Roman Reigns has been the dominant heel in WWE for more than two years now, and has held both of the main men’s titles since WrestleMania. Bray Wyatt is the hottest thing going in pro wrestling since his return to WWE a few weeks ago, and is reportedly listed as the top face on SmackDown.
A showdown between the two would almost certainly be tempting, with Dave Meltzer saying “Reigns vs. Wyatt could be the biggest program in a long time” in his latest Wrestling Observer newsletter. So full speed ahead with Bray vs. Roman then, right?
Not so fast. In a report today on possible creative plans for Wyatt for the next two episodes of SmackDown (one of which will be re-taped as WWE prepares to head to Saudi Arabia for Crown Jewel next week), Fightful Select cites sources saying that a Wyatt-Reigns feud isn’t imminent.
Specifically they said “where would we go from there?” and another noted that they learned from the Fiend run.
As popular as Wyatt was during his tenure as The Fiend, it was often difficult for the wrestlers opposing him to come out looking better than they did going in. As well, given the way Wyatt was booked during that time as having superhuman resistance to injury, some of his matches simply didn’t work out from a logical perspective, and no less an authority than Seth Rollins has noted how with a few exceptions, “everyone else pretty much met a dire end for their character” after being booked against The Fiend.
While there’s less chance of that given how entrenched Reigns is as WWE’s top dog, there is logic in the source’s question of what would be next. If Wyatt-Reigns is the biggest possible program, there’s no reason to rush to it. It can percolate until WrestleMania or another big moment on the WWE calendar.
In any case, while both Reigns and Wyatt are expected to be on SmackDown tonight (Oct. 28), Roman is still building toward his Crown Jewel match against Logan Paul, while Bray’s new character is still being revealed week by week. Expect WWE to practice some patience before putting them both together.
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