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Perhaps one of the most underappreciated characters in all of professional wrestling, Bray Wyatt is known to be a man of few words outside the ring. "The Eater of Worlds" is known in pro-wrestling circles as one who adheres to the old-school philosophy of the business--largely steering away from the "out-of-character" interviews that have lately gone from being the exception to becoming the norm in the dominion of sports-entertainment.
Born Windham Rotunda, Wyatt, who wet his feet in the industry back in 2009—following in the footsteps of his legendary father, Mike Rotunda—initially tried and failed with several less-than-desirable gimmicks in the WWE’s developmental territories as well as the main roster. Notwithstanding, in the year 2012, the man formerly known as Husky Harris experienced a reincarnation of sorts—debuting on NXT as the maniacal cult leader Bray Wyatt.
Well, as the leader of The Wyatt Family, Bray would go on to achieve a tremendous success on the main roster as well—to the extent that the hulking behemoth even went on to capture the most prestigious title in the WWE Universe, the WWE Championship. Today, we are going to be looking at several gems of real-life anecdotes regarding the man behind the on-screen character “Bray Wyatt”…
*Fans can look forward to 2 episodes of "Pro Wrestling Real Life Stories" being released every weekend (Saturday & Sunday) in the upcoming days.
#10 When the going gets tough, the tough get going
Bray Wyatt spoke to Sam Roberts for the latter’s podcast in what’s said to be one of the former’s rare shoot/out-of-character interviews. Wyatt provided fans a rather meaningful insight into the challenges of his life as a professional wrestler.
Anecdotes:
Wyatt revealed that he was undoubtedly in a dark place mentally around the time WrestleMania 32. Wyatt noted that going from the program he’d been booked in with The Undertaker the previous year, to a spot of relative obscurity at WrestleMania 32; was a tad disheartening.
However, The Eater of Worlds concurred that though he’d seemingly fallen on tough times in 2016, he kept his composure and eventually rallied back to win the WWE Championship and set himself up to defend the title at WrestleMania 33 against Randy Orton…
#9 Blunt Bray
Bray Wyatt--be it inside the ring or in his life outside the crazy world of pro-wrestling--has never been one to mince his words. Keeping in line with the same, Wyatt was relatively outspoken about his WrestleMania 32 angle opposite The Rock.
Anecdotes:
Bray Wyatt spoke about The Wyatt Family's angle with WWE legend and Hollywood megastar Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson at WrestleMania 32. Wyatt indicated that he was honored to share the ring with Rocky, however he'd like to be the guy who beats others, rather than the performer who's simply there to get beaten up by a top star such as The Rock.
The Eater of Worlds firmly stated, "I wanna be The Rock. I wanna be the next Rock. Being in there with him and seeing the energy that he makes the fans feel, it's amazing. But, I don't want to be the guy that gets beat up by The Rock."
Wyatt's firm stance on where he intends to be in the WWE pecking order has earned him praise all over the place--not only from his seniors, but also his contemporaries...
#8 God, prayers, Satan and voodoo
It's no secret that Bray Wyatt--as we'd discussed earlier is a man of unwavering confidence in his stance on life; a firm believer in the faith he's chosen. Wyatt went on to give fans an insider's perspective on his real-life beliefs.
Anecdotes:
Bray Wyatt noted that in his personal life, he's a devout Christian, which is in direct contrast to his on-screen WWE character who's often depicted as a devil-worshiping, cult leader. Wyatt revealed that he truly believes in miracles, and knows deep in his heart that he's different than everyone else.
"I am a Christian, you know. I believe in God. That's a very (*laughs) intriguing statement to a lot of people these days...That's what I'm here to do. The voodoo." Interestingly, midway through the aforesaid statements, Wyatt went on to subtly divert the discussion from his real-life persona to that of his on-screen character--the first half being his real persona, and the latter part regarding voodoo being a part of his WWE character...
#7 Potential Wyatt Family reunion
With regard to a possible Wyatt Family reunion down the road, Bray had a rather mystical theory as to why the faction never quite broke up even though they don't appear together on-screen anymore.
Anecdotes:
Bray Wyatt confessed that his reaction to The Wyatt Family splitting up undoubtedly consisted of him experiencing mixed emotions regarding the same. However, a cardinal point he made regarding the same was that no matter what happens on screen between him and other members of the stable such as Luke Harper, at the end of the day, they'll always be brothers.
Moreover, Wyatt explained that the same goes for Braun Strowman--with a Wyatt Family reunion always being a realistic possibility in the WWE Universe. Wyatt even joked about teaching The Monster Among Men to tie his shoelaces--All in all, the real-life camaraderie between members of the group--mainly Harper, Strowman, Erick Rowan and Bray Wyatt, is as strong as that of a pack of wolves...
