Windham Lawrence Rotunda was popular as Bray Wyatt, a top-level WWE Superstar. He entertained his fans with his creativity and the introduction of his new gimmicks. Apart from that, he was also one of the top earners for the company. That is why it is shocking to know that Wyatt was previously released from the company due to budget cuts.
Wyatt joined WWE NXT in 2010 and since then he has been a part of the Stamford-based promotion. However, owing to budget cuts, Wyatt was released from the company in July 2021. Now it has been known that after he was removed from WWE, he almost joined AEW.
Bray Wyatt WWE release reportedly ‘budget cuts’ related pic.twitter.com/HPBKOOyaeR
— WrestlingWorldCC (@WrestlingWCC) July 31, 2021
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, several wrestling promotions, including AEW, were interested in signing Wyatt following his WWE release. In fact, Wyatt got very close to joining Tony Khan’s promotion. It is to be noted that TNT, the broadcast partner of All Elite Wrestling, even received the superstar’s debut date.
As per Dave Meltzer, “At one point TNT was told of a date for him to debut in AEW, but it fell through, believed to be money-related. Impact was interested, as was AAA and Japanese groups.”
However, Wyatt didn’t join AEW, nor did he join any other wrestling promotion. The WWE superstar returned to the Stamford-based promotion at the closure of the 2022 Extreme Rules event. Since then, Wyatt had a memorable run in the company before he went on a hiatus and never came back.
Did Bray Wyatt’s differences with Vince McMahon lead to his WWE release?
Bray Wyatt was a highly talented WWE superstar and contributed a lot to WWE and his fans alike. Thus, when he was removed from the company with budget cuts cited as the reason, fans highly doubted that. There were reports that Wyatt had a strained relationship with Vince McMahon, and fans speculated that it might have been the reason for Wyatt’s release from the company.
As per Fightful, Wyatt had a straightforward nature which made the WWE Boss furious. He was not happy with the way his character was booked and was upfront about it, which led to differences between him and McMahon.
One talent within WWE has stated that Vince McMahon was simply “done” with Bray Wyatt – prior to his release from the company in 2021.
It was added that McMahon would shout derogatory things at Wyatt – regarding his physique.
– per @FightfulSelect pic.twitter.com/02pGSOwWZh
— PW Chronicle (@_PWChronicle) August 11, 2022
Thus, it’s evident why fans speculated that Wyatt’s WWE release was due to his differences with the WWE kingpin. Moreover, it was WWE’s head of creative, Triple H, who brought Wyatt back into the wrestling promotion.
After returning in 2022, Bray Wyatt went on a hiatus in February 2023 and was reported to be dealing with life-threatening health issues that remained undisclosed. Shockingly, he passed away on August 24, 2023, at the age of 36, due to a heart attack.
Just received a call from WWE Hall of Famer Mike Rotunda who informed us of the tragic news that our WWE family member for life Windham Rotunda – also known as Bray Wyatt – unexpectedly passed earlier today. Our thoughts are with his family and we ask that everyone respect their…
— Triple H (@TripleH) August 24, 2023
WWE Universe was eagerly awaiting his return and he had so much left to portray. But, his untimely demise shocked everyone, and his family, friends, and the entire WWE Universe are still recovering from the loss. Bray Wyatt was indeed one of his kind and there won’t be anyone like him.
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