WWE's Growing Bron Breakker Problem

Bron Breakker regained the Intercontinental Championship with a win over Jey Uso in the main event of Monday's Raw.

It was his second championship victory since joining the main roster, and it came against one of the most popular stars in the company.

Still, what should have been a momentous occasion further highlighted WWE's growing problem with the second-generation Superstar.

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Inconsistent Booking

Breakker wasted little time making an impression on the WWE Universe. He arrived on the scene on Raw and quickly captivated audiences with his explosiveness and several banger matches against Ricochet and Ilja Dragunov.

With a significant push came great expectations and he lived up to them, delivering between the ropes, on the mic, and winning a notoriously tough crowd over almost instantaneously, thus proving his success in NXT was not just a fluke.

He had momentum on his side and was the clear favorite to dethrone Sami Zayn for the IC title at Money in the Bank.

Then, he did not.

He would accomplish that feat the following month at SummerSlam but it was clear that his momentum had been derailed by that first loss, which diminished the aura he had built as an unstoppable and unbeatable force.

Still, Breakker managed to develop a connection with audiences, who barked along with him when encouraged to in promos and when he entered arenas across the country. Instead of capitalizing on it, the creative team stubbornly kept him heel and within a month of winning the title, he dropped it to Jey Uso in another questionable loss.

He hinted at a babyface turn by showing Uso respect and confronting world heavyweight champion Gunther backstage. It was an empty tease, though, as Breakker reaffirmed his heel status a week later by laying out Uso with a spear.

The explanation? He changed his mind.

All while still asking fans, "Do we have any dogs in (insert city)?!" and encouraging their barks.

Fast forward to Monday's Raw, where he regained the title, but not before another empty tease in the form of a confrontation with Jacob Fatu. The fans in Philadelphia erupted at the thought of the two badasses clashing and social media buzzed about the staredown, but it is clear based on where those two Superstars are in their stories that there is no imminent plan to deliver on that tease.

Furthermore, Breakker's win over Uso Monday night essentially took a backseat to the ongoing Bloodline saga and though he was the last man standing at the conclusion of the show, was still overshadowed by a key storyline development leading into November's Survivor Series.

This begs the question: what does the future hold for the young juggernaut?

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A Cloudy Future

Make no mistake about it: Breakker has a bright future in WWE. He is going to be a world champion and will likely be the top star in the company at some point. He has all of the tools, an immeasurable charisma, and a connection with fans despite the booking hiccups that have accompanied his first year on the main roster.

One cannot help but feel as though his immediate future is a bit cloudy.

He regained an IC title that, it can be argued, he outgrew relatively quickly. He has been a babyface, then a heel, then a babyface again, before settling back into the role of heel, despite the growing attempt to get fans to participate in his barking gimmick.

He has essentially destroyed the Raw midcard already and has no immediate challenger on the horizon.

How WWE has booked its way into this corner with Breakker, considering how expertly his first few months on the main roster were handled, is somewhat of a mystery. How it books him out of it will determine how quickly he recovers from the inconsistencies he has faced of late.

First up will be establishing him as something instead of everything.

Is he a babyface? A heel? Even if the intent is to treat him like a tweener, it is important for WWE Creative to actually do that rather than picking and choosing from week to week. Let the audience know that this guy is neither good nor bad but instead, a badass willing and able to steamroll the competition.

Give him an actual story to sink his teeth into. Let him rediscover that momentum he had earlier in his run before he was inexplicably beaten, twice. Keep those interactions with Gunther up and more importantly, remind the audience that he triumphed over The Ring General during their time in NXT.

Handle Breakker with the care that The Bloodline, Cody Rhodes, and The Judgment Day has been because a future star of his talent, charisma, and explosivity does not come along often. Wasting his early potential threatens to ruin what makes him special.

Triple H and the rest of the creative team proved early on that they knew how to book him to maximum effect early on. Now, they must utilize this latest title win as a soft reboot and get him back on track before Breakker loses the aura that will ultimately play a key role in his long-term success.