SUMMARY
- Bray Wyatt was one of best creative minds in the pro wrestling industry.
- During his time in WWE, Bray Wyatt played a number of interesting characters.
Late WWE star Bray Wyatt was a one-of-a kind personality who revolutionized the world of professional wrestling through his work. From performing on NXT under the ring name of Husky Harris to leading The Wyatt Family and taking over the Triple H-led promotion by being the heel he was, Bray was a really special talent.
After being the leader of the heel faction for quite some time, Windham Rotunda was given a brand new persona called “The Fiend,” and he did full justice to it. In fact, just months after starting to play this character, Wyatt was able to win the Universal Championship and make himself of the best creative workers in the biggest pro wrestling organization.
Despite all the success Bray Wyatt achieved under this vicious persona, a lot of people believe that he wasn’t used to the fullest of his capabilities due to bad booking decisions. So, let’s take a look at three awful matches that Windham should have won as The Fiend, but the promotion booked him to take the loss.
Goldberg’s victory over The Fiend wasn’t the best decision
Bray Wyatt won the Universal Championship as The Fiend by defeating Seth Rollins on October 31, 2019, at Crown Jewel in a fall count anywhere match. After this monumental win, he was drafted to Friday Night SmackDown and won several feuds to make himself a dominant champion. But it was only until WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg confronted him on the February 7, 2020, episode of SmackDown.
On the show, the veteran challenged Bray for a title match, which was scheduled for the Super ShowDown event on February 27. Everyone expected that this was just a filler rivalry in the title-reign, and they backed Wyatt to win this bout. But to everyone’s surprise, Goldberg defeated The Eater of the Worlds to dethrone him, thus ending his 118-day title reign.
At that time, Bray’s title run was still gaining momentum, and he could have achieved a lot more if he had continued to be the champion, but the organization had different plans. Amid the bad impact this loss had on his iconic persona, and also his career, it was surely not the best booking decision by WWE.
Roman Reigns shouldn’t have ended Bray Wyatt’s title-reign
After losing to Goldberg, Bray Wyatt was given a monumental victory over John Cena at WrestleMania 36 and later got into a storyline with Braun Strowman. The former teammates continued their rivalry for an extended period of time, and at that year’s SummerSlam, The Fiend defeated Braun to win the Universal Championship for the second time in his WWE career.
But just after the match between these two superstars, Roman Reigns made an appearance to attack them. After Reigns’ involvement, Wyatt was booked to defend his title at Payback 2020 in a triple-threat match against Strowman and Roman, and he lost it after The Tribal Chief pinned Strowman to win the fight. This loss took all the momentum from Bray, and that’s why fans feel that Roman Reigns shouldn’t have ended The Fiend’s title reign.
As revealed by Jey Uso during an interview, “At first, I think the first angle that Roman was supposed to have was with The Fiend.” Even though this was the original plan, it wasn’t what happened, as Jey was the first guy to feud with The Tribal Chief, and The Wyatt Family Leader never got the opportunity to reclaim his title from The Head of the Table, as he lost it even without getting pinned.
Bray Wyatt should have won the Randy Orton feud
Following this loss, Bray started a feud with Kevin Owens, which he won, and after that, he was sent to Monday Night RAW as a part of the 2020 Draft in October. After joining the red brand, The Fiend reignited his old feud with Randy Orton as they fought each other at the TLC event on December 20. It had the stipulation of being a Firefly Inferno match, but Wyatt still ended up losing it.
Despite this loss, they continued to be involved in a storyline that also involved Alexa Bliss, who was on Bray’s side. In fact, Wyatt vs. Randy was made official for WrestleMania 37, and fans expected the former Universal Champion to come out victorious from this bout. But The Wyatt Family Leader lost this match after Alexa betrayed him to help Orton.
As The Fiend character suffered a lot because of this loss at The Show of Shows, many believe that Bray Wyatt should have won this feud. After this loss, Windham’s WWE career never got on track, as he was released by the company in mid-2021. This was a shocking decision by the company, as Bray was a huge star, but he was away from them for over a year before making a return in late 2022.
It was after the Extreme Rules PLE’s main event that the fan-favorite star made his monumental return to the Stamford-based promotion. His new tenure with the company also saw the birth of a new masked character, “Uncle Howdy,” which still remains a mystery. At RAW is XXX, Bray interrupted LA Knight in a segment with The Undertaker, in which they had the iconic interaction with each other.
After this, Wyatt defeated Knight at that year’s Royal Rumble event and then started a feud with Bobby Lashley. These two were supposed to go one-on-one at WrestleMania 39, but The Fiend quietly took off from television afterwards. In fact, the entire storyline with Bobby was dropped, as it was revealed that Bray was dealing with a serious real-life illness.
In August 2023, it was reported that the veteran was closing in on a return to the Triple H-led promotion. The Eater of the Worlds was also determined to make a comeback to the ring after getting fit, but destiny had other plans. On August 26, it was announced that Bray left this world unexpectedly at just 36 years of age.
This news left the industry absolutely numb, as emotional tributes started pouring in from all across the world. It’s been nearly eight months since Bray Wyatt’s death, but his legacy as a professional wrestler as well as a human being is still shining bright, and it will continue to inspire generations to come.