Bray Wyatt's Popularity with WWE Fans Necessitates a Babyface Turn

In the case of Bray Wyatt, the villagers have started rooting for the dragon and not the dragon slayer.

Drawn in by his charisma, his unique character and full-throttle style in the ring, WWE fans are increasingly behind Wyatt despite all the dastardly acts he does on screen. Rather than push back against this rising tide of popularity, the company should use it, turning The Eater of Worlds babyface.

WWE is constantly on the hunt for the next great in-ring hero. It needs an heir to John Cena. It needs a superhero it can build around.

As surprising as it might be, that person is the one who has spent the bulk of his WWE tenure terrorizing the fans' favorites on the main roster.

It doesn't matter that Wyatt teased that he would hurt Roman Reigns' daughter. It doesn't matter that he once kidnapped Daniel Bryan, or that he once tied John Cena in the ring ropes and dressed him in a sheep mask like something out of a serial killer's daydreams.

The audience keeps treating him like the good guy.

At Battleground, the story was supposed to be that the righteous warrior and father finally got his hands on the man who had been mentally torturing him. Reigns was set to do battle with a maniacal preacher who had robbed him of his chance at the Money in the Bank contract, who had left him motionless on the mat after an ambush.

Still, when Wyatt entered the arena, fans held up their cellphones to light the monster's way.

When his entrance song ended, they yipped in approval. When he began to pop the babyface in the chin with right hands, they chanted, "Let's go, Wyatt!"

Credit: WWE.com

This has become commonplace for Wyatt regardless of what storyline evil he does. Attribute some of that to modern wrestling fans' choices to cheer for whoever they like, but some of that is born from a growing popularity.

Hall of Famer Jim Ross also believes it's partly due to Wyatt's character. Ross wrote of him on his blog, "His gritty and oftentimes irreverent character is highly entertaining and allows the audience to systematically interact with him and seemingly gets more popular by the week. It's only a matter of time until he's changing jerseys IMO (sic)."

Ross is right. Wyatt's too engaging not to be a babyface at some point.

As his momentum increases, WWE has to see that it needs to shift how it presents him. Sure, he's capable of being the next great monster, but the fans keep making it clear that they want to cheer for him. 

So adjust his character. Make him an antihero. Let him start using his destructive powers to start taking down WWE's evildoers.

It's a role in which he will excel. Smith Hart, for one, thinks Wyatt has great potential as a face:

Mankind began his WWE run as a sadist heel out to do harm. Eventually, though, he was too interesting, too unique to boo. Fans wanted to pull for him.

And so he morphed into a surprisingly lovable freak, his tortured past hauntingly familiar to those who have been bullied.

As a face, Mankind achieved his greatest success. He became WWE champ, teamed with The Rock and made his strongest connection with the crowd. Jake Roberts, The Undertaker and Kane, who like Wyatt employed dark gimmicks, all made the jump toward face status with great success.

It's time to afford Wyatt that same opportunity.

WWE writers can make all the plans they want, but it's ultimately the fans who decide the direction of the characters. More and more, they are making it clear they want Wyatt to switch sides. No matter what Wyatt tears apart with his claws, he's greeted like the conquering hero, complete with lights dotting the darkness.