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The WWE promised us a thrilling ride at WrestleMania 36, and as always, Vince McMahon and co stayed true to their word and delivered a mind-blowing show.
Most notable of all the amazing matchups were the Boneyard Match and the Firefly Fun House Match, both of which provided the WWE Universe a truly immersive cinematic experience.
Speaking of “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt’s Firefly Fun House Match and cinematic experiences, the WWE are on the brink of a huge opportunity to further explore the depth of The Fiend’s character whilst possibly attracting new fans from the horror genre to our world of pro wrestling.
I’d like to issue a disclaimer here to you, the reader: The following discussion isn’t necessarily aimed at predicting what the WWE booking may look like, but is a closer look at the wide variety of unique storylines the promotion could put forth with one of the most interesting pro wrestling characters in recent times – The Fiend.
Additionally, this discussion will surely necessitate you to suspend your disbelief, as we’re about to go down the Highway to the Spooky Zone.
Today, we examine a few unorthodox horror storylines that Bray Wyatt should be booked in…
#5 Strigoi
The Strigoi
The Strigoi is widely regarded as one of the most terrifying figures in Romanian folklore. In fact, when one discusses vampirism and the global perception of vampires, the descriptions provided by individuals and/or groups who claim to have encountered a vampire usually match the characteristics of a typical Strigoi.
I won’t get into the other types of vampires such as the Moroi, Nosferatu, etc in Romanian folklore, as that in and of itself would require several hours’ worth of discussion. Nevertheless, here’s a general idea of a Strigoi – It’s a dangerous and troubled spirit who has risen from the dead, attacks living beings (mainly humans), and steals their vitality.
According to Romanian folklore, a Strigoi has the ability to masquerade as animals, besides also possessing the skill of being invisible whenever it wants. One ought to note that folk tales generally have several differences based on the communities, regions, and other variables, and as such, alternate accounts of this Romanian mythological creature claim that the Strigoi can assume the appearance of not only animals but also human beings.
Bray Wyatt and the Strigoi
The Fiend’s ingenuously designed mask signifies the kind of paranormal creature the WWE Universe is dealing with.
The WWE and Wyatt have done a tremendous job with Wyatt’s reinvention as The Fiend, and as highlighted in his Wrestlemania 36 victory over John Cena, they aren’t afraid of shining the spotlight on the paranormal side of his character rather than using it just as a secondary attribute.
The Fiend is presently involved in a feud with his former Wyatt Family stable-mate and reigning WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman (I’ll get to Wyatt’s feud with Strowman later).
However, be it against Strowman or any other Superstar, Wyatt could channel his inner Strigoi, and rather than simply pinning his opponent after attacking them with the Mandible Claw, he can go one step further and steal their vitality akin to the legendary vampire Strigoi.
This angle would likely require us, the WWE Universe, to exercise a greater degree of suspension of disbelief on our part. Regardless, considering the fact that The Undertaker, whose gimmick is that of a “Deadman” has enjoyed worldwide popularity since the 1990s, it isn’t that far-fetched to envision The Fiend being portrayed as a Strigoi.
And he wouldn’t even be the first vampire to have wrestled in the WWE (remember Gangrel? The Brood?)…
#4 Time travel and parallel universes
Time travel and parallel universes
We live in a world where we’re constantly bombarded with tons of information, and understandably the act of oversimplification of concepts in order to explain them quickly and efficiently has become a cliché of sorts.
So kindly forgive me for the following oversimplification. Time travel and parallel universes are topics that, just like the topic we’d discussed in the previous page, require several hours’ worth of discussion. Hence, for the sake of convenience, I’ve divided the widely accepted theories regarding time travel into two main types.
The first type of time travel involves journeying to the past or future and back to the present time in the same universe where you exist.
On the other hand, the second type of time travel is much more complex and involves the existence of several parallel universes.
In this type of time travel, you have the option of either traveling to the past or future in time in your same universe or interdimensional time travel in which you travel back and forth in time from your own universe to other parallel universes where different versions of you exist.
Now bear in mind that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and there’s so much more we can discuss regarding this topic. I know this second type of time travel can get a bit confusing, but I need you to stay with me.
I’d like to add that in the second type of time travel, certain schools of thought believe that you cannot travel to the past or future in your universe; and that when you engage in the act of time travel, what you’re actually doing is interdimensional time travel wherein you travel from your own universe to a parallel universe in the past or future.
Even if the aforementioned details seem confusing, you needn’t worry. The primary reason I expounded upon time travel and parallel universes is to give you a general idea to better understand what’s been noted below.
