Well, SmackDown left us in… suspense this past Friday.
That leaves the question of what will happen to Alexa Bliss. Will she be morphed into the myth of Sister Abigail? Will she be the lady of the new Wyatt Family? Will she be heel-turned into Darkness and gain power over Braun Strowman, becoming the veritable “Master” counter to his “Blaster”? It’s hard to say. Let’s just hope it’s not a long-winded jaunt into something that gets quickly forgotten due to poor execution.
Regardless of where one stands on The Fiend, it’s quite clear a cinematic perspective works best. If WWE is going to go there. The staged match between The Fiend and John Cena at WrestleMania 36, could be considered borderline genius. “Borderline” because it’s a hard sell but one should respect the display. Yet, try to pull this off in real-time and it tends to test a person’s sense of disbelief. When crowds were in attendance the response was always divided, half absolutely ecstatic the other unsure of what to think.
Presently, a lot of fans still love The Fiend. They don’t seem to mind the blatant flaws that can put off others. Social Media searches (e.g.: Alexa Bliss, the fiend) turn up Twitter comments that mostly embrace these recent events. Many are all for the beginning of some sort next level heel turn for Bliss but to what extent it goes will remain to be seen. Reddit, on the other hand, appears to be where the non-believers are congregating or at least taking the time to comment as the general tone is that of sarcasm and ridicule regarding the Bliss/Fiend collaboration. The rest of the comments viewed often read as nonsensical or stunningly insightful. Talk of Bliss and Wyatt Family fan fiction in one of the threads definitely raised an eyebrow… Nevertheless, at a glance, The Fiend continues to be divisive.
Experimentation is fine, but in the end, the problem becomes it’s obvious. That may be the main reason it’s hard to believe but, that doesn’t mean Bray Wyatt is unlikable. The character is great. He’s fun and has a lot of potential but execution is key when it comes to alter-egos and it’s uncertain WWE knows how to land The Fiend across the board. The very existence of AEW alone could be proof of WWE’s failures. There’s a good chance this pitch could crash and burn.
There is hope, however. WrestleMania 36 proves that this can be done effectively. This is why Miss Alexa Bliss needs to be very careful going forward. It’s doubtful she’ll lose fans regardless of how this goes but she doesn’t want this to be a waste of her time. She’s proving quite solid in the ring and if she can keep herself off the Injured List, she doesn’t really need to play along. If anything, she may be doing Strowman and Wyatt a favour. It would be a shame if it were all for nothing. Let’s hope Bliss has enough good taste and influence to push this into a direction that the majority of fans can follow and appreciate with ease.