDome era. The COVID-19 pandemic forced WWE to make massive changes to its programming, but the introduction of the ThunderDome was a big step towards going back to normalcy. Now, if there's one Superstar who could rule this ThunderDome era of WWE, it has to be Bray Wyatt.
ThunderDome is basically a new viewing experience for WWE fans who can join the shows live virtually. The screens surrounding the ring do give a unique look to everything but WWE can use those screens for other amazing effects as well. If you witnessed the entrance of "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt at SummerSlam tonight, it looked amazing with all the graphics on the screens behind.
There are so many creative ways WWE can use the ThunderDome to enhance the character of Bray Wyatt and thus putting the title on him was an obvious choice. Imagine the puppets from the Firefly Funhouse hijacking all the screens when Bray Wyatt's opponent is standing in the middle of the ring. Bray Wyatt does have a great tool in the ThunderDome for all his mind games.
#1 To set-up the eventual feud between Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns
While Bray Wyatt winning the Universal Championship at SummerSlam was big news, that was not how the show closed. WWE hyped up the "you'll never see it coming" tagline for SummerSlam a lot, and did deliver in the end as the former Universal Champion, Roman Reigns made his return during the closing moments, taking out both Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman.
Interestingly, he teased a change in his character, showing some heel tendencies which would surely be a welcome change. Roman Reigns was supposed to face Goldberg at WrestleMania 36 but he dropped out at the last moment due to some health concerns. If he had faced and won the Universal title at WrestleMania, we might have just got Roman Reigns vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt SummerSlam instead.
The Big Dog has made it clear that he wants the Universal Championship and we might now finally get the feud between Roman Reigns and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt. Though one has to wonder whether WWE is again rushing into is as Bray Wyatt dropping the title to Roman Reigns quickly would again lead to a massive fan backlash. Let's see what this will lead to!
Do you love to play crosswords, Wordle or other exciting games? We'd like to connect with you. Fill the form here!