The Fiend should defeat all of Bray Wyatt’s previous personas, except his Wyatt Family leader avatar
Alex Rotunda, Windham Rotunda, Axl Mulligan, Duke Rotundo, Husky Harris, Bray Wyatt (leader of The Wyatt Family), and “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt…WWE Superstar Windham Lawrence Rotunda has wrestled under several ring names over the course of his pro wrestling career.
The WWE’s interesting utilization of the time travel concept in The Fiend’s Firefly Fun House Match against John Cena at WrestleMania 36 offered fans a brief glimpse of how interesting a time travel and/or parallel universe storyline could be.
I truly believe that whether or not he beats Braun Strowman for the Universal Title, Bray Wyatt's "The Fiend" persona should be booked in a time travel angle and must go back in time and defeat every persona of his, except for his avatar as the leader of The Wyatt Family (I’ll explain why later).
By destroying his previous avatars, not only will The Fiend close the chapter on his previous failures, but also send a message to his foes that The Fiend gets what he wants no matter what, even if it means that he has to fight himself…
#3 The Michigan Dogman and the Beast of Bray Road
Firstly, I’d like to clarify that this page isn’t exactly about the Werewolf, but instead about a couple of other entities who are quite similar to the Werewolf.
The Michigan Dogman
The Michigan Dogman is one of the most famous paranormal creatures in Michigan folklore and perhaps one of the most intimidating entities in North America. The very first sighting of the Michigan Dogman is said to have taken place in 1887 in Wexford County, Michigan when a couple of lumberjacks spotted an entity with a dog’s head and man’s body.
Furthermore, after a DJ by the name of Steve Cook who worked at WTCM-FM in Traverse City, Michigan released a song titled “The Legend” describing a creature similar to the legendary Michigan Dogman, a slew of alleged sightings of the creature were reported by residents in ensuing years.
Per Michigan folklore, the Dogman sightings see a huge spike every 10 years on the year that ends with a “7”. Purported sightings of the creature have been reported in 1937, 1967, 1987, 1997, etc. with a few sightings also occurring in years that don’t end with a “7”.
The Michigan Dogman is believed to let out a terrifying howl that sounds like a war cry of a human male with a disconcerting guttural voice; it’s 7-feet tall, has blue or red eyes, an incredibly muscular torso like that of a giant man, with the body of a wolf below its waist. It’s bipedal; being more than capable of walking and running on its two hind feet.
The Beast of Bray Road
The Beast of Bray Road is a creature that was first spotted back in 1936 on Bray Road, a rural stretch of road in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. Several other sightings in the 1980s and 1990s prompted the authorities to investigate the occurrences.
There’s an excellent book chronicling this entity written by investigative journalist Linda S. Godfrey who worked extensively with the locals who’d spotted the Beast in southern Wisconsin as well as northern Illinois.
Her book “The Beast of Bray Road: Tailing Wisconsin’s Werewolf” features descriptions of the encounters people claim to have had with a Werewolf-like creature whom some others also describe as a Demon Dog.
Intriguingly, most of the descriptions provided by witnesses indicate that the Beast of Bray Road is quite similar to the Michigan Dogman.
On the contrary, a few other accounts assert that the Beast of Bray Road is covered with a brown-gray fur and looks like a bear-like humanoid creature; with others noting that it looks like another mythical creature Bigfoot.
The Michigan Dogman, the Beast of Bray Road, and Bray Wyatt
In the previous pages, we’d discussed Bray Wyatt possessing the powers of a Strigoi as well as breaking through the space and time continuum to fight his older personas. Basically, we examined scenarios where The Fiend is the predator and everyone else is his prey.
But what if the hunter becomes the hunted?
Considering the fact that the WWE is open to featuring several pre-taped segments in order to help them present Wyatt’s supernatural abilities in a more impressive manner, it’d be great to see The Fiend face an equally or perhaps even more dangerous entity than himself; with their encounters being presented in a pre-taped cinematic manner.
Let’s not forget that WWE RAW and SmackDown are, at the end of the day, TV shows! And with that in mind, seeing “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt fight the Michigan Dogman and/or the Beast of Bray Road would be undeniably entertaining.
As far as how the WWE portrays the Michigan Dogman and the Beast of Bray Road; well, the company has access to top-tier costumes, make-up, and special effects, and can easily present pre-taped segments featuring Wyatt battling the aforementioned creatures preferably outside the ring…
#2 Jump scares
Jump scares
Let’s change tracks here; go from paranormal creatures and time travel to jump scares.
