WWE: The evolution of Bray Wyatt - from NXT to The Fiend

You can say one thing about Bray Wyatt - or, more specifically, Windham Rotunda - the guy knows how to reinvent himself.

This upcoming August 11, the former WWE Champion will be bringing his latest persona - The Fiend - to SummerSlam in Toronto. There he will be taking on Finn Balor (and possibly even Finn's own alter ego, The Demon), in what should be one of the more... theatrical matches of the night. The entrances for the bout alone should be worth the price of admission.

It's easy to forget that Wyatt has actually only been a professional wrestler for about ten years - he debuted in Florida Championship Wrestling in 2009. Add to the fact that he's only 32, and it's even more astounding - it legitimately feels like he's been around forever.

Part of that is because it seems that early on in his career, he learned that the only way to stay relevant in the sports entertainment business is to adapt, change, and evolve -- and, 'Yowie Wowie', has he.

Without getting too bogged down in the actual history of things, let's take a look at how Wyatt has done exactly that over his career.

But first, we need to take a look at what's come before.

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#5 In the beginning...

Husky Harris

While both exceptionally creepy and hilariously entertaining at the same time, the Bray Wyatt we see hosting Firefly Funhouse is very different from the one who terrorized the early days of NXT as we know it now. But, where did that Wyatt come from? And who was he before that?

Rotunda's early days in the WWE as Husky Harris (and some other just as unmemorable names) weren't anything significant. You'd be hard-pressed to find any elements of that character in what would eventually become Bray Wyatt - save for Rotunda's natural charisma he brought to even that boring persona.

Instead, the older brother of Bo Dallas would draw inspiration from a little known and underrated character from the early 1990s, Waylon Mercy.

The man who played Mercy, Dan Spivey, drew inspiration of his own from Robert DeNiro's performance as the charismatic maniac Max Cady, from the 1991 film Cape Fear. Wyatt even noted that Spivey himself gave Wyatt his blessing to use elements from the character during a Performance Center visit.

Wyatt is also a third-generation wrestler, and son of WWE and NWA legend Mike Rotunda. Before he was Irwin R. Shyster, however, he was "Captain" Mike Rotunda - first the "captain" of the Varsity Club (a faction of college jock-type wrestlers) and then literally a "captain" of a boat.

No, really.

Wyatt even drew inspiration from that in an early FCW promo, referencing his "daddy" as a captain of a shrimp boat in Louisiana.

Now that he was the sinister leader of a cult, he just needed a flock to lead.

#4 Starting a family

The "Daniel Wyatt" version of The Wyatt Family

While the character of Bray Wyatt officially debuted in Florida Championship Wrestling - WWE's developmental territory at the time - it was part of the early days of NXT that things really began to take off (interestingly, Wyatt was also a contestant during the second TV season of NXT back when it was a reality/wrestling hybrid).

An unfortunate injury during the early days of this run actually brought about one of the defining elements of the character. A torn pectoral muscle left Wyatt unable to compete in the ring, but with big plans for him in the works, NXT needed to keep him visible. Enter The Wyatt Family, a team of brutes consisting of Luke Harper and Eric Rowan, who followed Wyatt's commands as he sat at ringside, creepily, in a rocking chair.

At one point after making their way to the main roster, Wyatt "freed" both Rowan and Harper, as WWE had intended on making them stars of their own. In fact, Harper won the WWE Intercontinental Championship on a couple of occasions, while Rowan went on a face run that, through no fault of his own, didn't end up quite as well as the company had hoped.

On the other hand, other former members have fared better. Daniel Bryan was a part of the Wyatt Family for a (very) short while, and his brief stint and breaking away from Wyatt's sinister grasp was instrumental in his historic run to the main event of WrestleMania XXX. Braun Strowman debuted as a member of the Wyatt Family, and has gone on to become one of the bigger stars of the company.

And Randy Orton, well... he's Randy Orton. He doesn't count.

But what about Bray's own personal achievements? After all, we're not just talking about a manager here. What has the Eater of Worlds accomplished on his own?

#3 The Eater of Worlds

Bray Wyatt, WWE Champion

As fascinating a character as Bray Wyatt was (and is), the years between his main roster debut and his winning (and subsequent loss) of the WWE Championship have been, well...

They've been weird.

Like we said earlier, it's not helpful to go into the minutiae regarding the full history of the character at the time. But, it helps to have some context.

One of the biggest problems that WWE was having with the character was the fact that the company couldn't quite decide what it was. Was he a charismatic cult leader who convinced followers he had powers he didn't actually have? Did he actually have these powers? Was he what he said he was or was he just that convincing?

