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"The Fiend" Bray Wyatt's second Universal Championship reign came to an abrupt end at WWE Payback, just a week after he won it at SummerSlam. Right after Bray Wyatt defeated Braun Strowman to become the new Universal Champion, Roman Reigns made his thunderous return and laid down both men, thus setting up a massive No Holds Barred Triple Threat Match at Payback.
The ending of the match at Payback saw Roman Reigns turn into a full-blown heel. He went on to spear Braun Strowman to become the new Universal Champion. As much as fans are excited to see this new version of the Big Dog, a genuine question is - what does this mean for Bray Wyatt going forward?
Let's take a look at five interesting things that could happen after Bray Wyatt lost his Universal Championship at WWE Payback. Be sure to comment down and let us know your thoughts on the title change at the PPV.
#5 Alexa Bliss joins hands with Bray Wyatt
One of the most exciting things on the Blue brand right now is the twister character of former RAW and SmackDown Women's Champion, Alexa Bliss. Ever since her cameo as Sister Abigail during the Wyatt Swamp Fight, she has been involved around Bray Wyatt one or the other way.
This past week on SmackDown, Alexa Bliss revealed her new look, with many even comparing her attire with that of Abby the Witch from the Firefly Fun House. Even during the Universal Championship match at WWE Payback, Alexa Bliss was seen backstage observing The Fiend keenly.
The story with Alexa Bliss and Bray Wyatt is far from over and with Wyatt no longer the Universal Champion, we might see this angle take the front seat. All signs are pointing towards Alexa Bliss joining Bray Wyatt in the near future.
#4 Braun Strowman finally gives in to Bray Wyatt
Braun Strowman has gone through a massive character change after seemingly drowning during the closing moments of the Wyatt Swamp Fight. With a new bald look, Braun Strowman has just one motive in his mind - to destroy everything in his path. But things haven't been very good for him as he lost his Universal Championship to Bray Wyatt at SummerSlam.
Even at WWE Payback, it was the Monster Among Men who took the pin in the Triple Threat match. It is highly unlikely that he will be back in the Universal title picture anytime soon. But the question is, what could be next for him?
Bray Wyatt has been trying to get Strowman to join him again for months now, and one has to wonder if the Monster Among Men could finally "let him in", now that he has lost his priced possession. If Alexa Bliss also joins Bray Wyatt, as mentioned in the previous slide, we could see a repackaged Wyatt Family been born again. How long has it been since we've had a supernatural faction in WWE?
#3 Bray Wyatt demands a rematch for the Universal Championship
WWE Payback saw the crowning of a new Universal Champion as Roman Reigns destroyed both "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman to win the title. Interestingly, it was not Bray Wyatt who took the pin as it was Strowman who took the spear and was down for the three count.
A clear next direction for Bray Wyatt would be to demand a rematch for the Universal Title, which he merely held for a week before losing it at Payback. We have previously seen Bray Wyatt vs Roman Reigns on several occasions, but a feud between the revamped gimmick of both the Superstars will surely be amazing.
WWE has announced their next PPV Clash of Champions, which will be taking place on September 27. It is highly possible that the main event could be a one-on-one match between Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship. But WWE might just book themselves in a corner yet again if they go ahead with it as The Fiend should definitely not take another loss.
#2 Bray Wyatt shifts his focus off the Universal Championship
While Bray Wyatt vs Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at WWE Clash of Champions is a simple and logical way to further the storyline, one has to wonder how does WWE comes out of it without hurting any of their momentum? There's no way Roman Reigns is losing the title so quickly after winning it at Payback, but Bray Wyatt can't take another loss as well.
While WWE can of course go ahead and let Bray Wyatt challenge the Big Dog in his "Firefly Fun House" avatar, it wouldn't make much sense for him to step up and try to finish a job which The Fiend couldn't do either.
There has always been a massive discussion among the WWE Universe that a character like The Fiend should not care about materialistic glories and championships. It won't be wrong to say that going after the Universal title has indeed hurt what was considered to be the best gimmick of this modern era last year. Now that Bray Wyatt has dropped the Universal Championship, rather than going with the usual "rematch" route, it would be a fresh change to see him out of the title picture for a while.
#1 Bray Wyatt becomes the top babyface of SmackDown
There were rumors floating around that with Roman Reigns back as a heel on SmackDown, the plans are for Bray Wyatt to become the top babyface of the Blue brand. At Payback, the seeds for the same were sown as the Big Dog went on to deliver a low blow to The Fiend, thus taking him out of the picture and becoming the new Universal Champion.
That particular moment was seemingly a double turn as it established Roman Reigns as a top heel, something that fans have been wanting to see for a long time, while also gathering babyface sympathy towards Bray Wyatt.
While it would be a bit weird to see someone so cryptic and sinister like Bray Wyatt become the top babyface of Friday Night SmackDown, that might very well be the direction WWE is heading towards.
One has to wonder what feuds could Bray Wyatt have as a babyface? Some of the top heels on SmackDown, apart from Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman, are AJ Styles, Sheamus, King Corbin, and Sami Zayn. Or maybe WWE could plan a major swerve and draft Bray Wyatt to RAW and set-up a massive clash between him and "The Legend Killer" Randy Orton in the future.