Jump scares are one of the most effective yet oft-derided horror techniques characterized by a sudden change in the visuals accompanied by intense sound effects that serve to startle the audience and thereby scare them.
Several movies have been the recipient of a considerable amount of criticism for excessive use of jump scares, as a certain section of horror fans and critics claim that the horror content creators’ overreliance on jump scares is nothing but a façade to hide their lack of creativity or cover up for a boring story.
Pro wrestling is no stranger to jump scares, as evidenced by its use during The Undertaker’s feuds over the years. Most notably the Deadman’s apparitions and resultant jump scares in his rivalry with “The Legend Killer” Randy Orton back in 2005, were some of the best Jump scares ever used in the sports-entertainment industry.
The Undertaker beat Orton at WrestleMania 21 in April of that year but later lost a 2-on-1 Handicap Casket Match to Randy and his father Bob Orton at No Mercy in October of the same year after the Ortons successfully locked the Phenom into the Casket.
Over the course of his feud with the Ortons, The Undertaker would appear in the washroom mirror, out of Caskets, and in other such places as an apparition to haunt Randy and Bob Orton.
Bray Wyatt and jump scares
What made The Undertaker’s jump scares so very effective during his rivalry with the Ortons is that even though they didn’t scare the audience and in fact, the audience were siding with ‘Taker, the sudden apparitions and the fear which they seemed to instill in the villainous Orton father-son duo were an excellent plot device.
This enabled the WWE to tell a riveting story wherein a paranormal entity i.e. The Deadman did battle against the treacherous albeit human villains (Randy and Bob Orton).
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown” – HP Lovecraft
On that note, the WWE can take “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt’s utilization of the fear of the unknown as a weapon, to the next level, by making other Superstars who aren’t even involved in a storyline with The Fiend see him as a ghostly apparition in the most unexpected moments over the course of the weekly SmackDown TV broadcast.
The message Wyatt can send through this is that his brand of terror is incredibly far-reaching and unexplainable (well, unexplainable because he’s scaring random Superstars despite the fact that they’re not involved in a feud with him).
The very reason behind The Fiend terrorizing them is unknown, which in turn makes the apparitions scarier. Up next, we finally examine why The Fiend shouldn’t beat his Wyatt Family leader persona, besides also looking at his feud with Braun Strowman…
#1 Family
Family
As noted earlier, should The Fiend be booked in a time travel storyline, he should defeat every past persona of his; be it Alex Rotunda, Windham Rotunda, Axl Mulligan, Duke Rotundo or Husky Harris. However, the only past persona whom The Fiend must not beat is Bray Wyatt (the character who’s the leader of The Wyatt Family).
The reason behind The Fiend avatar not destroying the leader of The Wyatt Family avatar is because Bray’s cult leader character still has a huge amount of unexplored potential.
Granted that he was booked to take several undeserved losses which severely damaged his Wyatt Family patriarch persona. But if pro wrestling has taught us anything, it’s that entertaining characters always have a chance to bounce back to the top of the food chain.
Braun Strowman, Bray Wyatt, and the history of The Wyatt Family
Perhaps one of the most realistic storylines in this discussion of ours – and one that the WWE could consider in this ongoing Universal Title feud between Braun Strowman and “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt – is the exploration of The Wyatt Family’s history.
Now, I’m not talking about any other of The Wyatt Family’s past members. This storyline would focus solely on Strowman and Wyatt, their characters’ respective backstories, history, childhood, and their familial relationship with one another.
The way Wyatt’s feud with Strowman over the latter’s Universal Title started, on a recent episode of SmackDown, insinuated that The Monster Among Men isn’t really going to be discomfited or intimidated by any of The Fiend’s mind games.
Nevertheless, a new realm of horror lies on the horizon for Strowman, as Wyatt could utilize his knowledge of the former’s childhood and history in The Wyatt Family against the reigning Universal Champion.
This is indisputably one of the best opportunities WWE could possibly get to explore The Wyatt Family’s background and history, particularly that of its leader Bray Wyatt and arguably its most powerful former member Braun Strowman.
Perhaps this storyline might even lead us to finally meet the elusive Sister Abigail.
Either way, The Fiend can alternate back and forth between three personas – the Firefly Fun House host Bray Wyatt, The Fiend, and his past persona as the Wyatt Family’s leader – dragging Strowman to the endless depths of psychological horror and taking him on a bone-chilling journey to their past as members of the mysterious and disturbing Wyatt Family.
Which horror storylines featuring “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt would you like to see come to fruition? We’d love to hear from you in the comments!
