wrestling / Columns

2015’s Wrestler Of The Year: WWE’s Bray Wyatt

December 22, 2014 | Posted by Greg De Marco

After a 2014 full of injuries and changes, 2015 is poised to change the landscape of wrestling. Greg DeMarco believes one man will take over, and that man is Bray Wyatt.

2014 saw the end of The Streak, the dismantling of John Cena, and the dissolution of The Shield. Each of those, individually and as a whole, leads me to one conclusion—2015 will be the year that launches WWE into the future.

The Shield is indeed fractured. Dean Ambrose is a force so popular that he seemingly cannot be stopped. Seth Rollins has grown into the company’s top heel, and is reveling in his role. And Roman Reigns is showing the charisma that the company obviously believes he possesses as they tap him to take over as the face of the company.

But one man seems best positioned to end the next 12 months as the pivotal performer for the company. He’s not a former member of The Shield, and he’s not sitting down in NXT.

He is Bray Wyatt, and by the end of 2015 he will indeed have the whole world in his hands.

Bray Wyatt’s highest profile feud in 2014 was obviously the WrestleMania program with John Cena. Their match didn’t end with the result desired by most, but the build allowed Bray to show how brilliant of a performer he’s become. It’s widely reported that Bray writes most of his own promos, and it shows. He has a level of conviction and a delivery that is unmatched on the current roster.

Take a look at what I believe to be the best of his work from 2014, the “Miss Teacher Lady” promo:

Bray Wyatt knows how to control a crowd, so much that his character is often looked at as a cult leader. At the height of his Cena angle, the usually oblivious had no choice but to acknowledge Wyatt’s followers, thus indirectly nodding their heads at his strength as a performer.

And despite his current booking, Bray is a force that can’t be held down in 2015.

I’d love to be a fly on the wall backstage in WWE. There’s an age old joke where an actor is shown reciting his lines, then stopping in his tracks and asking “Um, what’s my motivation here???” I can see that happening during the backstage promos of any number of the WWE’s performers.

But not Bray Wyatt. He obviously knows his motivation, and he’s known it for some time. Check out this Tweet, from January 2013:

I can’t predict if Bray Wyatt will win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in 2015. I think that’s more likely for 2016, where I can see him winning the Royal Rumble and challenging Roman Reigns for the title at WrestleMania 32. In 2015, I expect Roman Reigns to win the title at WrestleMania 31 and feud with Seth Rollins through SummerSlam, where Dean Ambrose will be added to the mix for the Shield’s first major triple threat encounter.

But if we can believe the reports, there’s already another plan for Bray, and it involves another mythical character, easily the best character in wrestling history.

The Undertaker.

The Undertaker’s feuds are typically about a mortal going to battle with an immortal. Even though Brock Lesnar ended The Streak at WrestleMania XXX, The Phenom still exists. The aura lives on, and it will at WrestleMania 31.

But Bray Wyatt is an opponent like no other for The Undertaker, which will give us some great moments in the build.

The key is what happens with Bray after WrestleMania. Does he revisit the feud with John Cena? Is he on to Dean Ambrose again? Sheamus? Ryback? That’s the all-important question, because as The Shield is likely headed for a SummerSlam showdown, I can’t predict what would be next for Wyatt.

But whatever it is, I am confident that he’ll do his best overshadow any other program in the company.

And it’ll payoff in the end, when Bray has the whole damn worlds in his hands.

Greg DeMarco is a wrestling fan of over 30 years and has also worked on the independent circuit as a promoter, announcer, character and booker. Greg a weekly contributor at 411Mania.com, applying his opinionated style to the world of pro wrestling on Sundays and Thursdays.

He began writing for 411Mania in October 2010 and has been pissing readers off ever since!

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article topics :

Bray Wyatt, Greg De Marco