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Ever since Bray Wyatt made his big return as the puzzlingly happy-go-lucky children's TV show host, people have been enthralled in what it could possibly leading up to. We got our answer this past summer when The Fiend started showing up, attacking Finn Balor, Mick Foley, Kurt Angle, and other Superstars and legends. He made an amazing entrance at SummerSlam, had a controversial match at Hell in a Cell, and now he's the Universal Champion.
Case in point, the answer to the question "what is the Firefly Fun House building up to?" is "total destruction".
Now that we have been exposed to what The Fiend can do, our attention has been turned back to the version of Bray Wyatt who has been stuck inside his own little Fun House world since the beginning of the vignettes. That half of Bray's character has never been in a match. He's never been in the ring at all, or even in the normal confines of the backstage of the arena.
That might be changing next weekend at the TLC pay-per-view, where WWE appears to be promoting Bray Watt vs. The Miz instead of The Fiend vs. The Miz. Very interesting indeed. These are 5 ways we could see Bray Wyatt debut inside the ring wearing a sweater on his chest and a smile on his face.
#5 Doing the Muscle Man Dance
One of the weirdest (and that's saying something) aspects of Bray Wyatt's Fun House character was the out-of-nowhere introduction of a crazy 1980s-style workout video hat saw Bray and his pals (especially Huskus the Pig) dancing and working out, all to an upbeat song with their own lyrics.
The Miz could invite Bray to the ring for MizTV on the final episode of SmackDown before TLC, and instead of The Fiend or the "normal" smiling Bray Wyatt making his way to the ring, we get the Muscle Man! They can do it like usual. Lights go out section-by-section with the creepy sound that goes along with it, the arena goes dark...
...and suddenly the arena lights up with bright neon colors, the Muscle Man Dance theme song hits, and Wyatt in his sleeveless t-shirt, Zubaz pants, and pink fanny pack come dancing down to ringside.
That's not something that anybody would be expecting, and it adds a whole new level of mind games to the character. On any given night, which version of Wyatt are you going to get?
#4 Special in-ring episode of the Firefly Fun House
Why bother with Miz TV at all? Advertise a special edition of the Firefly Fun House for the final episode of SmackDown before TLC next week, but don't insinuate that it's going to be in the ring. WWE has advertised "special episodes" before, so doing so again wouldn't raise any eyebrows. When it's time for the episode, do the same as usual. Play the theme song, run the opening video on the big screen -- but then the lights go down. When they come up, the music starts again and Bray Wyatt is in the ring with his Fun House pals!
It would be a great first introduction to the reinvented version of Wyatt live on WWE television, and the appearance can go in a couple of different directions. The show could go without a hitch, as Wyatt invites Miz to the ring and they enjoy some witty, fun, silly banter. Bray does his usual tease of the "hurt" and "heal" gloves, but it's just a tease and all is well until Sunday. Alternatively, Wyatt could take something that Miz says personally and go on the attack. Could the Fun House version of Wyatt be capable of doing the kind of harm that The Fiend can?
#3 In the middle of a match
This could be an interesting premise. Bray Wyatt, not The Fiend, is being advertised for a non-title match against The Miz at TLC. That doesn't mean The Fiend can't play mind games. It's Bray's thing, after all. The Miz makes his entrance first, and then when it looks like Bray is about to come out, the mood changes, the lights go down, The Fiend's music hits and out walks the monster. The Miz, obviously quite taken aback by this turn of events, bails from the ring and grabs a microphone, saying that he expected to see the real Bray Wyatt, not the monstrosity that he claims to be. The Fiend obviously does not take kindly to this and chases Miz on the outside.
Inside the ring, The Miz valiantly fights to stay alive against the beat inside the ring... but then the lights go out again. It gets very quiet (none of the eery screeching) and stays dark for longer than usual. When the lights come back on, Bray Wyatt is standing in the middle of the ring, smiling and waving at The Miz, at which point the match comes to a close when Bray is able to get the Mandible Claw on the bewildered A-Lister to take home another victory.
The logistics could possibly be difficult, but thanks to the fact that The Fiend's pants are tight and he wears a tanktop to wrestle, it wouldn't be too terribly hard for him to slide under the ring, remove the mask, pull on the looser khakis over his Fiend pants, put the sweater over his tanktop and emerge with a smile.
#2 Fake-out entrance
Again, it's all about the mind games. The Fiend could make a normal entrance, which would be unexpected based on the advertised match between himself and The Miz, but it could quickly turn into something different. Miz could stand his ground and go face-to-face with The Fiend, only for the lights to fully come on for the big reveal: The Fiend is in front of him, but Bray is behind him! The Fiend simply gestures for Miz to turn around, which he hesitantly does, and there's Bray! The lights go out, The Fiend disappears, and Miz has his match with Bray Wyatt.
Going forward with the possibility of The Fiend and Bray Wyatt not being two separate mindsets of one physical man, but rather two different men entirely can really be explored if WWE goes in that direction. Who is The Fiend? Is Bray Wyatt real? Was he ever real? Is The Fiend a higher power that Bray looks up to, who uses Bray as a puppet to throw people off the scent of him being a completely different person altogether?
That may be taking it a bit far, but the idea of The Fiend and Bray Wyatt, two minds inside of one body, being able to not only mentally but actually physically exist in the same place at the same time would be absolutely horrifying.
#1 No pomp-and-circumstance, just Bray
Here's a scary thought: what if Bray just... shows up? The lack of playing a mind game, in fact, is a mind game in its own right. Everyone expects him to do something to scare you, confuse you, take you off your guard, etcetera-- but what if he does exactly that by just appearing as his smiling, sweater-wearing self?
The entire scenario goes off without a hitch. Bray comes down to the ring to the Firefly Fun House theme song, his buddies all sit at a table ringside to watch the match, and he wrestles a straightforward, honest, professional wrestling match. Importantly, he shows the fact that whether he's Bray or The Fiend, his power is immense and it may indeed be impossible to defeat him.
His "hurt" and "heal" gloves could also play a role in this -- after the match, Bray Wyatt could offer his hand out of respect and for sportsmanship. Sometimes (especially the first time) he shakes with the "heal" hand and leaves the ring, just happy to be alive. Other times, he can reach out with the "heal" glove, only to pull his opponent closer and grab them with "hurt" before hitting them with SIster Abigail, the Mandible Claw, or both.
Check out Sportskeeda Wrestling's exclusive interview with AEW's Dustin Rhodes, below:
