Kevin Sullivan's Contribution and the WWE's Development of the Wyatts on Raw

The WWE did it right when they went back to old-school wrestling vignettes to promote The Wyatt Family and their grand entrance into the company.

They sure did not disappoint in their delivery when they jumped Kane and “injured” him to the point, that, according to WWE.com, he more than likely will miss the Money in the Bank All-Stars Ladder match.

I applaud the company for taking a simple idea (like they have done with The Shield) and applying it to a modern day concept.

The Wyatts are “over” before they even have a six-man match. Oh, I love it!

The basic foundation for any true run in wrestling, at least how it was done “back in the day,” was the creation of a vignette, a spoken leader and a gimmick or action that got people talking.

The Shield is great at that. The Four Horsemen because legends at it. D-X could not survive without it. And The Wyatt Family are using it for a personal education on how to create the sense of uncertainty in the wrestling business.

I am a big proponent of simple concepts, no matter how old they might be, working in an environment that may or may not have seen the same thing over and over again. The WWE got away from its roots for a long time—and now it would appear it is coming back to center. The Wyatts and The Shield are leading the way.

Both factions would not be as successful today, especially The Wyatts, if not for the rambles and verbal brilliance of Kevin Sullivan.

I know it sounds a little odd, but hear me out on this one.

Sullivan was a tough SOB from Boston, an undersized wrestler with a barrel belly who was a regional star in Florida and Georgia. He moved on to WCW in the later part of his career. Sullivan, who turned heel in Florida in the early 1980s after beating Barry Windham for the Florida Heavyweight Title, was famous for his “cult” shoot vignettes where he talked to the heavens, or in this case the underworld.

It wasn’t past him to bring his cast of characters into the fray, including the Purple Haze and Jake Roberts. And when he needed to really make a point, a hot number named Nancy Sullivan (his wife and later the wife of Chris Benoit) was added for sex appeal.

Sullivan wanted to create the aura of fear and unpredictability in his matches and his appearances on television. Battling a mastermind like Dusty Rhodes or Mike Graham or a young Windham did not hurt the situation.

Sullivan may have been one of the first true “evil” heels of the NWA, a standard which led an “oddity” revolution.

I see a lot of Kevin Sullivan in Bray Wyatt. From the look, to the words, to the Godfather image, Wyatt takes Sullivan’s act one step further and runs with it. And when Kane was lying on the arena floor Monday night and spread out “injured,” I could not help but think it would be something Sullivan (who has not wrestled since his days in WCW) would be proud of.

The same arguments could be made about Raven (Scott Levy) and his rise in the ranks as a wet-behind-the-ears kid in Memphis who wanted to date Missy Hyatt on television and looked completely lost. He grew into a character, went to WCW as “Scotty Flamingo,” transformed himself into “Raven” and became one of the greatest gimmicks of all time.

Wrestling has a way of recreating the past in ways that might be slight or subtle, but the product always succeeds in the end. I am not saying the WWE should go back and reproduce DX or McMahon vs. Austin, mainly because the first go-round will always be better than the reproduction.

Subtle changes and recreation add “realism” to matches, to storylines and to characters. In the world of sports entertainment, that is needed most. We didn’t know this 30 years ago in the land of kayfabe. Now we do. And we need second- and third-generation Superstars (Wyatt is the son of Mike Rotunda, grandson of Blackjack Mulligan and nephew of Barry Windham) to pull this off. 

Wyatt understands its importance. And for that reason, the product speaks for itself.