5 Reasons why Bray Wyatt turned into The Fiend

If you tell someone that a pro-wrestler is the talk of the town with only three televised matches in the entire year, he will never believe you. However, it is the truth and credit goes to WWE and Bray Wyatt for making this seemingly impossible task possible.

Bray Wyatt returned from his absence earlier this year with the Firefly Fun House segments, which ultimately led to the debut of The Fiend. In a short period, The Fiend has been successful in creating a buzz like never seen before. It can be noticed from the way the fans purchase his merchandizes and scream in his favor whenever he shows up. Some of them have already placed ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt in the list of their favorite WWE Superstars of all time.

The character attained so much popularity that the company decided to put him in the title picture almost immediately after his debut. As we all know, The Fiend utilized the opportunity perfectly and now he rules the universe as the brand new WWE Universal Champion.

But why all of a sudden the former WWE Champion decided to undergo such a massive transformation? In this article, we discuss some of the feasible reasons.

#1 To accept the mistakes of his previous gimmicks

Let’s be honest. The failure of the ‘Bray Wyatt’ gimmick is the main reason we are witnessing The Fiend. In this era of social media, the WWE Universe does not hesitate to showcase their resentment over the booking of Bray Wyatt. WWE cannot change the past but the way they handled this situation, is pure genius.

The mishaps with the previous gimmicks of Wyatt, has been carefully utilized to build up the Firefly Fun House segments. The presence of characters like Huskus the pig, a reference to his Husky Harris moniker, a demon-like puppet of the boss Vince McMahon critiquing Wyatt, are nothing but portrayals of the backstage incidents involving those gimmicks. Hence, these real-life scenario inspired segments properly define why Wyatt submitted to his inner demons and introduced us to The Fiend.

#2 To bring back the attitude of the bygone era

In 2019, the WWE storylines and the matches are closely monitored to follow the guidelines of TV-PG. For some years, the flagship shows, RAW and Smackdown, have been lacking the edginess as per the fans. This demand of the WWE Universe to bring back the attitude and ruthlessness of the bygone eras can’t be met so easily but that doesn’t mean the WWE are not worried to fix their declining ratings.

In a plot like this, debuts ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt. The disturbing layers of the various Firefly Fun House segments, the creepy mask, the sickening Mandible Claw maneuver, the entrance theme and his gesture all add up to make The Fiend, a character to be genuinely afraid of. This has led to comparisons between The Undertaker, Kane, Mankind and Bray Wyatt nowadays.

The fans, who grew up watching WWE in the 90s, are well aware of The Undertaker’s pivotal role in WWE winning the Monday Night Wars. Will The Fiend be successful in luring the viewers to WWE as well? Let’s hope so.

#3 To showcase his true potential

When Wyatt made his presence felt in the main roster in 2013, the character enjoyed several months of unbeaten run. It was so popular that within one-year of his debut, Wyatt was facing John Cena at WrestleMania. For some unknown reason, the character of ‘Bray Wyatt’ lost its charm when Cena defeated him. Despite feuding with top-tier talents like The Undertaker, Chris Jericho, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns, his gimmick suffered major setbacks due to the loses suffered at the hands of these elite wrestlers. Even Wyatt’s top-notch promos became repetitive with time and fans started to lose interest in their once-favorite Superstar.

Earlier this year, Bray Wyatt turned his career around by re-debuting as ‘The Fiend’. This time, however, he helped in designing and developing the very popular ‘Firefly Fun House’ segments. Several backstage reports have claimed that Wyatt has become the creative mastermind behind this new gimmick. And the result? We all know that.

In other words, The Fiend is Bray Wyatt’s response to those who had ever doubted his potential.

#4 To save ‘Bray Wyatt’

Bray Wyatt made his NXT debut in 2012 and within a year WWE elevated him and his Wyatt Family to the main roster. When Wyatt made his main roster in-ring debut against Kane in an Inferno match at Summerslam 2013, fans believed that the sky was the limit for this third-generation superstar. Unfortunately, Bray Wyatt’s main roster run was not that smooth. In spite of the initial success of this eerie character, several mis-bookings hampered Wyatt. The idea of Wyatt appearing as Sister Abigail further derailed the gimmick. Back to back loses, tangled with creative mismanagement, and started to ruin the aura of ‘The Eater of Worlds’. So much so, his WWE World Championship reign failed to revive the interest in Bray Wyatt.

In this hopeless scenario, Wyatt’s re-debut as The Fiend turned out to be his lifesaver. The storyline also fit perfectly as The Fiend was someone who "never forgets" and wants to avenge the wrongdoings against Bray Wyatt.

In just a few months, the character of Bray Wyatt, that had been nothing more than a laughing stock, was back to haunt the viewers worldwide.

#1 To save Windham Rotunda

We know him as ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt but his actual name is Windham Rotunda, son of the WWE legend ‘I.R.S’ Mike Rotunda, grandson of WWE Hall of Famer Blackjack Mulligan. At just 22 years of age, Rotunda joined FCW, which was the-then development center of WWE. The very next year, he was on the main roster as Husky Harris, a member of The Nexus. His initial run was not at all successful and Rotunda was back in the developmentals after The Nexus disbanded. Within two years, he was back in the flagship shows of WWE as the leader of the cult ‘The Wyatt Family’, Bray Wyatt. This time, Rotunda was backed by the fans who were awed by his in-ring abilities and promo skills. However, ‘Bray Wyatt’ lost its legitimacy down the road due to several creative wrong-doings. The character was ruined to such an extent that even back to back title reigns didn’t have the power to prevent his downfall.

Rotunda was left with two choices, either continue to tolerate whatever was fed to him or be brave enough to experiment with his character and possibly revive it. Rotunda chose the second and as we all know, The Fiend is now one of the most sought-after wrestling characters in the entire industry and that too within a few months of its debut.

Do you agree with my points? Let me know in the comments section below.

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