If memory serves. back in the day, the lining of a new pipe bowl was bare briar and building a thin layer of carbon helped protect it from burn out. Other than cobs, I don't think I've had a new pipe in decades that didn't have some treatment of the bowl that eliminated the need for the old style break in. Others' exp may vary, to be sure.
I'd say, if you're having probs with a wet smoke and relights, you need to be a bit more artfull in filling the pipe. A pipe that isn't loaded carefully will require heroic puffing to maintain the ember which creates steam in the chamber which leads to the problems you describe. Least that's my current understanding.
Remember the needed carbon layer is very thin. Some pipers think they've built up a carbon layer, but it's actually a layer of semi-burnt vegetation that's glommed onto the inside of their bowl.
I think if you work on the knack of loading your briar, everything else will
take care of itself.
