The WWE Universal Championship picture became more clear after the conclusion of the Extreme Rules main event match. In a Fatal 5-Way that resulted in Samoa Joe defeating Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt, and Finn Balor, we now have our match for the inaugural Great Balls of Fire event scheduled for July 9 in Dallas, Texas.
For weeks, reports indicated that either Finn Balor or Seth Rollins would win the Fatal 5-Way, subsequently facing Lesnar. However, odds suddenly shifted during the final days leading up to the event, and reports confirmed that Samoa Joe would be the No. 1 contender. Now, the other four will continue to climb up the ladder to reclaim championship gold.
It is hugely expected that the match that will lead the Raw brand come WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans, Louisiana, will be Lesnar defending his Universal Championship against Roman Reigns for the second time in three years. Until then, two of the remaining three is slated to face Lesnar before next April. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter , those two are the original favorites, Finn Balor and Seth Rollins.
Unfortunately for Bray Wyatt, this leaves him out of the title picture for the foreseeable future.
For Wyatt, his tenure on the WWE roster has been a roller-coaster ride from nearly the very beginning. Wyatt introduced (or re-introduced) himself to the WWE Universe after weeks of cryptic vignettes teasing his debut. Since NXT was not as exposed as it is now with the WWE Network, his character brought a mysterious element that has been a deficit on the main roster. His first major target was Kane, and he was able to best the Big Red Monster.
However, since then, he has been one of the most inconsistently booked superstars in the entire company. For every victory against Chris Jericho, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, and Roman Reigns came losses at WrestleMania against John Cena, The Undertaker, and Randy Orton, as well as other losses against Kane, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose. Although he did manage to win the WWE Championship at the Elimination Chamber event, he had a short run, and no momentum built for him before the win.
On the latest episode of Raw , Wyatt promised to seek after everyone involved in the Fatal 5-Way match at Extreme Rules . When he first made his way to Raw from SmackDown Live , he picked Finn Balor as a target foe. However, it appears as if this feud may by put on hold, and now his interest has been shifted over to Seth Rollins, as he was distracted by Wyatt while competing against Samoa Joe.
WWE has once before tried a feud between Bray Wyatt and Brock Lesnar. In early 2016, there were face-offs between Lesnar and Wyatt, which even led to the Wyatt Family attacking Lesnar and leaving him laying in the ring. The Wyatt Family shockingly eliminated Lesnar from the Royal Rumble , and a match was even scheduled between Lesnar and Wyatt at the then-WWE Network special, Roadblock . During the match, Wyatt teased that he would be involved, but Harper took over instead and was defeated by Lesnar.
Unfortunately for Wyatt, an injury halted the feud, and he ended up being used as a utility to make The Rock’s appearance look good at WrestleMania 32 . He and his fellow Wyatt Family members fell victim to The Rock and John Cena, and Rock even faced Erick Rowan and pinned him in a matter of seconds. After this, Wyatt maintained an up-and-down status in the WWE, with no form of consistency.
At this point, WWE may need to reconsider the direction of Wyatt, and even a babyface turn may be the fresh air that he needs to revive his career.
[Featured Image by WWE]
