The Glass-Half-Empty Case for Bray Wyatt's New WWE Character

Pro wrestling fans are more than capable of showing patience as a well-told story unfolds.

But Bray Wyatt might be wearing that patience a bit thin.

Maybe that's a glass-half-empty outlook on one of the industry's most interesting names and storytellers. But on the heels of one of the best returns in the modern history of the sport, Wyatt has done...quite little.

At least that's what it feels like as the 35-year-old has spent a month-plus since his return largely waltzing to the ring and cutting promos before being interrupted.

That only just changed on Friday's SmackDown when he had a minor altercation with LA Knight that may or may not lead to something more meaningful.

But otherwise, the plodding nature of the story so far and some of the repetitiveness involved—in the social media era, no less—has potentially started to hamper the momentum established by his return.

Sans major story developments while Wyatt doesn't feud with anyone or grace the ring for a match, it's hard to blame fans who start to get a little antsy with the storyline.

And it doesn't help that Wyatt's big return was so well-handled and set such a high bar for the interaction between the audience and the broadcasts and storyline itself.

During the lead-up to the reveal, even though it was predictably Wyatt, fans got to intently watch programming for clues, scan QR codes, play mini-games and so forth in downright brilliant fashion.

Things have reverted back to the usual WWE formula of promos and feuds for Wyatt and it feels deflated by comparison. It's not necessarily fair to say the company and Superstar need to work in such creative, resource-intensive things together all the time to keep fans happy, but a better balance would probably help.

It's worth pointing out that in the backdrop of this is WWE's holding-pattern status right now. If the company truly has its sights on Wyatt contending for a top title (it probably shouldn't, but hey...), there's little anyone can do while Roman Reigns clutches the men's top titles while awaiting a Rock-level challenger at WrestleMania 39.

If that's the plan, there's little sense in the returning Superstar encountering Reigns or The Bloodline right now. The only thing they could do is deflate each other's momentum.

That could be putting Wyatt in a holding pattern of sorts, too. But more likely it's simply a chosen plodding nature to his return instead of just diving into matches and feuds that come out feeling a little meaningless and watered down.

So what's the solution? The approach of the Wyatt stuff, be it promos, feuds, matches or whatever else, needs to feel more impactful. There's a line where the cryptic stuff without actual meaningful hints can cause fans' eyes to glaze over and it all blends together.

In hindsight, maybe we'll look at this Wyatt run as spectacular. He's flexing his storytelling abilities under the guidance of a new Triple H-led creative that is blatantly more open to that sort of thing and fan favorites who otherwise might not have been pushed. In the long run, maybe it all looks amazing in a long promo package that led to something amazing.

On a week-to-week basis, though, it's totally understandable if fans have started to shrug Wyatt-related things off in a way they can most other weekly things across three-plus programs of content. That, in turn, could hurt the immediate and long-term reactions.

The other side of the glass, though? If nothing else, Wyatt will still enjoy more patience from fans than most stars will ever get. They will never outright turn on him. They won't hijack segments or anything of the sort.

Plus, Reigns and The Bloodline are a good example of long-term storytelling getting a shot in the arm thanks to the involvement of Sami Zayn when things had started to get boring. So, there's plenty of reason to hope a similar momentum-creating shot arrives for Wyatt soon.

One could argue this slight indifference from fans is why WWE was so against long-term storytelling anyway. But Wyatt has had his long-term story compared to the amazing return and everything surrounding it, so it's different enough.

And while things may seem a little bleak right now, if there's one guy to fully change everyone's minds about the storytelling possibilities available in pro wrestling, it's probably Wyatt.