These weren't questions WWE was posing to the audience. These were questions that WWE didn't actually have answers to. Or, if they did, those answers changed on a weekly basis. One week, he was that cult leader. The next, he was an actual supernatural being, not unlike The Undertaker or Kane, who had actual comic book-like superpowers - powers that seemingly included getting groups of random children to sing campfire songs, apparently.

Let's be fair. Given enough time, you could probably think of a useful application for that.

It's a testament to Wyatt's charisma and talent that, despite some of the dumber moments throughout the Eater of World's main roster to this point, he still managed a way to come across as compelling and fascinating to watch. Even if the stories and feuds turned out to be lame, Wyatt never was.

WrestleMania seemed to be the stage that this version of Wyatt seemed to be given on a regular basis. Consider his opponents at the Show of Shows since debuting: WrestleMania XXX vs John Cena, WrestleMania 31 vs The Undertaker, a segment with The Rock at WrestleMania 32, defending his WWE Championship vs Randy Orton as WrestleMania 33.

Then again, it's probably worth noting that he's also never won a match at WrestleMania, either

It was around the time of WrestleMania 34 that, much like the dream matches between Wyatt's WrestleMania 31 opponent, The Undertaker, and WCW's Sting - a match between two dark, spooky, interesting characters from different, competing companies - fans began to speculate on the possibilities of a character like Wyatt and one that was emerging from rival promotion, TNA Impact.

#2 Broken or Woken - I knew you'd come...

Bray Wyatt and 'Woken' Matt Hardy, the Deleters of Worlds

During his last run in TNA Impact, Matt Hardy was given the opportunity to demonstrate a level of creativity he had never shown before. The result was 'Broken' Matt Hardy - a new persona that was merely using the body of Hardy as a 'vessel', and that the entity residing within him was thousands of years old.

He spoke in a faux-Shakespearean dialect, bleached a streak into his hair, and claimed to be able to predict the future. He threatened to 'DELETE' his opponents - including his own brother, Jeff, whom he referred to as 'Brother Nero'.

It was awesome. Here, this should help:

It became the talk of the wrestling world and helped push TNA aka Impact Wrestling to levels of popularity it hadn't seen in years.

So, when Hardy returned to WWE and was eventually able to bring his creation there, fans immediately began to imagine what a feud between the Master Of Deletion and the Eater of Worlds would look like.

And then it happened.

Wyatt would come out the loser in that encounter, but also came out a changed man. He assisted Hardy in winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale, and the two became a team, giving themselves the name DELETErs of Worlds. They would go on to win the Raw Tag Team Championships.

This new side of Bray Wyatt was short-lived, but it was significant. For years, while still playing an evil character, Wyatt still showed some traits of a babyface. Most of them were superficial but evident, such as: referring to the fans in the crowd and the lights they held up as he entered the ring (his "Fireflies"), his mentioning the name of the city he was in before his entrance, and just the general way he would play to the crowd during his matches.

There was a brief moment where the Wyatt Family was beginning a full-fledged face run, as they attacked heel stable The League of Nations on the Raw after WrestleMania, but injuries derailed that plan altogether.

So, this was the first chance we got to see the character as a babyface, and teaming him up with a character as beloved by fans as 'Broken' (or 'Woken', at that point) Matt Hardy was a good way to explore that possibility.

Eventually, though, the team ended their run, and Bray took some time off.

And then things started to get weird.

#1 The Fiend and the Firefly FunHouse

Bray Wyatt - kids show host and sociopath

That brings us right back here, to the Firefly FunHouse.

Shortly after the DELETErs of Worlds lost their Raw Tag Team Championships, Wyatt took some time off to heal from injuries and handle some other personal affairs. As with when most high profile Superstars disappear from TV, fans began speculating when we'd see him appear again, and in what form.

Did you guess he would make his return as a bubbly-yet-sinister children's show host? If you said "yes", you are so lying. Don't even start with me.

It may not seem like it, but every now and again, WWE takes risks and tries something new and out of the ordinary. The "Firefly Fun House" is such a weird concept on paper that it says a lot about how much faith WWE has in Wyatt to have given it the green light in the first place.

Just watch this "episode" of Firefly Fun House. It does so much in less than four minutes. It's a parody of American TV, Internet culture, and even WWE itself, while also continuing to build on this universe that Wyatt is creating.

Also, "The Muscle Man Dance" is just the kind of stupid song and dance I would have thought of when I was a kid.

Here's a fun fact. This mask that Wyatt wears as The Fiend...

Boo!

... was designed by Tom Savini, the legendary make-up artist who has worked on classic horror films like Dawn of the Dead and the first Friday the 13th.

It's exciting to watch as Wyatt takes this new version of his character further down the road and, hopefully, continue the creativity that's defined his career so far.

Wyatt makes his long-awaited in-ring return at SummerSlam on August 11th, against Finn Balor.

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Find out more about what's waiting for us at SummerSlam here!