Ryan Dilbert's 10-Count: Bray Wyatt in Need of Clarity, Focus Upon WWE Return

1. Who is The Eater of Worlds?

When Bray Wyatt emerges from the darkness and steps into the WWE spotlight again, he must do so reshaped as a newly sharpened sword pointing at his enemies.

The Wyatt Family patriarch has long been one of WWE's most compelling characters, but he has traveled in too many directions at the same time. He is poised to return after suffering a calf injury in April, and that forced absence provided a great chance to adjust who Wyatt is.

Wyatt is so many things at once that the audience struggles to zero in on his motivations. He has been a self-proclaimed savior, a bloodthirsty beast and a sadistic puppeteer. 

In a promo in February, Wyatt showed off that multiplicity in a matter of minutes. The New Face of Fear wondered aloud if he was insane. He talked of two sides of himself, one which offers "eternal paradise" and another that would destroy for pleasure.

As skilled as Wyatt is on the mic and as enthralling as he can be during these rants, these speeches aren't working as well as they should. Rather than drive home what his true self looks like, Wyatt is continually throwing new images at the audience.

He's a preacher, a warmonger, a boxcar and a box of matches.

At times, his message is too esoteric. At times, his act clashes with the simplicity of the wrestling world. He's a seven-headed hydra in a land of lizards and snakes.

Wyatt has to rein it in some. He has to boil down his rhetoric to a simple message. WWE should let him be a necromancer or a leader of rebels, but only one thing for a sustained stretch.

That will allow fans to better connect with him. That will help WWE Creative guide his journey. If he's out to simply cause havoc, WWE can have him wipe out foes with that in purpose in mind. If he's out to take down "the machine," as he has hinted at in recent tweets, WWE can have him focus on upending the McMahons.

Wyatt himself believes that a change is in order.

"[Where] the character needs to go now is back to the slums. I need to begin again. I need to be someone new," Wyatt told Jan Murphy of Slam! Sports.

He's right. Wyatt is so replete with imaginative ideas that he seems to try to cram them all into his character one right after the other. There will be time to evolve into many of those monsters and myths floating around in his head.

For now, when he is leading The Wyatt Family once again, he needs to pick a single road and travel down it until the path is well-worn.

2. Success Against Cena

As magical a moment as AJ Styles' pouncing on John Cena was on Monday's Raw, it was hard for many a fan to not think ahead. Historically, clashing with the 15-time world champ ends in defeat after defeat. 

Styles fans have reason to be worried. Cena's rivals don't own a ton of wins against him.

JP Yim/Getty Images

Since 2010, here are the Superstars with the most wins when facing Cena one-on-one:

• CM Punk (6-4-2)
• Randy Orton (3-4)
• Alberto Del Rio (3-8)
• Seth Rollins (3-9)
• Sheamus (2-2-2)
• Rusev (2-3)

Only Punk has a winning record. Even Brock Lesnar, who dominated Cena at SummerSlam in 2014, is only 1-2 versus Cena since the decade started.

WWE needs to make someone else as successful in the ring with Cena as Punk was. That's one of the keys to building this much-hyped new era. Should Styles have Cena's number and fell him several times over, it will serve as a clear passing of the torch, a star-making series of results.

3. Throwback Video of the Week: G.L.O.W.

Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (G.L.O.W.) is coming back. Sort of.

The defunct promotion will be the subject of a TV show. Elizabeth Wagmeister reported for Variety, "Netflix has greenlit 'G.L.O.W.,' a comedy series based on the 1980s female wrestling league, which will be exec produced by Jenji Kohan."

For fans unfamiliar with the women of G.L.O.W., sit back and enjoy this introduction to several wrestlers via rapping:

This theme song captures the goofy tone of the show and shows off how gimmicky many of the characters were. G.L.O.W. out-cartooned WWE at its most cartoonish. And now a new generation of fans will get to experience that in a new medium.

4. Nia Jax's Proving Ground

June 8's NXT TakeOver: The End will be Nia Jax's biggest career match to date. Going up against Asuka for the NXT Women's Championship, she has a great chance to prove how far she's come in her short time with the company.

Working against an elite performer like Asuka in a high-profile match, Jax will be met with high expectations. Her last title bout, against Bayley in London last year, was solid but not spectacular.

Jax has since progressed as a performer, continually getting more comfortable as a terror in the ring. Asuka will now act as a measuring stick to see whether she's ready for NXT's top tier.

