The timing of the 2-hour documentary's release on Peacock at the start of Wrestlemania Week is largely to make it up to the fans for him not being inducted into the 2024 Hall of Fame class. Triple H announced a few months back Bray Wyatt will be inducted but just not this year. No doubt his uncles, who are getting inducted will spend some time to thank the WWE Universe on behalf of their family.
Almost an hour's worth of archive footage never publicly released was shown. As was done with Paul Bearer's Documentary a few years ago, interview footage recorded years ago likely intended to be used while he was still alive was utilized so viewers could hear from the late Superstar in his own words.
Bray Wyatt's run on the main roster only lasted 8 years excluding his time away from WWE between from the spring of 2021 to the fall of 2022. During that time he became a 2-time WWE Champion, a 2-time Universal Champion and tag team Champion. He passed away at the relatively young age of 36 and left behind four children.
His ex-wife is featured in the documentary as is his fiance and former WWE ring announcer Jojo Offerman. Though they don't appear together, they've clearly come together for the sake of the four children Windham left behind. Taylor Rotunda--known in WWE as Bo Dallas and Uncle Howdy--co-narrates the documentary with The Undertaker. He takes you inside the hospital room when the family is told Windham is gone. In that moment, he steps in to comfort his sister and parents as Windham would have done.
One mindblowing reveal at the end of the documentary that was the revealation Bray Wyatt was in fact planning to bring The Fiend Back at some point in the future. That's a pretty interesting revealation as Wyatt stated in interviews shortly after his return to WWE "The Fiend is dead", indicating he would never play the character again.
The Fiend character was a double-edged sword which became obvious when he won the Universal Championship near the end of 2019: The character was so strong, the very idea of The Fiend losing cleanly to anyone was unthinkable. Yet that's exactly what happened at Super Showdown 2020 in Saudi Arabia: Goldberg beat The Fiend in a squash match just to set up Goldberg vs. Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 36 (which ultimately did not happen due to the Pandemic).
Thankfully, Bray Wyatt was able to turn lemons into lemonade with The Firefly Funhouse Match at WM36. He would later regain the Universal Championship after a months' long feud with Braun Strowman albiet briefly. The returning Roman Reigns would win the title at Summer Slam 2020 in a Triple Threat Match that also involved Braun Strowman and has held it ever since.
After losing the Univeral Championship for the second time in a single year, Wyatt would insert himself into aftermath of Alexa Bliss' tag team breakup with Nikki Cross. No one knew it at the time but after Randy Orton set The Fiend on fire in an Inferno Match, "Dark" Alexa would ultimately replace Bray Wyatt after the latter was released the following year. It made Wyatt's return at the end of Extreme Rules 2022 bittersweet to say the least.
We didn't know it when it happened but Bray Wyatt's Pitch Black Match with LA Knight last year would be the final match of his career and the last time he would be seen publicly as well. He got real sick with COVID-19 and even though he recovered from that, the damage to his heart was so severe he told his mother there was talk of him possibly having to get a pacemaker.
One day in August 2023 while he and his brother Taylor were helping their sister Mika at her house, Windham told Jojo he was going to take a nap and he never woke up. She walked in the bedroom to check on him and found him lifeless. He was rushed to the hospital by ambulance where he was pronounced dead. He was 36 years old.
That evening, Triple H broke the news to the world via Xitter:
I happened to be using Twitter at the time and literally EVERYONE reacted in real time to the shocking and sad news. Smackdown was scheduled to happen the following night and everything being planned before his death was cancelled immediately. Triple H called a meeting and said if anyone didn't want to be there for Smackdown, they would be excused.
The August 25 episode of Smackdown opened with this:
Terry Funk, who also passed away that week was also remembered. The night's main event was a match that featured Finn Balor and LA Knight. Balor was the first person who faced The Fiend in a singles match and LA Knight was the last person Wyatt shared the ring with.
In the documentary, Alexa Bliss notes Windham was the first person in this history of the business to play a character with a split personality right. For those who don't know, the Firefly Funhouse is a visual of Bray Wyatt's mind. Each of the characters represents one of his personas or past gimicks. His duality with The Fiend was something totally different from when Mick Foley was Mankind, Dude Love and Cactus Jack during the Attitude Era. In Foley's case, he wasn't intentionally trying to be all three characters simultaneously.
Wyatt was clearly playing two characters at the same time though. This is made obvious after he won the Universal Championship. The Fiend got a unique title while Wyatt just used the regular title. The only change was the title was made blue since Wyatt was moved to Smackdown during his feud with Seth Rollins in 2019.
The final moment of the documentary shows Uncle Howdy standing before Wyatt's Lantern and this is where the timing of the documentary's release feels intentional: Taylor Rotunda IS going to return to WWE TV and it could happen as soon as at Wrestlemania 40. He previously worked in WWE as Bo Dallas but was among those released in 2020.
