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With a few exceptions here and there, WWE’s recent stories have been great, with Sting’s movement against The Authority and Kevin Owens’ mockery of John Cena being good examples. In my opinion, though, the best-booked feud of the year would have to be the ongoing saga between The Wyatt Family and primarily Roman Reigns.
Roman Reigns was fresh out of the main event scene, and Bray Wyatt was lost in the mid-card shuffle after falling to The Undertaker at WrestleMania. It made complete sense, then, for both men to be put into a programme together, and indeed, they were. At Money In The Bank, Bray Wyatt had no match, and as Roman Reigns was about to win the Money In The Bank briefcase, Wyatt cost him the match. That was a great way to start it.
This could have easily been just another face vs heel feud with no real purpose, but it was so much better.
Bray Wyatt had a reason. He consistently used the phrase “Anyone but you” and tormented Roman Reigns. It made sense because both men are, in fact, the same age, and seeing Bray Wyatt not want to have Roman Reigns be the next big thing was understandable.
It made Wyatt seem like more of a human, who really wanted to make it to the top himself, rather than just pull someone else like John Cena or The Undertaker down. Roman Reigns was also made to be a better character, introducing an element of his family, and how Wyatt was supposedly ‘stalking’ his daughter.
Chapter one culminated in a great match between the two men at Battleground, which Bray Wyatt won due to interference from Luke Harper. This opened up chapter two perfectly, with Reigns supposedly outnumbered, but the numbers were equalled almost immediately, when Reigns’ former SHIELD partner, Dean Ambrose, joined forces with Reigns and stood toe to toe with The Wyatt Family, re-igniting two-thirds of a popular feud from last year. A tag team match was booked for SummerSlam, and what a match it was.
Rightly so, Ambrose and Reigns won, and then things had seemed bad for The Wyatts. This could have been booked entirely differently. It could have ended in disqualification. It could have ended the same way as Battleground, with the heels coming out on top. But it was balanced and booked the right way, which led to the shock of the next night.
The Raw after SummerSlam was incredible. The Dudley Boyz returned, Sting returned, and a Rosebud returned. That’s right. Braun Strowman was a Rosebud before he was the monster he is now.
The tables completely turned on Reigns and Ambrose. A supposedly indestructible man debuted for the opposition, and every week they were tormented. A six man tag team match had been announced for Night Of Champions, and Reigns and Ambrose said they found a partner.
Rumours were rampant. Randy Orton was a highlighted name because he was taken out by The Wyatt Family a couple of weeks earlier. Baron Corbin was highly favoured because WWE themselves posted about it on their website, but it was taken down later.
However, on the night, to nobody’s expectation, Chris Jericho was the third man, and that was for one night only. The Wyatts rightfully won, and Chris Jericho hasn’t showed up since.
The following night, Randy Orton returned and joined forces with Reigns and Ambrose. However, that wasn’t the highlight. The feud went right back to its roots, with Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt brawling to close the show out.
The feud really didn’t leave anything behind. It progressed but came back to the start, which is entirely a great thing. At the end of the day, it could be the entire roster torn in half, but it started off with Reigns vs Wyatt. WWE set up a Hell In A Cell match between the two men, and that is exactly what needed to be done.
Hell In A Cell is supposed to be for intense and heated rivalries, and this fits in perfectly. In fact, every Hell In A Cell match this year has had months of build up. That’s exactly how it should be. WWE could have gone horribly wrong with this one. But they did the opposite.
In a year filled with a great number of amazing stories, this one stands out, and that’s really saying something. Randy Orton may be injured for his match this Sunday, but there’s sure to be something entertaining involving Dean Ambrose and the rest. As for Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns, expect the match to steal the show. It should be a slobber knocker, and just the hype for it is immense. Bold prediction: Match of the year.