5. Macho Man Rescued a Kitten 

The late Randy Savage took in a kitten with a missing leg. He named it JYC in honor of fellow WWE alum Junkyard Dog (JYD). The cat is still in Savage's wife's care. 

Lanny Poffo first posted the story on Facebook, and Greg Helms later shared UPROXX's writeup:

That's the kind of unexpected tale the wrestling world needs to hear more often.

6. Chiming in on Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay 

At New Japan Pro Wrestling's Best of the Super Juniors tournament, Ricochet and Ospreay tore down the house in a frenetic, high-octane clash. It has since created tons of buzz for both wrestlers and sparked debate about the state of wrestling (warning: video contains brief NSFW language):

Former WCW champ Vader wasn't a fan of the bout. He tweeted that he felt the match was "blatant acrobatics" rather than wrestling storytelling:

Some have celebrated the athleticism involved in the action. Some have dismissed it as too big a departure from wrestling tradition.

Wrestling is in a constant evolution, and Ospreay and Ricochet clearly looked to push the medium. Kudos to them for their performance. But critics have a point when it comes to the match's lack of selling.

At times, moves simply seemed to have no effect. 

Ricochet hit a 619. Seconds later, Ospreay responded with a midair dropkick, apparently having shaken off the kick. Ospreay later crashed into the ring apron but bounced back up in the blink of an eye to hit a reverse hurricanrana.

None of that is specific to Ospreay vs. Ricochet. That kind of moment is something one will see across the wrestling landscape. Grapplers have focused far less on the art of selling, a phenomenon that lessens the impact of a match's biggest moves.

Jim Ross praised the bout on his blog but also wrote, "Could the talents have slowed down a cadence and sold/registered a bit more? Of course they could, and if they had it would have generated even more emotions to take away from the the MOTY candidate."

It's hard to argue with that. Perhaps that's what Vader was getting at, but he expressed that thought in a more dismissive tone.

7. Reigns Owns Rollins

While Seth Rollins pinned Roman Reigns when it counted most, it's been The Big Dog who has come out on top the most, and by a wide margin.

Rollins defeated Reigns at WrestleMania 31 to become world champ. He's in position to reclaim that title at Money in the Bank.

WWE, though, clearly prefers to have Reigns top Rollins. The current world titleholder owns a 23-4 record against Rollins overall and is 3-2 in one-on-one bouts.

8. Goldberg's Best

On Monday night, the WWE faithful found out that Goldberg will be a part of the WWE 2K17 video game. Memories of the powerhouse have since come flooding back, and fans are buzzing about the possibility of Goldberg returning to ring action.

To brush up on Goldberg's career highlights, check out these clips of his best work: 

• Goldberg vs. Raven: WCW Nitro, April 20, 1998
• Goldberg vs. Hulk Hogan: WCW Nitro, July 6, 1998
• Goldberg vs. Diamond Dallas Page: WCW Halloween Havoc 1998
• Goldberg vs. Chris Jericho: WWE Bad Blood 2003
• Goldberg vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Nash vs. Chris Jericho: SummerSlam 2003 (Elimination Chamber)

Goldberg was no Heartbreak Kid in terms of creating classic matches, but he was certainly at the center of a number of bouts where the crowd was erupting and one simply couldn't turn away from the ring. He was a shooting-star phenomenon unlike anything we will ever see again.

9. The World's Largest Mentor

Big Show quietly returned to TV on Monday night. He appeared in a backstage segment with Apollo Crews, offering the newcomer advice.

The moment clicked.

This was a fine use of Big Show's star power and experience. His words had power because fans are well-aware of how long the big man has been a part of this business. And Big Show flourished here, coming off as more likable and interesting than he has in quite some time.

This is something WWE needs to explore further. It should make Big Show the veteran presence in the locker room, a coach and a guy who has the babyfaces' backs. Should he have exceptional chemistry with one of his allies, the company could then make Big Show an enforcer for that star, be it Crews or someone else.

10. Cody Rhodes' Wish List

Following his departure from WWE, Rhodes has a clear set of goals. He shared those on Twitter, complete with a number of dream matches: 

It didn't take long for Rhodes to check off one of those items. Northeast Wrestling announced that Rhodes will be facing Kurt Angle on Aug. 27. Here's hoping we see the former WWE intercontinental champion continue to work his way down the list.

Match statistics courtesy of CageMatch.net.