WWE's Most Likely (and Absurd) Booking Options for Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt

For months, Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt have been at war with one another over the Universal Championship and each other's souls.

After a somewhat normal (given the circumstances) match at Money in the Bank and a Wyatt Swamp Fight at Extreme Rules, their forthcoming contest at SummerSlam could be the most vicious yet.

The Fiend is in full attack mode and The Monster Among Men has seemingly abandoned the human side of himself to embrace his more monstrous tendencies.

How is this going to play out? Who will walk away with the title and the spiritual victory?

Anything can happen in WWE—even the most ridiculous, unbelievable outcomes. With that in mind, let's look at some of the most likely things that may happen as well as a few possible, yet absurd, scenarios.

Likely: Strowman Simply Beats Wyatt

Credit: WWE.com

The most basic and boring way this match ends is with something as simple as Strowman powerslamming Wyatt with enough force to score a pin.

A regular pinfall is what happens more often than not on pay-per-views unless WWE is going out of its way to swerve viewers and/or set up something to carry into the future.

Since SummerSlam represents the third match between the pair, there's no need for a non-finish that calls for a fourth contest.

Strowman won the first, and Wyatt came out on top of the second. This rubber match would settle the score and, in this situation, the hero would win. Then, the champion would move on to his next challenger while The Fiend pivots to a different feud.

Given how Jeff Hardy magically summoned face paint during his bar fight with Sheamus, perhaps he's the next person who will lock horns with Wyatt, while Strowman will have his hands full with the likes of King Corbin and Sheamus on the blue brand.

Likely: Wyatt Beats Strowman

Credit: WWE.com

Conversely, the villain could win at SummerSlam, which isn't an impossibility.

Wyatt has held two world titles in WWE, and his run with the Universal Championship was cut short in favor of passing it to Goldberg in preparation for a WrestleMania 36 match with Roman Reigns that didn't happen.

Perhaps WWE will consider this a chance to pay Wyatt back for that bad judgment call. Then, after winning the title without any complications, The Fiend would be back on top of SmackDown as its champion.

The company might want to do that to give Reigns someone to topple and be the hero once more, which means a heel would be better to stand in his way.

The loss of the title could also give Strowman an opportunity to take some time off. He was on his way to a vacation when he got the call to turn around at the last minute and won the title at WrestleMania in April.

Absurd but Likely: Alexa Bliss Turns on Strowman and Joins Wyatt

Credit: WWE.com

Lately, WWE has had pay-per-view matches end with fake champions being crowned, double count-outs and all sorts of irregular finishes. And when it comes to a character like Wyatt, there's always a chance something more than a regular pin will be involved.

A booking option that may actually happen, despite how ridiculous it sounds at first, is that Wyatt may win the match with help from Alexa Bliss.

The natural thinking here would have her helping out her friend, Strowman, while getting revenge on Wyatt for attacking her. However, The Monster Among Men said he "didn't give a damn" about The Goddess on the Aug. 7 edition of SmackDown.

That was a strange thing to say, but was it said for a reason? Strowman may have abandoned her, but the second hint toward this outcome comes in Bliss' reaction to Wyatt. Instead of trying to run, she caressed The Fiend in an almost loving fashion, which caused him to reel backward and reject it.

Could this be setting up a partnership in which Bliss becomes the Harley Quinn to Wyatt's Joker? We may look back on her appearance as a Sister Abigail image at Extreme Rules as foreshadowing that.

Absurd: Strowman Rejoins The Wyatt Family

Credit: WWE.com

Who's to say it's just Bliss who links up with Wyatt? Could Strowman find his way back to The Wyatt Family as a result of this feud?

In theory, this isn't absurd. Wyatt has often spoken about how he wants to get The Monster Among Men back to the way he used to be and how it's his mission to put an end to him as he created him.

However, this ending would regress both characters for no particular reason.

Strowman's done enough since being the "black sheep" of The Wyatt Family to separate himself from that persona. He's the only one who did that, as stablemates Luke Harper and Erick Rowan kept their distance but always found their way back.

If WWE does the same with Strowman, it will look as though no one in The Wyatt Family can ever fully escape being associated with that faction.

It also takes a top babyface off the board for SmackDown and replaces it with another heel, which the brand doesn't need with the likes of Sheamus, AJ Styles, King Corbin, The Miz, John Morrison and others already in villainous roles on Friday nights.

Absurd: Strowman Beats Wyatt and Fully Cleanses His Spirit

Credit: WWE.com

There are countless off-the-wall ideas we can suggest that are on the absurd side of this list.

CM Punk could lead the Retribution faction to abscond with all the titles, or Vince McMahon could interrupt the match to do a song-and-dance routine of "Stand Back" from the Slammy Awards.

However, one conclusion that is an actual possibility while being a questionable decision is if this has a full-on happy ending.

What if this is the end of The Fiend character? What if Strowman makes good on his promise to end Wyatt once and for all and accomplishes it in a way that not even Matt Hardy could?

We've seen The Fiend, the sweater-wearing Firefly Fun House version of Wyatt and his Eater of Worlds persona show up this year, but we haven't seen the return of Husky Harris. But imagine a situation in which The Monster Among Men frees him from Sister Abigail's control and returns him to his first WWE character.

Strowman could ride off into the sunset having saved the damsel in distress (Bliss) and turning his friend back to the light. How weird would it be if a babyface Wyatt was the next step of this story? Stranger things have happened.

SummerSlam's tagline this year is "You'll Never See It Coming." Perhaps that's less about Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre and more about whatever oddball finish WWE has in store for the Universal Championship match.

We'll find out on Aug. 23 when Strowman and Wyatt battle it out at The Biggest Party of the Summer.

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.