Ever since the Attitude Era in the 90’s, there have been multiple staples in the WWE that have insinuated sanitary worship and unholy darkness. During this time period, the first group created was a devilish trio named the Brood. This group consisting of Gangrel, Edge and Christian, portrayed the image of vampires who lived an extremely gothic lifestyle. While competing in all kinds of matches and donning an extremely original entrance, the Brood would serve as the foundation for one/maybe two, future WWE Hall of Famers.
Along with the Brood came another group, who also based themselves on darkness and human sacrifice, referring to themselves as The Ministry of Darkness. Another fixture of the Attitude Era, this group was highly regarded because of its leader, none other than the Undertaker. The rest of this cult consisted of Viscera, Mideon, and the Accolades (JBL and Farooq), which was a nice mixture of personality and skill that all led up to the conforming higher power, which turned out to be non other than Vince McMahon himself. Consequently, being as though the leader was a corporate entity, they were now known as the Corporate Ministry and took precedence over everyone inside the WWE. In my opinion, they kept things interesting by continually pushing things towards the limits by doing such acts as sacrificing people on a cross, namely Stephanie McMahon. Those were the days the FCC had a direct line to Corporate Headquarters, constantly voicing their displeasure and complaints.
All of these groups were successful in their images, which has led WWE to rebuild the same type of storyline with the Wyatt Family. The Wyatt Family, consisting of Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, portray themselves as a cult and use all sorts of cryptic messages to get their point across to the WWE universe. This combined with a unique and sadistic ring entrance, the Wyatt’s are shaping up to be major cog in the WWE wheel heading into the New Year. Therefore, lets read a little into who these members actually are, knowing they aren’t really household names:
Luke Harper
• Jon Huber signed in 2012
• Formerly known as Brodie Lee
• Best recognized for his stint in ROH and Jersey All Pro Wrestling where he held the JAPW Heavyweight Championship
Erick Rowan
• Joseph Rudd signed in 2011
• Mainly an independent circuit floater who latched onto
FCW, the WWE developmental program and now has found a role within the brand
Bray Wyatt
• Formally known as Alex Rotundo and Husky Harris
• Part of the NXT Nexus
• Now is playing a role he seemingly looks made for
This all leads me to the question of where these sadistic views and messages are headed and what they actually mean. What does the phrase, “The devil made me do it,” actually mean? Is it a prelude to a major storyline? What if the devil is the Dead man himself and he is coming back as the higher power force for the WWE today? This kind of storyline, in my opinion, would be brilliant as a major lead up to Wrestlmania XXX. Since the formation of the Wyatt’s, they have attacked several members of the WWE roster, starting with Kane and most recently Daniel Bryan. They have been doing it with powerful messages and moves, telling the world the Devil made them do it. In bringing back the Undertaker as the devil, it would definitely, in the words of Triple H, be Best for Business. The Undertaker would be portrayed as a higher power force, but a force that wouldn’t technically have to wrestle. In leaving his henchmen to do his dirty work, the Undertaker would remain fresh for not only the Royal Rumble, but also for Wrestlemania. They could even actually portray themselves as working for Triple H and the authority, which could be why Kane called out Stephanie McMahon last week and said his services are at their disposal. Again I do realize that the Dead man himself is almost out of gas, has many recurring injuries, and cannot take the physical beating of a typical road schedule over the next 6 months, but I think there are ways to put him over like they have done in the past. They could continue to use the Wyatt faction for the next few months, continuing to take out numerous superstars and making constant mention of the devil and also add some darkness references. I think the lead up would be extremely intriguing, leaving us in awe when he would finally be unveiled. This would definitely be a ratings boost and would guarantee a constant viewership for the foreseeable future. Obviously, this is only my opinion, but I definitely think something like this is in the works, as WWE always use phrases to get things over, which make me believe The Devil made me do it, is just another clue for us to swallow.
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