#6 Dealing with guys who "phone it in"
Bray Wyatt has an extremely intriguing take when it comes to dealing with co-performers who happen to be guilty of phoning it in, so to speak. The former WWE Champion alluded that instead of adopting a negative attitude in case a fellow wrestler is simply there for a paycheck, he chooses to let his creativity and passion bring out the best in others naturally.
Anecdotes:
From what we, as fans, can perceive from Bray Wyatt's statements pertaining to him working with wrestlers who simply go through the motions; it's relatively simple to comprehend that he chooses to drown them in his metaphorical lake of passion for the wrestling business.
"I think who I am, and how I deal with things, kind of helps other people get into it. I have a certain way I do everything, and I'm really into this. I live for this. This is what I do."
"I think my creativity; the things I say; and how much I believe in everything, I think it carries on to people," said Wyatt about his passion influencing the people he works with...
#5 Wyatt and Yoga?
Well, this may come as a surprise to many, but the notorious hellraiser that is Bray Wyatt, is in fact a practitioner of DDP Yoga.
Anecdotes:
Bray Wyatt was all smiles was speaking about his history with DDP Yoga, under the guidance of the man himself--former WCW World Heavyweight Champion DDP aka Diamond Dallas Page. Wyatt explained that it does come as a rather hilarious surprise to many that an intimidating character like The Eater of Worlds is, in real-life, a strong believer of DDP Yoga.
Moreover, Wyatt seemed genuinely happy and enthusiastic while revealing his experience with the wildly-popular yoga trend. He notably revealed that staying in shape for the challenging business that is professional wrestling, is no mean feat; and DDP Yoga has helped him fine-tune his body to a great extent in recent times...
#4 Why The Undertaker, Bray Wyatt and supernatural personas are vital in the business
The man who has often claimed to possess the power which helps him utilize forces beyond the understanding of us mere mortals, Bray Wyatt spoke in detail about his genuine feelings with regard to the presence of supernatural characters in the professional wrestling dominion.
Anecdotes:
"For me to be compared to The Undertaker is unbelievable. I've been in there with him and done a WrestleMania against him, and then another one with him and Kane. I think that if you put us side-by-side and watched our work, they're not similar."
"It's the dark stuff that kind of brings us together, and people wanna branch us. But the thing is we're completely different. I think that wrestling needs that kind of dark entity in it...I bring it in a completely different way, but it's still that entity that people need. They need that part of professional wrestling," said Wyatt with regard to the constant comparisons drawn between his character and that of The Undertaker...
#3 What got Bray Wyatt into professional wrestling
Bray Wyatt, being a third generation wrestler--grandson to Blackjack Mulligan, son to Mike Rotunda, nephew to Barry as well as Kendall Windham--always had an undeniable connection with the professional wrestling business. However, Wyatt revealed that what truly drew him towards the business was the story-telling aspect of it.
Anecdotes:
"One hundred percent it was the story-telling and the stuff like that. I've always been a huge fan of horror movies."
"I like the feeling of the thrill, you know. I've always been attracted to that kind of movies, so naturally, the progression was that when I started watching wrestling, it was those characters that really caught my eye," said Wyatt; adding that one of his first memories of wrestling is watching one of the eeriest pro-wrestling characters Papa Shango utilize his voodoo to hurt The Ultimate Warrior during their feud in the WWE...
#2 Possibly being accused of appropriating the voodoo culture
Honestly speaking, this claim seemed to be a rather bold one on the part of Bray Wyatt. The Eater of Worlds confirmed that he isn't, in any way, shape or form, going to be intimidated by people who are in actuality a part of the voodoo culture.
Anecdotes:
Bray Wyatt explained that should someone who actually believes in the voodoo culture, worshiping the devil, and practices of the sort, confront him on being a fake cult leader--he'd be more than happy to shut them down, since Bray Wyatt has an unwavering sense of belief in his character.
Wyatt firmly added that while playing his character, he truly believes himself to be the notorious cult leader that is "Bray Wyatt". The man noted that he is his character and his character is him--There's no two ways about it...
#1 The pain is as real as it gets
Bray Wyatt recalled his WWE Championship victory which took place at the Elimination Chamber back in 2017, and revealed that the mats that were placed on the Chamber's floor were pretty thin--adding that although the wrestlers in the match initially thought about going all out due to the mats, they eventually started feeling the pinch of the hard floor that stung their bodies through the mats outside the ring.
Anecdotes:
Bray Wyatt notably explained that the pain which the WWE Superstars experience for the entertainment of the fans all around the world, is very much real.
"This thing (the Elimination Chamber) is horrible. I think I had bruises and cuts all over my body from this thing, and who knows where they came from. Not to mention 4 or 5 other guys in there that just don't give a damn and want to knock your head off."
"Usually about 30 minutes or 45 minutes once you sit down, and you really just let your body relax, you will start feeling everything you just did. And it's always worth it, you know," said Wyatt upon being asked about the pain he faced in the aftermath of his WWE Championship-winning performance at the Elimination Chamber.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