Taylor was brought back into WWE with his brother Windham two years later and as of this documentary it's been officially confirmed he was Uncle Howdy. If the Dreadmare YouTube channel he recently set up is any indication, Alex Bliss' return may be tied to his return as well. The question is who will we see: Bo Dallas, Uncle Howdy or...someone else?
All I can really say is as a reminder, Windham's larger than life personality in and out of WWE largely overshadowed his brother's WWE career as Bo Dallas. Based on what I've seen in both YouTube channels so far, I don't mind waiting years for Taylor Rotunda's reemergence in WWE if that's what it takes. He wasn't released on that note. WWE just gave him space to deal with his brother's passing and now that he's told the world he's coming back, let the excitement for what he has in store for the WWE Universe commence!
In the documentary, Taylor said he and his brother's dream when they returned to WWE was to headline Wrestlemania together (Wyatt headlined several Wrestlemanias on his own or with The Wyatt Family already). Now that this is no longer possible, at the very least Taylor is now ready and preparing to continue his brother's legacy in WWE.
![Nikki Cross' New Gimmick Could Lead To Return Of Former WWE Superstar [Theory]](https://static0.thesportsterimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/nikki-cross-wwe.jpg)
Shawn Spears likely met with Taylor prior to making his WWE return. The enigmatic vinettes leading up to his redebut on NXT was very reminiscient of Bray Wyatt to say the least. For those who don't know, Spears previously worked in WWE as Tye Dillinger. After his main roster run went nowhere fast, he asked for and was granted his release from WWE in early 2019. He went to AEW and worked there until late 2023. Since his return in NXT two months ago, Spears has been makinng waves to say the least.
Commenting on working with Bray Wyatt from 2020 to 2021, Alexa Bliss stated in the documentary that was her favorite time of her career ever. We got introduced to a new character from that time period: Dark Alexa. Ultimately, she would turn on Bray Wyatt at Wrestlemania 37. Bray Wyatt would be released by WWE not long afterward. After her Lily doll was destroyed by Charlotte, Dr. Shelby seemingly helped bring the "old" Alexa back through months of therapy sessions. During her fued with Bianca Belair in 2022, Uncle Howdy would seemingly draw out Dark Alexa once more.
Alexa would go on maternity leave in early 2023 though she shared her pregnancy journey online via Instagram. She was one of the first to comment on Windham's passing right after it was announced. She spoke of how big a void his passing would leave and also revealed she had been planning to talk to Wyatt about working together again before finding out about her pregnancy. Apparently, Uncle Howdy showing up was supposed to lead to something like that. Several months later, she would give birth to her daughter Hendrix. In recent weeks, Bliss announced she is preparing for her WWE return.
Joe Gacy had quite the roller coaster year in 2023. He went from leading his stable in memorable feuds to suddenly going solo and prettymuch starting from scratch. Things have taken quite an interesting turn for Gacy since his reemergance on NXT. There's been notable comparisons to Mankind with his current character and he's brought a new level intrigue not seen in NXT since Bray Wyatt was there 10 years ago.
Finally, there's Nikki Cross. When she first came into WWE via NXT, she was a part of the InsAnity stable and was referred to as The Twisted Sister. Her character softened not long after moving to the main roster, winning tag team gold. After becoming Nikki A.S.H. she briefly captured the RAW Women's Championship. A losing streak took its toll and eventually, she snapped. We would then see a new version of The Twisted Sister. Most notably, she threw the now defunct 24/7 Championship in the trash right after winning it.
Nikki Cross been off TV for personal reasons for most of the last two years but when she does return again, things are sure to be interesting. It's been heavily speculated since she switched to her current character the foundationm was being laid for the return of her husband and former NXT UK Superstar Killian Dain. Dain was released by WWE in 2020 in the early months of the pandemic. He's since returned to working Indie promotions but Dain has said he would be willing to listen if WWE asked him about coming back.
Why did I name these four to five superstars, only three of which have any connection to each other? The Wyatt 6. In the early weeks of his return to WWE two years ago, Wyatt heavily teased the introduction of a new stable led by him via social media. Sadly, he passed away before we could find out anything solid on that or even who might be involved.
Based on some of what Taylor has posted on the above YouTube channel, the concept may not be dead with Wyatt--no pun intended--after all. Spears, Bliss, Gacey and Cross make a lot of sense but Dain, Strowman or Rowan as the 5th man could be interesting. Of course, we'll have to wait and see. So far, Alexa Bliss has been specifically named as a "person of interest" in the vignettes.
If you have enjoyed this post or other posts I have made on this blog, please consider making a monetary donation via PayPal. Whatever amount you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
No comments:
Post a Comment