Bray Wyatt's Lack of Growth as Main Eventer Reduces WWE Star to Punch Line

As Bray Wyatt prepares to enter a program with Finn Balor on WWE Raw, he does so with an astounding lack of momentum, despite a recent win over Randy Orton at Payback 2017.

Wyatt's move to Monday nights in last month's Superstar Shake-up was certainly questionable, considering he had been a certified main event player in his final few months with the SmackDown Live brand. In fact, he was involved in one of the marquee matches at WrestleMania 33 as WWE champion in early April.

On Raw, it is fairly unlikely we will ever see Wyatt challenge for the Universal Championship, much less win it, with current champion Brock Lesnar appearing sparingly on the flagship show. Instead, he is bound to resume his spot as a midcard competitor for the foreseeable future.

Lack of opportunities aside, what has reduced Wyatt to a glorified punch line more than anything else has been how he has failed to evolve as a character. Essentially, fans know no more about him than they did when he was initially introduced to the masses nearly four years ago.

Character development is crucial to the success of a Superstar in WWE, and without it, they are doomed to flounder. Combine that with Wyatt's less than stellar win-loss record in high-profile bouts and it should come as no surprise that he has yet to live up to his full potential.

Credit: WWE.com

A major part of the appeal of The Wyatt Family when they made their main roster debut in 2013 was that they were unlike anyone else fans had ever seen in WWE. From their mysterious presentation to how they could captivate an audience with their enigmatic entrance, they were their own unique entity.

Early on in his run, Wyatt was regarded as one of the most talented talkers on the roster, and he still can be at times today. Unfortunately, it's difficult for fans to take anything he says seriously when he ultimately loses when it matters most.

On the rare occasions he does pull through with a big win, it leads to his eating another loss. For example, he won his 2014 feud with Dean Ambrose simply so he could be fed to The Undertaker at WrestleMania, and his premiere WWE Championship reign came to an abrupt end at WrestleMania 33 because the end game was always Orton capturing the gold.

These various shortcomings have caused Wyatt's rivalries to become all too predictable. Each of them follows the same tired formula with Wyatt cutting a nonsensical promo, potentially winning the first encounter and then losing the feud.

Even at Payback on April 30 when Wyatt managed to secure a victory versus Orton, he was an afterthought due to the interference from Jinder Mahal and The Singh Brothers, concluding one of the worst storylines in recent memory. The Eater of Worlds can not afford his feud with Finn Balor to suffer a similar fate.

In order for Wyatt to become the main event player he was destined to be, WWE must delve into his background a bit more and give viewers a reason to care about him (outside of his cool entrance, obviously).

We have heard about Sister Abigail on countless occasions over the years, including as recently as earlier this year in Wyatt's feud with Orton, but what was/is her significance to Wyatt prior to her death? What drives him? What was he doing before he entered WWE?

These are the questions that need to be answered for fans to get a better idea of who Wyatt is and what he is about. There is something to be said about leaving certain aspects of the character to the imagination, but he has hardly changed anything about himself lately, at least in terms of his attitude and approach to promos.

Once his rivalry with Balor runs its course, turning Wyatt face would be an interesting path to take. He has always been beloved by the audience more often than not, and if nothing else, it would give them the chance to try something new for a change in hopes of finally progressing.

Until then, however, Wyatt will continue to tread water on Raw and be looked upon as a joke by fans. While there is still time to salvage his stagnant character, WWE must act fast and not run the risk of ruining what could be an amazing act.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a digital journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.