Bray Wyatt's WrestleMania Loss vs. John Cena Wastes WWE Star's Potential

WWE did something right with John Cena's immense popularity at WrestleMania 30 by putting him in a match with a talented, young, up-and-coming superstar, Bray Wyatt. 

Of course, since we are talking about Cena, WWE could only go so far. In an ending that made absolutely no sense, other than to once again make fans resent the company's biggest star, Wyatt was defeated clean in the middle of the ring. 

There were entertaining moments to the match, of course, like Wyatt begging Cena to go insane on him and Wyatt doing the crab walk. But it's all pointless if the match ends with no one being elevated. 

Don't try to pass this off as just one loss, because we know from the Undertaker's WrestleMania history that wins and losses are important to the fans. 

There's a time-honored tradition in the wrestling business for an established star to put over a new guy in order to elevate him and allow the audience to take him seriously as a performer. 

It's not something that happens all the time—Triple H made a great career out of burying guys—but when it's done right, WWE finds stars on the level of Cena, Triple H, CM Punk, etc. It also helps the business thrive during periods of adjustment. 

Unfortunately tradition gave way to Vince McMahon's need to ensure that no one can compete with his golden child on the greatest stage wrestling had to offer. 

Wyatt was finally getting the push needed to stand alongside someone like Cena on the WrestleMania stage. He looked strong in a six-man tag match against the Shield and attacking Cena in the main event at the Elimination Chamber event.

All of that was undone as soon as the referee's hand counted Wyatt down following an Attitude Adjustment from Cena. 

As Josh Nason of F4WOnline.com wrote after the pay-per-view ended, nothing about the finish made a lick of sense. 

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But by Cena winning, what does that do for him? Is he more over? Does this position him for a title run or another interesting program? Not really. I’m not going to go into a Cena rant, but there’s no character depth there. The stories have already been told. Wyatt will have plenty of time to do his thing at a high level, but Sunday should have been the kickoff. It wasn't a travesty, but it felt like what was best for business was a Cena loss.

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We know why Cena won, but how many young superstars are going to be sacrificed at the altar of Superman before WWE realizes that it has a problem?

Just look at the WrestleMania card for proof that something has to change. The top matches included Undertaker (49 years old), Triple H (44), Randy Orton (34, but a fixture in the company for a decade) and Batista (45). 

Daniel Bryan was the only new star in the main event, but he's been regarded as the best wrestler on the planet dating back to his days in Ring of Honor and only got his spot by accident because CM Punk, who was originally scheduled to wrestle Triple H, left WWE. 

Wyatt is still an unknown commodity to the WWE audience. He's been around nearly a year and has had some good moments mixed in with forgettable vignettes, but at 26, could have been the breakout star of WrestleMania. 

Instead, here we are talking about another golden opportunity wasted by WWE. Wyatt has great potential with the company because he's such a unique performer, but he's stuck at a certain level because of that one loss. 

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