Quick Takes on Bray Wyatt’s WWE Release, CM Punk, Heel Sasha Banks and More

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Bray Wyatt had the whole world in his hands, until WWE dropped the ball with him.Credit: WWE.com

WWE has made what has felt like an endless amount of mistakes with Bray Wyatt for the better part of the past decade, but their biggest blunder was releasing him from his contract on July 30.

Although details surrounding his departure are still scarce, Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported that “budget cuts” were cited as the reason for his release. He joins a long list of talented individuals who were prematurely let go this last year but will no doubt have a bright future ahead of him regardless of what he decides to do next.

As one door closes, another one opens, though not in WWE. Rumors pertaining to a possible return to the ring for CM Punk in AEW have been running rampant recently and AEW all but confirmed the signing by announcing the second-ever episode of Rampage for his hometown of Chicago.

If he is indeed on his way in, one name in particular would make for the perfect opponent for him at All Out in Chicago, as teased on the latest edition of Dynamite.

This newsworthy week in wrestling also saw Sasha Banks make her long-awaited return to SmackDown and lay out Bianca Belair in brutal fashion. Their SmackDown Women’s Championship clash will be even more exciting now that Banks has gone back to her roots as a heel.

This installment of Quick Takes will tackle why the heel version of The Boss is the best Boss, AEW reportedly holding off on Adam Page vs. Kenny Omega at All Out, which brand would benefit from having Becky Lynch on its roster, and more.

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For every one or two NXT call-ups WWE gets right, there are countless others that don’t have nearly the same level of success. Bray Wyatt won his fair share of championships in WWE, but he could have reached far greater heights had he been booked better than he was.

Wyatt burst onto the WWE scene at a perfect time in 2013 when the product desperately needed new faces. They had already butchered the pushes of Ryback, Wade Barrett and Alberto Del Rio among others, but The Eater of Worlds brought something entirely different to the table.

His cult leader gimmick with The Wyatt Family was genuinely one of the most compelling characters WWE had ever done up to that point. To the company’s credit, they handled him like a star all the way up until WrestleMania 30 where he lost to John Cena in clean fashion and never recovered.

Despite by plagued by bad booking time and time again, Wyatt gave everything he was involved in his all. His various reinventions, specifically his transformation into The Fiend, made for hot acts until WWE had him lose whenever it mattered most.

He was failed by abysmal creative and never had a chance to take the torch from The Undertaker. The only upside to his exit is that now he can hopefully be as creative as he wants to be in his next venture and show WWE what they missed out on.

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Since late June, AEW had been building to Kenny Omega vs. Adam Page for the AEW World Championship. Page has been the number one ranked wrestler in the company for some time and there was no better place for him to have his crowning moment than at All Out, the same stage he fell short of becoming champion at two years ago.

Those plans were seemingly thrown into disarray this week when Page and The Dark Order lost a 10-man elimination tag team match to The Elite on Dynamite, forcing Page to forfeit his shot at the AEW title in the process. It’s possible he earns his opportunity at All Out another way, but a recent report indicates otherwise.

Per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Robert DeFelice of Fightful), the planned Page vs. Omega match is off for All Out. That doesn’t mean it won’t ever happen—and there’s no way anyone except Hangman takes that title off Omega—but they may see All Out as being too soon to pull the trigger.

Things may have had to be shifted around with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan likely on their way into AEW, but that shouldn’t put Page on the back burner for another few months. Waiting until Full Gear could be too long and allow Page’s hot momentum to be halted yet again.

Crowds are never going to be as into Hangman as they are right now, even if it’s Full Gear in November. Omega vs. Christian Cage would be a fun attraction for All Out, but AEW is running the risk of cooling off Page unnecessarily when All Out should be really be where he finally wins the big one.

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All signs sure seem to pointing toward CM Punk being AEW bound, and based on an announcement made on Wednesday’s Dynamite, he could be back in the ring as soon as All Out weekend in early September.

Per Tony Schiavone, the August 20th edition of Rampage will officially emanate from the United Center in Chicago. There’s no reason for the company to run a show in The Windy City two weeks ahead of All Out unless the idea is to debut Punk on that show and begin the build to his first match back in seven years at the pay-per-view.

Already, the seeds have been planted for who his first feud could be with following a brief promo Darby Allin cut on Wednesday night. He essentially issued an open challenge to anyone who felt they were “the best in the world,” playing off Punk’s old catchphrase.

Coming off his huge Coffin match win over Ethan Page a few weeks ago, Allin has no set match for All Out. He’s extremely popular with the fans, is talented in the ring and would sell exceptionally well for a returning Punk.

Allin likely won’t be contending for the AEW World Championship any time soon and doesn’t need to rekindle his rivalry with Miro over the AEW TNT Championship, so a match with Punk would be an excellent use of him at the event. It’d also put him in a prominent position on the card and give him the exposure he deserves.

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From The Man to The Mom, Becky Lynch is expected to be back in WWE sooner rather than later.

With Nikki A.S.H. officially defending her Raw Women’s Championship in a Triple Threat against Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley at SummerSlam and Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks likely being a lock for the event, there aren’t other obvious opponents for Lynch to face.

Rather, it would make more sense for her to be saved as a post-SummerSlam surprise. That would create even more excitement heading into the final few months of the year, which is notoriously a dull period creatively for WWE.

If real-life couples aren’t being separated with WWE returning to the road (a la Naomi reportedly being moved to SmackDown to be with her husband Jimmy Uso), Lynch moving to SmackDown with Seth Rollins would be a logical landing spot for her.

She hasn’t been on the blue brand since early 2019 when she was the reigning SmackDown Women’s champion. However, Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks are currently fighting for the title on Friday nights with Toni Storm, Zelina Vega, Shotzi Blackheart and Tegan Nox also returning or being called up lately.

Thus, Raw would be the better brand for Lynch to resurface on at this point. Fresh feuds with Rhea Ripley and Nikki A.S.H. await her, not to mention that she was never beaten for her Raw Women’s Championship last year.

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Having not been seen in a WWE ring since WrestleMania 37, Sasha Banks was always expected to return to WWE TV in time for SummerSlam season in order to rekindle and rivalry with Bianca Belair over the SmackDown Women’s Championship.

What wasn’t certain, however, was what version of The Boss we were getting when she came back from her hiatus. She exuded major babyface energy in her return on Friday’s SmackDown before thankfully betraying Belair following their tag team win in the main event and cementing her status as a heel instead.

As popular as Banks is with the WWE Universe, she has always been a better heel than a babyface. That was evident throughout 2019 and 2020 until her storyline with Bayley ultimately endeared her to the audience and made her a face by default.

Banks and Belair stole the show with their instant classic at WrestleMania earlier this year, but what fans forget is that the build to the bout was less than stellar due to both women being babyfaces and WWE not adding much fuel to the fire. The buildup this time around should be significantly stronger with the roles more defined.

Belair can easily endure a loss at SummerSlam to Banks to prolong their program, and she may even benefit from going back into chase mode for a bit. Either way, Banks is bound to bring the best out of her now that she’s a heel and make Belair that much more of a star.

   

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham “GSM” Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.