WHAT WENT WRONG WITH THE WYATT SICKS?

We have just received the upsetting news that all members of the Wyatt Sicks faction have been released from WWE. So, let’s have a look at what went wrong with this group, a group built to pay homage to the late, great Bray Wyatt that started with huge momentum with an incredible debut, intriguing interviews with it’s members and an enjoyable feud and set of matches with Chad Gable’s American Made. They had a clear, outlined story arc ready to run with but then, in all honesty, it completely fell apart, a disappointed feud in which they were defeated by another underwhelming faction in Karrion Kross’s Final Testament and before we knew it they were off our screens with little to no mention until they suddenly returned to tear apart Smackdown’s incredible tag division (in more ways than one). FrAxiom, The Motor City Machine Guns, DIY, Street Profits, Los Garza… all incredible teams playing their part to make Smackdown’s tag division one of the more enjoyable aspects of WWE at the time, until their momentum was capped in favour of two factions, The Wyatt Sicks and MFT.

Wyatt Sicks would hold the tag titles for some time, being involved in some very fun matches until a long term feud with MFT, a feud that genuinely started off very well with a heated stare down which had fans in the arena excited, it was also a feud that made a lot of sense as it fit The Wyatt Sicks original goal to target those who betray their family so targeting Solo Sikoa’s MFT was an obvious choice except for 1 major issue. WWE had clearly forgotten, or stopped caring about that arc a long time ago, The Final Testament feud already hadn’t fit that and once they returned and target the tag titles all their character was stripped and they were nothing more than a generic faction in costumes using Bray Wyatt’s presentation. So, the feud with MFT didn’t tell any of that story and instead focused on 2 things, the tag titles (which shouldn’t have been involved in this feud at all, especially with such talented teams sidelined to make way for it) and the lantern. Week by week, MFT and Wyatt Sicks would go back and forth with MFT stealing the lantern and Wyatt Sicks attempting to take it back. It wasn’t good, MFT were limited and stale, Wyatt Sicks had lost their appeal long before this unfortunately and it destroyed a flourishing tag division. MFT would eventually come out on top taking the tag titles and not long after, The Wyatt Sicks would be released.

I’ve seen the more cynical viewpoint that WWE used the Wyatt Sicks as a cash cow to keep making money off Bray Wyatt’s popularity, rehiring his brother for the spot then released them all as soon as it lost its value. Given many of WWE and TKO’s practises it’s hard to argue against that, but for now, thats not my focus, I want to write about what should’ve been done with The Wyatt Sicks so let’s go back in time.

Wyatt Sicks have defeated American Made and Uncle Howdy has defeated Chad Gable. Now, to be honest, The Wyatt Sicks doesn’t contain the most exciting group of wrestlers so I don’t think this should be a full time act, they should only be having 3-4 feuds a year, maybe less, maybe more, and ONLY feuds that fit their previously mentioned ethos of targeting those who turn their backs on their family. So they’ve beaten American Made and we don’t see them again until Uncle Howdy enters the Royal Rumble (yes I understand that it is a risk to take them off tv for so long when their momentum is high but walk with me please). I’m not here to an in depth re-booking so I’ll put it simply, Wyatt Sicks vs Judgement Day should have been set in stone for WrestleMania that year. Wyatt Sicks defeat Judgment Day. A few months away before we start building to SummerSlam where they defeat MFT. Always focusing on those who turn their backs on family (Judgment Day turning on Rhea and Priest, or specifically Dominik turning on Rey, and I previously mentioned MFT were an obvious choice). Not long after, in the midst of Kevin Owens heel run where he has turned on Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and most importantly, his best friend Sami Zayn…. which invites the attention of The Wyatt Sicks, Uncle Howdy vs Owens on Smackdown where not only does Owens win but he unmasks Howdy and mocks Bo Dallas. Owen moves on to face Sami at Elimination Chamber. Wyatt Sicks miss WrestleMania. That is the end of my specifics but here is a list of short term feuds/targets for The Wyatt Sicks that could happen between or after this;

• The Miz after he betrays R-Truth

• Ridge Holland when he betrays Chase U

• Ludwig Kaiser after he betrays Vinci

• Becky Lynch after she betrays Lyra (a one off match between Becky and Nikki Cross)

• The Vision (either targeting Heyman after he betrays Punk and Roman at Mania, or targeting The Vision after they betray Seth)

• New Day after they betray Big E

• Candice Lerae after she betrays Indi

• The Culling after they betray Tatum Paxley

• Asuka after she attacks Iyo

• Natalya after she attacks Maxxine

• Naomi after she was revealed to be Jade’s attacker

I won’t sit here and pretend everything I’ve mentioned would be perfect or even necessarily good, my aim here was to show how many options there were for feuds/matches that fit the originally laid out goal of The Wyatt Sicks, this group should've never been a constant presence on TV, each appearance should’ve felt special and told their story, they never should’ve committed to being specifically heel or face and they never should have been going after any titles and maybe it would have worked out much better than it did, I still believe The Wyatt Sicks had a ceiling and a shelf life, but I also believe that with consistent story-telling and less regular appearances they would have maintained their unique appeal for a much longer period of time and really allowed Bo Dallas, Erick Rowan and other members to pay a proper tribute to their late, incredible, brother, friend and mentor Bray Wyatt.

I really wanted this to be great, but perhaps it was truly destined to fail and perhaps WWE always had less sincere motives behind it, but I’ll still enjoy going back and watching their debut, their first wins, their tag title win and their entrance in Paris with the crowd singing Bray Wyatt’s song. I hope each member is proud because they truly built had something special despite WWE’s creative letting them down and I wish each member, Bo Dallas, Erick Rowan, Joe Gary, Dexter Lumis and Nikki Cross the best of luck in whatever it is they decide to do next and thank them for the allowing us to enjoying Bray’s incredible creative mind one final time.