5 Reasons why Bray Wyatt shouldn't have been Braun Strowman's first challenger for the Universal Championship

By Vatsal Rathod
Modified Apr 11, 2020 19:33 IST
Will this be the fate when these two forces clash?
Will this be the fate when these two forces clash?

The first episode of Friday Night SmackDown after WrestleMania 36 was an eventful show. While the lack of a live audience continued to hurt the overall feeling of the product, there were a lot of storyline progressions made, hinting at the fact that WWE is ready to continue there programming in the post-WrestleMania period despite all the troubles going around in the world.

One of the biggest moments of the night saw Bray Wyatt interrupt Braun Strowman's celebration after his victory over Shinsuke Nakamura in the main event. While Bray initially started by taking a dig at John Cena, he would soon turn his attention towards the new Universal Champion. In typical Bray Wyatt fashion, he revealed that he's coming after Strowman's title.

With that, we have Braun Strowman's first feud, as the Champion looks set to defend his title against The Fiend. But was it the correct choice?

Let me tell you five reasons why it was not!

But be sure to comment down and let me know if you think it was the right decision.

#5 The Fiend's character should not go after the title all the time

This was a point that was also brought upon when WWE initially decided to thrust The Fiend into the Universal Championship picture and put the title on him in late 2019. It just defies common logic to see a sadistic creature like him caring about material objects like a Championship. The main motive of The Fiend is to hurt those who have hurt Bray in the past, and he should be above title belts.

Even if it makes sense for him to go after the Monster Among Men (considering their vast history together) Bray specifically mentioning his intentions to take the title from Strowman is questionable. It forces us to wonder why he and The Fiend care so much about a title belt. The Fiend is here with a mission, and his focus should completely be on that. He's not any normal WWE Superstar who wants the glory of holding a world title.

#4 None of them can afford a loss at this time

One of the biggest issues with this feud is that neither Strowman nor The Fiend can afford to take a loss at this time. On one hand, Braun Strowman has just got his hands (no pun intended) on the Universal Championship with a massive victory over Goldberg at WrestleMania 36.

And on the other, Bray Wyatt has also come off a huge victory against John Cena in the Firefly Fun House match at the Show of Shows.

The Fiend suffered his first loss at the hands of Goldberg at WWE Super ShowDown and another defeat here would massively affect the character's credibility. The Eater of the Worlds was mocked by the WWE Universe as "Eater of the pins" during his initial run as he failed to come out victorious in major feuds and WWE should be careful about The Fiend not suffering the same fate.

Now that the Monster Among Men has finally captured the Universal title at WrestleMania, he deserves a proper and long run with the title. Having him lose on his first title defense would derail all his momentum.

So the question is, who will win and who will suffer? There's no way both of them are coming out of this feud unaffected.

#3 The Fiend should not be competing so often

The Fiend!
The Fiend!

Remember the reasoning that Paul Heyman gave when asked about the limited appearances of his client, Brock Lesnar? He said that the Beast Incarnate only appears on a few major shows because he's a "special attraction". Well, I'm not supporting any part-time wrestlers here but that statement makes a lot of sense in the world of pro wrestling.

Much like Lesnar, The Fiend is or at least should be treated as a special attraction by the company. Many fans were expecting Wyatt to take a small break after his massive WrestleMania victory over John Cena but he has been pushed into the Universal Title picture immediately.

Of course, WWE has many ways to creatively use Bray and The Fiend in an empty arena show but they should be careful and not overuse the character - this might result in the mystique surrounding the character dissipate.

It might just be me, but the quality of the Firefly Fun House segments have gone down considerably as compared to the initial ones we got just after the debut of this new Bray Wyatt. And, part of it is because WWE airs it almost every week.

WWE needs to maintain the uniqueness of this character and make fans miss it and want to see it.

#2 Deprives other Superstars of getting a title shot

WWE has a huge roster of Superstars at its disposal, be it at NXT, RAW, of SmackDown. Now having so many talents is a boon and a bane at the same time, the bane being that they have to come up with storylines to try and engage as many of them as possible.

But it is often seen that only a select few Superstars are given a chance to be in the World title picture and these select few keep rotating and competing for the title. We get that the company needs its top Superstars to be in the World title scene. But by doing so, they are depriving other Superstars of getting a title shot and thus creating more main-event players.

There are many Superstars on the SmackDown roster who could have proved to be credible opponents for Braun Strowman. Best fact, they could have gained momentum even if they had lost to the Monster Among Men because being in the title picture alone would have been a plus point for them.

Superstars like Sheamus, Jeff Hardy, and even King Corbin would have been a good choice as the first challengers for Strowman. We can only hope that they all get their chances in due time.

#1 Bray vs Braun should happen at a bigger stage

Let me make one thing clear - I'm not against having a Bray Wyatt vs Braun Strowman rivalry as I believe it could pan out to be amazing, thanks to their history together. I am, in fact, very excited to see how WWE books this feud as it has all the ingredients to be a contender for the feud of the year.

But the issue is that such a huge clash deserves a bigger stage. These two going at it for the Universal Championship at a stage like SummerSlam would have made more sense just because of the magnitude of the feud. Ever since The Fiend made his debut on our TV screens, one of the dream matches that we've been waiting to see is The Fiend vs Braun Strowman.

Now maybe WWE intends to have yet another Firefly Fun House sort of match with Strowman and Wyatt, but if they end up competing inside the ring in front of no crowd at the upcoming Money in the Bank PPV, it will be a mistake on WWE's part. A clash of this magnitude needs the presence of fans in the arena whose cheers and reactions make the fight seem even more intense and interesting.

Let's just hope WWE somehow makes everything work out well! Who do you think will come out victorious in this clash?

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