WWE's 10 biggest missed booking opportunities of the decade: Part II (2015-2019)

2017: Bray Wyatt As WWE Champion

He had the whole world in his hands.

The storyline of Randy Orton infiltrating the Wyatt Family had been seen before with Daniel Bryan, but this was a more long-form version of it. Orton had genuine fun playing a heel again, with he, Bray Wyatt, and Luke Harper ruling over SmackDown Live. Orton won the Royal Rumble Match, while Wyatt won the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber. The story between the two had enormous potential.

It looked to be one of WrestleMania's most exciting matches in 2017, but the booking let it (and fans) down. Bray Wyatt had won the WWE title from John Cena, defeating the 16-time champion and AJ Styles to reign supreme. Had this strong booking persisted for a while, Bray Wyatt as WWE Champion would have been a positive experience for everybody. Instead, WWE decided to give the belt to Randy Orton, as a babyface.

WWE could have either prolonged this story or executed it after a few months. Bray Wyatt had tremendous potential as the top champion on the Blue Brand with readymade storylines against Luke Harper and even AJ Styles. Unfortunately, WWE threw it away and went with 'The Viper' instead. This was possibly a favor after Orton had his skull caved in by Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, but he certainly would have had more fun in telling a more effective story. It's not like Bray Wyatt did anything on RAW after WrestleMania, anyway.