Analyzing the Best Way to Book Bray Wyatt at Survivor Series

At Survivor Series on Nov. 23, WWE must book Bray Wyatt smartly in his match in order to improve his standing in the company and revive his career.

Wyatt returned to WWE programming at Hell in a Cell to much fanfare—he got involved in the Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins main event and cost Ambrose the bout. But it still feels like the former NXT wrestler is facing many of the same problems he did before his sabbatical.

His character, while compelling when he debuted in July 2013, has grown stagnant. It doesn’t help that the bookers are throwing nonsensical storylines at him. For example, he showed up at Hell in a Cell with a ghost hologram.

But his in-ring talent, talking skills and charisma are still there; WWE just has to capitalize on them at the Survivor Series pay-per-view.

Interestingly, I wouldn’t say that Wyatt has to walk out of St. Louis victorious in order to be in a better spot on the card. Ambrose can—and probably should—win the bout. As long as Wyatt is booked strongly and is made to look competitive, it shouldn’t damage his credibility at all.

Ideally, WWE writers will book the bout to go 15 or 20 minutes. Considering most of the company’s top stars are tied up with the main event, and the rest of the card isn’t exactly sterling, there’s no reason management can’t give them enough time to deliver a great, lengthy and dramatic bout.

Both men have shown in the past they are capable of churning out excellent in-ring performances. And both are masters of psychology. They could easily churn out a show-stealing classic.

WWE really should avoid scripting Wyatt to produce any of his supposedly supernatural antics. The only wrestler that stuff arguably works for is The Undertaker. And that's mainly because he's a legendary star. With anyone else, it just tends to be cringe worthy and makes it impossible for fans to truly suspend their disbelief.

One idea that sounds appealing is for Wyatt and Ambrose to have a great match that ends with Ambrose winning cleanly. Instead of complaining and moaning, Wyatt could handle his loss like a man and maybe even congratulate his foe.

Credit: WWE.com

This would lead to a surprising babyface turn for the star—surely the only truly new place his character can go. There certainly is potential for Wyatt as a good guy.

Notably, he garnered vociferous cheers from audiences when he clashed with John Cena in the spring. And people did seem to like singing along with him as he crooned “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” all those times.

He does seem to have an appealing misfit personality that has the potential to catch on in a major way.

Credit: WWE.com

WWE has undoubtedly made mistakes with Wyatt over the past year. But at Survivor Series, it has the chance to fix some of them. A good performance, free of any outside nonsense and with a babyface turn, could be enough to turn his fortunes around—in the short term at least.