No Country for Bo’s Men: WWE’s Wyatt Sicks Dilemma

They say the toughest thing in life is to separate personal from business. You have to think with your head and not with your heart because the heart wants what the heart wants.

I want to start by saying that my heart goes out to the family of Windham Rotunda as what happened to them is cruel. To simply put they lost a son/father/brother who was treasured and loved and the epitome of a man who made everyone around him better.

To the WWE, Bray Wyatt was the wrestling version of John Belushi and Andy Kaufmann in a performer who was creatively genius and beloved. If anything, the only crux you could say about him is like all artistic genius he would too often go too deep and creative down the rabbit hole.

Bray Wyatt the cult leader and founder of the Wyatt Family was one of the best characters in wrestling and showcased the blend of real-world threat with devilish charm. He was a cult leader character who used intelligence, charm and some spooky tactics to cultivate a huge fan base.

And while the Fiend at times was borderline atrocious at times, the Firefly Fun House match at WrestleMania 36 was awesome. It featured Bray Wyatt using next level mind games at times to beat John Cena and show something bizarre, 4th wall breaking and brilliant.

I understand the WWE’s decision to do the Wyatt Sicks story and continue the Uncle Howdy character. Not just business wise but an homage and a goal to pay tribute to a fallen friend and give his friends and brother one more chance to break through.

This past Monday, the opening presentation was breathtaking, awesome visually and creepy of the group. It showed multiple wrestlers including Chad Gable laid out, bloodied and the group coming out like a combination of The Devil’s Rejects meets The Fiend.

And while I want this to work, deep down I have the nagging feeling that the Wyatt Sicks is more Dead Man Walking than Walking Dead.

The first thing you have to consider when writing this angle is who will work with the group and who to avoid. In the rare instances where supernatural gimmicks got over, the biggest thing was that said gimmicks could work with anyone. The Undertaker and Kane were the biggest success stories in that they could work with almost any character on the roster and make it believable.

In today’s WWE, reports are already coming out that certain talent and show will not be included with the group. You can understand as Gunther, The Bloodline, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, Cody Rhodes, Bron Breakker and Logan Paul are too grounded in reality and real life to work with this angle.

You also have to avoid them having interactions with comedy wrestlers who could kill any hope they have. R-Truth should be kept far away from the Wyatt Sicks as while he is incredibly funny, he has unfortunately killed momentum from several talent with his comedy booking.

For any heel or babyface group to succeed, they have to be presented to a strong and powerful way right off the bat. Images and looks matter and the sight of a group getting beat up or mocked can destroy momentum instantly. Just ask The Ascension who once they got to the main roster were jobbed and buried.

For the Wyatt Sicks, they have to come out strong and be used in a unique and powerful way to get traction. The group is full of wrestlers who never were able to get over on the Main Roster (Gacy), gimmicks got changed too frequently (Nikki Cross), unable to get to the next level (Erik Rowan) or were NXT favorites only (Dexter Lumis).

And then there is Uncle Howdy otherwise known as Bo Dallas.

For anyone to say that Bo Dallas sucks, a terrible wrestler, boring and/or just a jobber only shows they don’t understand wrestling. Bo Dallas is a pretty good worker, solid performer, smart and professional wrestler.

His crime is that he is nowhere near as good as his late brother.

Nothing wrong with that as you can say that about Chavo Guerrero, Dominik Mysterio, Curt Axel, Ted DiBiase Jr, Greg Gagne and a slew of other wrestlers with famous family members. For every Rock, Charlotte Flair, Roman Reigns and Randy Orton who are as good or even better than their father,

But for the Wyatt Sicks, Bo is expected to step into the roll as head of the group and lead them. When Bray Wyatt was doing it with the Wyatt Family, he was able to showcase his ability and had an aura and presence that few had. Can Bo come close to capturing that and be able to wrestle matches that make fans want more?

This all has an eerie feel of Retribution which in theory and early booking had an optimistic attitude about it. It was a chance to give some younger wrestlers a big push and see if they could carry a gimmick which had its flaws. Unfortunately, without any start power or any veteran leadership in the group, Retribution quickly became a hot mess.

And let’s not ignore the biggest problem which lies in Smackdown; The Bloodline. Ever since the Bloodline was formed, it has been the most formidable stable in the WWE and pushed like the ultimate destructive force. They have run roughshod over opponents, feuds and helped lead the WWE to a higher popularity since it began.

They have also hurt other big heel groups in that no other group can outshine or look as imposing or threatening as the Bloodline. From Judgement Day, Final Testament, Hurt Business or anyone else. Just look at the last two years of Judgement Day’s push compared to the Bloodline and how inferior they were.

I know Paul Levesque said that both groups could feud down the line, but does anyone realistically believe that it could work? That fans would look at the bad ass Samoan group of hard hitting, intense and explosive athletes and then think that the supernatural based group could take them? This could go ugly quicker than a New York Minute.

My worry is that this whole think is more nostalgic and emotional rather than rational and business minded.

That fans and wrestling industry alike WANT this to work because of the fondness for Bray and that they truly miss him. That they WANT Bo Dallas to succeed because of the torment he and the Windham Rotunda family has undergone.

But at the end of the day the Wyatt Sicks feels like an idea that can go horribly wrong simply because it’s just not the right thing. That pro wrestling is too grounded right now for any supernatural gimmicks, that talent is always the key to making things work, talented writers can screw up scripts… and what was not meant to be, was just not meant to be.

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