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Bray Wyatt's WWE release shocked the wrestling world. It seems as though it was another case of "budget cuts", or at least that's what Wyatt was told. He was an invaluable superstar and a proven merchandise seller, which is what made his release all the more surprising.
Bray Wyatt was one of the best superstars on the WWE roster and the company recognized it but never truly gave him his due. Dubbed as a generational talent, his potential was largely wasted due to bad booking decisions and WWE wanting to make other superstars look good at his expense.
Ultimately, his WrestleMania 37 loss to Randy Orton summed up the last seven years of his WWE career. With Bray Wyatt no longer on the roster, here are five things he did better than any other current WWE Superstar:
#5. Bray Wyatt's presence and emphasis on character was second to none
From an in-ring perspective, WWE's roster between 2016 to 2019 was the greatest in its history. At no point did the company have the level of in-ring talent that they did at that point. The roster has naturally thinned down with all the releases having happened, with many incredible superstars jumping ship to AEW, IMPACT Wrestling, etc.
What has been lacking in WWE for years is a strong set of characters. Modern-day wrestling is filled with phenomenal in-ring workers and the high-flying, fast-paced style has been adapted more by this generation than the last.
What the last generation held over this is the fact that there was a lot more emphasis on character and overall presence. When looking at many of the all-time greats from The Golden Era, New Generation Era, Attitude Era and even the Ruthless Aggression Era, not everyone was a phenomenal in-ring talent.
Many of the all-time greats got to where they were because of their character work and overall presence. Bray Wyatt was second to none on the current WWE roster when it came to presence and character work.
No superstar emphasized their character the way he did, nor was there any superstar that held the same kind of presence. Unfortunately, WWE couldn't capitalize on that.
#4. Bray Wyatt's ability on the mic
Bray Wyatt was one of the best talkers in WWE. Again, the ability to talk aligns with presence and character work. It doesn't matter how good you are in the ring. If you're not able to talk well, it's hard to get over with the WWE Universe.
Wyatt has shown time and time again that he is a master on the mic. On many occasions, he seemed to have the whole world in his hands and the ability to capture the audience is something that few WWE Superstars had.
#3. Constant ability to reinvent himself
Bray Wyatt had to come up with a character a total of three times throughout the course of his WWE career. While the 'Husky Harris' character was never going to have a long-term future, his 'Eater Of Worlds' character had that potential.
If he was pushed and protected well, there may not even have been a need to come up with 'The Fiend' character. But he made an incredible effort to reinvent himself on two different occasions and both were brilliant characters. Kane is an example of how reinvention in WWE is a necessity, especially for those having a long tenure.
Unfortunately for Wyatt, even the ability to reinvent himself better than anyone on the roster didn't pay off in the long run.
#2. Bray Wyatt's ability to stay over with WWE fans
Just listen to the crowd reaction to Bray Wyatt two nights after Elimination Chamber 2017. He was the WWE Champion and at that moment, he truly had the whole world in his hands. There was no superstar in SmackDown hotter at the time and it felt as though the company finally recognized Wyatt's potential.
Unsurprisingly, he would have the rug pulled from underneath at WrestleMania 33 - a recurring theme in his career. When looking at the disastrous decisions that should have gone his way, it's incredible in hindsight to think about how Wyatt managed to constantly stay popular with fans and get a reaction out of them - good or bad.
#1. Bray Wyatt's dedication behind the scenes
Bray Wyatt was perhaps the most dedicated WWE Superstar when it came to his character work behind the scenes. The early push of The Fiend seemed to prove that he was being rewarded for it. If you don't believe it, then believe Braun Strowman.
Wyatt's good friend Strowman revealed in 2019 that the two went a long time without talking during the former's WWE hiatus. Bray Wyatt went on a lengthy hiatus between the summer of 2018 and post-WrestleMania 2019, where he was shacked up thinking about a new character. Speaking to Sam Roberts on the NotSam Wrestling podcast, Strowman said:
"We went for a while without even talking because he went so deep into this character; he shut himself out from the world. I remember watching the very first episode of the Firefly Funhouse and was thinking, 'What the hell is this? Bray, what are you doing?' But the more I watched, I couldn't turn away from it. It was so intriguing what he was doing, and then they brought 'The Fiend' out and I was like, 'Alright, it's unbelievable,'" said Braun Strowman.
It's hard to think of any other WWE Superstar who would do this. Despite all the criticism that Wyatt received, there was no superstar who would isolate themselves in the world when coming up with a new character. It only goes to show how underrated he truly was and how underappreciated he was by fans and WWE management itself.
