We all chased the white rabbit for weeks, and he led us to Philadelphia last Saturday, didn’t he? After weeks of QR codes that provided cryptic clues to who the white rabbit would be when they would reveal themselves, and how they might do so, Bray Wyatt was revealed as that white rabbit, taking us down a trip on memory lane before revealing himself once again to the WWE Universe. We last saw Wyatt at Wrestlemania 37, when he lost to Randy Orton. From there, Wyatt was off of TV for months prior to the news of his shocking release from the company. For the longest time, rumors swirled as to why what it may be, and soon, what might be next for the former 3 -time World Champion in WWE. He was tied to AEW, then to the film industry, and eventually, with the start of the white rabbit QR codes, right back home to WWE. How did this wild ride get us here, and where do we go from here? Well, those are two essential questions, and it’s time to dive into them!
In his first run with WWE, nobody had more ups and downs than Bray Wyatt. He was first the “Army Tank with a Ferrari Engine” on the NXT game show. He joined the New Nexus, was removed, then went back to NXT, where he formed the Wyatt Family. After this, Wyatt was forever cemented as a creative genius, with only the sky as his limit…or so we hoped, at least. Upon his main roster call-up, Wyatt was an instant main event star, feuding with the likes of Kane, Daniel Bryan, and CM Punk within the first 6 months. When the calendar turned to 2014, he entered into his well-known feud with John Cena, which carried most of his year. This feud forever cemented a career-long string of questionable booking, weird segments, and a lot more letdown than value. Wyatt should have beaten Cena at Wrestlemania 30 but failed to do so. He won a weird rematch at Extreme Rules before Cena finished the job at Payback, soon after causing this dissolution of the Wyatt Family by the end of the summer. Wyatt, now on his own, feuded with Dean Ambrose after a hiatus, before beginning another major feud, this time with the Undertaker. Wyatt was soundly defeated by a returning Deadman at Wrestlemania 31 before the rest of 2015 saw some meddling midcard feuds, the reuniting of the Wyatt Family (this time with the addition of Braun Strowman), another feud with Undertaker, and then a lackluster Wrestlemania 32 appearance. The first sign of hope for Wyatt, however, started shining late in 2016 as the brand split took full effect, and Wyatt finally crossed paths with the Viper for the first time.
In the aftermath of Summerslam 2016, Randy Orton found himself in the crosshairs of Bray Wyatt. An interesting start to their feud led to Orton eventually aligning himself with Bray before the 2 (along with the late, great Luke Harper) stood tall at the end of the amazing Men’s 5-on-5 Traditional Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination Match. They went on to win the Smackdown Tag Team Titles, and all seemed to be right with the world, and up the card, they went, with them being 2 of the final 3 in the 2017 Men’s Royal Rumble Match. Then, the unthinkable happened. Inside the Elimination Chamber, Wyatt finally achieved the ultimate prize, winning his first WWE Championship, much to the joy and delight of all his fans of his who clamored for more of Bray. A showdown with Orton loomed at Wrestlemania 33, but unfortunately, it was overshadowed by weird and useless projections and a lackluster placement on the card, and Wyatt’s reign ended before it could get going. Wyatt would feud with Orton for some time more, before some more midcard feuds on Raw got him to Finn Balor at Summerslam, and eventually into a feud with “Woken” Matt Hardy. What was once again something fans were extremely excited for sputtered out quickly, even so much so that the two became Raw Tag Team Champions before an injury sent Wyatt to the shelf for the better part of a year. Then…things got GOOD.
After Wrestlemania 35, vignettes of a creepy box and doll started popping up, and after some time, Bray Wyatt revealed to the world his Firefly Funhouse! A complete overhaul of his gimmick, Wyatt was now a quirky tweener with an alter ego ready to end someone’s life in the blink of an eye. Wyatt within the Funhouse would crack jokes, tell stories, and be the antithesis of what he had always been before the Fiend would arrive, strike anyone in the way, and steamroll right into the highest of esteem with fans. They wanted more of the Fiend, and while they got what they hoped, the sad story of Wyatt’s main roster run took another turn. An absolutely abysmal booking choice inside of Hell in a Cell between The Fiend and Seth Rollins over the Universal Championship saw things completely fall apart and start the downward trajectory of the Fiend. While the rematch at Crown Jewel righted things somewhat, with Wyatt now becoming Universal Champion and taking the title to Smackdown, it would only become murkier as the calendar turned to 2020. A short feud with The Miz and a longer one with Daniel Bryan helped things push forward, with the hopes of Wyatt facing Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania giving at least some variety to what was expected. Then, the Goldberg incident occurred. For the second time in 6 months, WWE chose to book the Fiend in one of the most unpopular and disjointed ways possible, having him lose the title to Goldberg in a very poor-quality match. An optimist would say that this (along with the pandemic) allowed us to get the incredible Firefly Funhouse Match and that it did, it overall angered many fans to the point of never believing Wyatt could return to the level he once was at. After that match with John Cena at the COVID-affected Wrestlemania 36, Wyatt feuded with Braun Strowman for what felt like forever until he defeated Braun to regain the Universal Title at Summerslam, in the debut of the Thunderdome. That reign would be short-lived, as Roman Reigns returned that night, won the Universal Title from the Fiend in a Triple Threat Match 7 days later, and has not lost the title since (talk about the greatest reign of a generation).
Rather than pursue regaining the title, Wyatt moved to Raw and embarked on yet another too-long feud with Randy Orton, stretching from late October all the way to the aforementioned Wrestlemania 37. This was the feud where the Fiend was burned alive, Orton spit tar from his mouth, Wyatt took time off to mourn Jon Huber’s death, and the pandemic shows were still raging on in full force. Soon, Wyatt returned for the Wrestlemania payoff, and, as mentioned, was released soon after. He then spent time doing many things on his own and seemed to be rumored to be headed to AEW for so many months that it got annoying to hear the rumors any further. Then, once the first QR code popped up on WWE TV shortly after the Triple H regime began, fans knew deep in their hearts that their sentimental favorite boy was coming home.
Rather than trying to decipher all of the minute details of each QR code, and there were a TON of them, let’s jump to Extreme Rules 2022. After a fantastic show was put on by all involved, it seemed the show was headed off the air with a massive disappointment of no return taking place. They even showed the show-ending credit in the bottom corner of the screen, a Triple H calling card from his NXT days (the Tommaso Ciampa turned on Johnny Gargano, which was a thing of beauty just like this one). The lights went out, the cameras panned, the announcers sold, and one by one, real-life incarnations of our old friends from the Firefly Funhouse appeared to us all. Huskus the Pigboy, Mercy the Buzzard, Ramblin’ Rabbit, Abby the Witch, and even the Fiend himself, were all back on WWE TV. All the meanwhile, Bray’s voice sang throughout the arena “He’s got the whole world in his hands” over and over again, setting the tone for the door that was placed on the stage to be kicked open, and a man carrying a lantern walkthrough. The man unmasked himself to reveal Bray Wyatt as the white rabbit, and now who knows what may come next? He will be on Smackdown Friday to address the world, and it seems that the wrestling world may change again under Bray’s watch, and maybe even this time bad booking won’t be his downfall.
Bray Wyatt is home, and he truly has the whole world in the palm of his hands.
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