The Post’s Joseph Staszewski brings you around the world of professional wrestling every Tuesday in his weekly column, the Post Match Angle.
Bray Wyatt feels broken.
It certainly didn’t take long for Wyatt to lose his luster, and there may be only one way to save him after a number of missteps.
Wyatt, who was released by WWE in July 2021, was one of wrestling’s biggest free agents.
He then got the hero’s red carpet rolled out for his return to the company with an innovative “White Rabbit” trail of QR code clues, videos and more.
His actual return at Extreme Rules was impeccably done and felt like a major deal.
His first promo appeared like we were getting a more authentic Wyatt with less of the masks and smoke and mirrors.
For a while, the mystery of Uncle Howdy was enough of a hook as it seemed like Wyatt may have a supernatural equal — most likely his real-life brother Bo Dallas — to deal with.
But then it went on, and on, and on for three-plus weeks in segments where L.A. Knight came off as the star of the story.
It concluded in a short and sometimes cringe, glow-in-the-dark “Mountain Dew Pitch Black” match at the Royal Rumble that at best was a spectacle.
The finish was the butt of some jokes when Uncle Howdy’s leap onto Knight missed so badly — but it was likely just to make the whole stunt and pyro work properly.
Now it is WrestleMania season, and Wyatt — with Uncle Howdy by his side — calls out the winner of the Brock Lesnar-Bobby Lashley match at Elimination Chamber.
The All Mighty only won because Lesnar got disqualified for a low blow, as if The Beast wanted no part of a match with Wyatt.
Then a Fightful Select report came out that Lesnar had turned down a match with Wyatt at WrestleMania.
Which, true or not, having that narrative out there is a terrible look for Wyatt.
So now we are left with Wyatt and Lashley in an awkward, forced, cold program that feels like one of the least important on a loaded WrestleMania card.
Uncle Howdy has gone from potential scary big man to Wyatt’s foot soldier who looked pretty feeble after getting speared by Lashley.
Maybe getting a win over a former WWE champion will help Wyatt in the long run, but right now these segments have become confusing, can-miss TV.
At least L.A. Knight could find himself in a match for the Intercontinental championship at WrestleMania and feels like he is gaining momentum.
I personally had a hope, after how good the “White Rabbit” stuff was, that we would see something new and innovative from Wyatt this time around. Instead, so far, it’s been more of the same: more masks, more supernatural smoke and mirrors, more Firefly Funhouse segments and confusing drips of narrative to only take your eyes off the fact that there isn’t any actual wrestling from him or Howdy.
We can give it time, but it’s been five months, and we have gotten little of substance and one TV match.
Honestly, the best way to fix it all could be to reveal Howdy as Dallas and let those two tell a very real, emotional story as brothers.
Wyatt has been often labeled a genius, but at what point does it become clear that what he and WWE are doing right now could be the least attuned to what makes wrestling truly work?
Wyatt’s issue has always been getting his stories to a satisfying finish in the ring.
We can’t even get him in the ring right now.
Bray Wyatt feels broken, and it’s time he and WWE fix that.
Man to Man Moment
Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes finally getting their man-to-man moment wasn’t a promo home run, but a solid double with time to bring the runner around to score.
It was effective in adding a layer to the story that Reigns is Cody’s father Dusty’s greatest creation.
It therefore raises the stakes around the American Nightmare as Dusty’s actual son needing to validate his own existence and career by beating Reigns and winning the titles the champ mocked him for never competing for.
Rhodes still left in a very good babyface position.
It was at least a little surreal seeing them in a ring together.
On the other side, Reigns’ slow delivery took away a little bit of the flow and intensity out of it, and some in the crowd were chanting “boring.”
Also, the fact is the main beef between Reigns and Rhodes is based on Dusty Rhodes and nothing between the two men themselves. (The champ did do a pretty good Dream impression.)
Reigns hasn’t tortured Rhodes like he has the Usos, SamI Zayn and to an extent Kevin Owens.
That layer — at least for now — is not there.
The steak for his story is set and settled on the grill.
WWE had four more weeks to make it sizzle.
Just a Theory
Man, did John Cena skewer Austin Theory in his Raw promo to set up their WrestleMania match for the United States championship — even bringing up WWE pumping in crowd noises for the champ’s matches.
If WWE was hoping to make Theory feel so beneath Cena and not in his league, they succeeded — the story is whether the U.S. champ truly believes in himself and can rise to the occasion of facing his mentor on the biggest stage.
It feels as if Cena is right about one thing.
This seems like a sink-or-swim moment for Theory.
Cena and Theory are close in real life, so he is going to give the kid every chance to shine.
Can he prove he is ready to be a main-event guy sooner rather than later? We will see. (Of course WWE made sure Cody Rhodes got the Cena rub in the process, too.)
The 10 Count
The Face of the Revolution ladder match — outside of being entertaining — accomplished a number of good things.
