Bray Wyatt's Next Step, WWE's Miscalculation on Big Man Matches, More Friday Takes

The Friday night block of WWE SmackDown and AEW Rampage featured some fun action, but neither show did much to advance any of the major storylines. A lot of what we saw felt like filler or placeholder content.

SmackDown saw Rey Mysterio step back into the ring for a singles match against Ludwig Kaiser of Imperium in a bout that was only surpassed in quality by the banger from Sheamus and Solo Sikoa at the top of the show.

We also saw Bray Wyatt give his most cryptic promo yet, and Omos had a face-to-face meeting with the man he will battle at Crown Jewel, Braun Strowman.

Over on Rampage, we saw a quartet of matches that all had moments of fun but did not do much to make the show must-see TV.

Before they met for a fight later in the show, Mysterio and Kaiser had a backstage confrontation that led to them agreeing to have a match.

It was a brief interaction without any physicality, but the thing that stood out was how much more fun it was to see Mysterio acting like his old self again.

This was no longer the sad father who just wanted his son to love him again. This was the confident lucha legend who doesn't care how big his opponent is. It was so nice to see him back to normal, and it's unfortunate proof that Rey is just better when he doesn't have to carry the load for Dominik.

Pairing Dom with Rhea Ripley and Judgment Day has given him a chance to succeed without needing to rely on his father, but when it comes to Rey, having him as a solo act is what is best for everyone.

Dom can make his own name, and Rey gets to be everyone's favorite underdog again. It's a win-win.

This week marked Wyatt's third appearance on screen since he returned. He first arrived at Extreme Rules, then he delivered his first promo last week. Friday, he spoke again, but this was much different.

Instead of the soul-bearing speech he gave the week before, we got more of an indication of what his character will be moving forward.

He spoke about being a follower and going where "the circle" takes him, whatever that means. It was his usual brand of cryptic messaging, but one thing has been missing from all of this.

When is Wyatt actually going to wrestle?

This is pro wrestling after all. The character stuff is great, and Wyatt is one of the best at crafting new gimmicks, but he is going to have to get back in the ring at some point.

WWE still has time before we get to the point of it feeling like it's stalling, but that point will come sooner than you think. Within the next week or two, we need to find out what his goals are or who his first rival will be. If we don't WWE runs the risk of turning some fans off to this new version of his gimmick.

Friday's SmackDown featured a promo from Strowman that led to him challenging Omos to a match at Crown Jewel.

The Nigerian Giant came to the ring and had a standoff that showed exactly how much taller he was, but The Monster did not seem intimidated in the slightest. In fact, he was smiling and laughing the whole time.

While the prospect of seeing two giants clash in the ring might sound good on paper, it's something that hasn't been a draw for WWE in many years.

In the '70s, '80s and early '90s, giants were still big ticket-sellers for wrestling promotions, but over time it has become harder and harder to build a show around them.

Having an underdog fight a giant can still be intriguing, but nobody is expecting Omos and Strowman to steal the show. Maybe they will surprise us, but for now, this feels like a match booked based solely on their size, and that just isn't as interesting as WWE thinks it is.

This is not going to be like Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant. This will probably be more like Kane vs. The Great Khali. We have seen enough guys who are close to or over seven feet tall.

Rampage is a quick one-hour show on Fridays that offers some fun action and, if we are lucky, a few storyline developments.

But it needs more.

Rampage never even comes close to getting the same number of viewers as Dynamite because fans know it will rarely feature a game-changing moment.

How many titles have changed hands on Rampage? The TNT Championship has been won twice on Rampage. That's about it.

How many big debuts outside of CM Punk have happened on Rampage? Not many.

The show is in a rough timeslot, being right after two hours of SmackDown, so it was fighting an uphill battle from the start. Having title matches on the card regularly is fine, but if none of those matches ever ends with a belt changing hands, then it starts to make it feel too predictable.

AEW needs to start booking more big moments to happen on the Friday night show if it wants to give viewers an incentive to tune in every week.