It paid off the weeks of “Book of Hobbs” vignettes by having “Powerhouse” Hobbs come out the victor and potentially the next TNT champion.
It was Hobbs getting choked out by Samoa Joe that cost Wardlow the title initially.
By having him snatch the win from Konosuke Takeshita, it sets up an immediate feud for Hobbs whether he wins the belt or not.
I’m not going to make a big deal about the refs holding the ladder for him as he grabbed the ring.
It’s live TV, and the performer’s safety takes precedence.
Komander is going to be Rey Fenix-like TV, isn’t he?
As much as I’d love to see the heated Eddie Kingston-Claudio Castagnoli feud in AEW, it may be best that it happens in Ring of Honor.
That’s because it has a tiny bit of history there, gives the promotion a must-see story and is Kingston’s best chance at becoming a world champion for the first time in his career.
Has any WWE storyline produced two turns as flawlessly as The Bloodline just did?
The Boston crowd went bananas when Jey Uso hugged Sami Zayn and appeared to have sided with him over his brother Jimmy.
Then the superkick came, and the crowd gasped.
It was Cody Rhodes, not Kevin Owens, who came to Zayn’s aid.
The audience now has a reason to want to see Zayn beat Jey and Jimmy and not Roman Reigns.
I expect Rhodes to seal getting Zayn and Owens back together.
Man, did Gigi Dolin deliver a heck of a raw, honest and effective babyface promo ahead of her match with former Toxic Attraction mate Jacy Jayne at NXT Roadblock.
Talking about the hurt and pain of her childhood and difficult relationship with her parents, Dolin gave fans a clear and needed distinction between her and Jayne, and could set herself up for a nice babyface run when this is over.
Liv Morgan’s performance on Friday put herself in a very good position to be a challenger for Rhea Ripley should she defeat Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown women’s championship at WrestleMania.
Also, Morgan meeting with the young girl who was crying after she lost proves how great of a babyface she is.
That Santos Escobar-Rey Mysterio mask swap moment makes a lot of sense as it’s now become a centerpiece to the legend’s story with his son Dominik.
Whether Escobar is involved in the WrestleMania match or not, his inclusion has been his best work on the main roster so far — both in and out of the ring. Now Dominik needs to make clear that his dad not giving him his mask and enough respect is why he turned to The Judgement Day. The pop Rey will get for finally hitting Dom should be something.
Thought the A&E “Biography” on Chyna was the best and most complete look at her complicated life so far. The makers of the documentary talked to her family, those truly close to her and her wrestling peers.
They covered the genuinely sweet and loving person, the Triple H-Stephanie McMahon stuff and had X-Pac address the sex tape.
Just a good complete portrait of someone who sadly left us too soon.
The UFC heavyweight division feels like a great WWE angle and WrestleMania build with Jon Jones as champ, Francis Ngannou returning to win the Royal Rumble, Stipe Miocic in the aging legend Brock Lesnar/Goldberg role to hold us over and Dana White as Mr. McMahon.
Monday on Raw felt like the first time we have seen Logan Paul act like a true heel, and it’s long overdue.
He even did the cliché dig at the city where the show was being held, and it worked well.
The punch didn’t look great, but Rollins sold it like a million bucks. Paul’s flip of the microphone and shoving the “Bye, bye bitch” line back at Rollins was the perfect close to get people invested.
Wrestler of the Week
MJF, AEW
MJF’s performance in the Iron Man match at Revolution with Bryan Danielson cemented himself as AEW’s top star and one of the most compelling main-event performers in the business today.
There is no more question after having one of the best matches in the company’s history.
MJF went toe-to-toe technically with Danielson and told a fantastic story both verbally and with his facial expressions.
There is now an added layer of anticipation for who he gets next.
Match to Watch
Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus vs. L.A. Knight vs. Karrion Kross vs. Xavier Woods, SmackDown (Friday, 8 p.m., Fox)
The winner gets Gunther for the Intercontinental championship at WrestleMania, so there are major implications in this one.
The thinking is that somehow friends McIntyre and Sheamus both find a way to punch their ticket to Hollywood, so how does WWE get there?
Knight has said there can’t be a WrestleMania in Los Angeles without him, so does this match further his new story with the New Day?
A lot of story and Mania plans could be advanced in this one.
Honorable Mention: Jacy Jayne vs. Gigi Dolin (Tuesday, NXT Roadblock)
Around the Ring
- WWE officially announced King and Queen of the Ring tournaments for May 27 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
- Vince McMahon was reportedly backstage at Raw on Monday.
- “AEW: All Access” will premiere March 29 after Dynamite
- John Hennigan (John Morrison) will face Jacob Fatu for the MLW National Championship at their War Chamber event at Melrose Ballroom on April 6.
- Solo Sikoa married his fiancée Almia Williams last weekend. Congrats!
The Post Match Angle will return March 21.
