Following The Buzzard Remembering Bray Wyatt One Year On
Intro
Certain phrases, and motions, can ignite a fire within us fans, whether it's in films, tv, or music. As a wrestling fan for over 30 years, the mind of a sociopath, is something that has always been facinating to me. Windum Rotunda was a man who created a characters, that would take fans on a ride, With his creative mind, reflecting the essence of scenes created by Jim Van Bebber. Wes Craven, and. Stanley Kubrick. Bray Wyatt, wasn't just the eater of Worlds, he was the master of the captivating. His energy, and enthusiasm could be felt through the tv screen, and when the world turned on him, he never turned on the world, because he held it in his hands.
When Fandoms Start To Die
The Year was 2011. HHH was given the keys to the NXT knigdom. Windham made his debut under the name Husky Harris, in the later months of 2010. Before Paul Leveque could work with Windham. FCW, which was the original work place for up and coming talent. This was when Windhan enhanced his talents, for telling stories, and harbouring the ability, to take fans on a journey, with his words. It was here that we met. The Wyatt Family.
Failed oppotunities
The Wyatt Family were poorly handled from the word go, when they were called up to the main roster. Eric Rowan. Luke Harper, and. Bray Wyatt, were set up to fail, from the outset. From facing a disgraceful politician, disapointing feuds, and awful Mania matches, the booking was beyond poor, the feuds would centre around the same old tired format, that fans were getting sick of. The old guard of yes man, that were being led by. He Who Shall Not Be Named, were pedling the same names, whilst not making new stars in over a decade. I, like the rest of the fans at this time, was shouting for something new, and when we did get something that was decent. It was taken away, like a bigmac from a hungry child. Fans were force fed this as Brays booking became even more unbalanced. Bray's stable would be seperated, and put back together, and then split again, this was nausiating to fans. Bray would get into a real life car wreck, but he survived, and upon his return, he would be partnered with Matt hardy, in a half assed attempt to get fans back on side, this was not welcomed at all by fans. It was in September of 2018 that Bray would be taken off tv, and when he came back, we were treated to something that we've wanted for quite some time.
Zowie Wowie
The aftermath of Wrestlemania 34 was a lacklustre affair, from deminishing debuts, and returns were pointless, to the lack of WWE's creative, coming full circle, however, there was a light in this shadow, that he who shall not be named allowed to bloom. The Firefly Funhouse, this felt like a shot in the dark, that worked. The creative aspects, are the mixed reminants of, if you took a show like Sesame Street, and a film like. The Never Ending Story, and put it in a blender with, Friday The 13th, and. A Clockwork Orange. This. Was, a massive success story all around, the creative build to revealing Brays third alter ego, sparked genuine interest, as fans clambered to want to find out more about his new tortured Character, this was a shot to the system, that played on WWE's short comings, and fans loved it, this was something differant, that didn't treat the audience like children. Windhams creative mind was put on full display, as he played on every fans, human psychie. His mr rogers wholesome welcoming character, was the insight into the chaos. The Fiend would make his debut through these vingnettes, and would go on to make this debut, beating Finn Balor at Summerslam 2019. The Fiends creative would take a dip, thanks to bad booking, the infamous 2019 Hell In A Cell match against Seth Rollins did nothing to elevate the character, and that Squash match against Bill Goldberg, at Super Showdown, in. Saudi Arabia, just echoed the fact, that the brass at the top, had lost all senses of control, when it comes to their creative, but, what was around the corner, was something that no fan will ever forget. In 2020, the world was thrown into chaos, as the global pandemic, forced everyone to stay indoors, and reavaluate things. Wrestling was no differant. WWE would be forced to pressent their tv output, from behind closed doors. The build upto that point, had been met with mixed reviews. This gave birth to the birth of the cinematic match. The Undertaker would face AJ Styles, in a great send off for The Deadman. But it was Brays encounter against John Cena, in. A Firefly Funhouse Match, that took the prize for match of the weekend. WWE had hit lightning in a bottle. This. Was. A creative masterpiece. Bray delved into the mind state of Cena, whilst playing with the possibilities, of what could have been. The Cartoon elements were an added distraction, as the chaos took over, however, as 2020 continued to unfold, Brays Firefly Funhouse segments, would still be a highlight of WWE television, as his rivalries would continue to follow the same old formula. In this time Bray would face. Braun Strowman in a series of matches, this along with his feud with Randy Orton, none of these were received very well, and the Swamp match, a cinematic disaster against Braun Strowman, was critically bashed, didn't help things at all, yes fans did still have some investment, as the merch sales didn't lie, but, the added ingredient of Alexa Bliss, just compounded fans thoughts, that WWE didn't care about Bray. Randy Orton, would burn him alive, at the TLC PPV at the end of the year, Setting up a match at Wrestlemania, the following year. At the time I couldn't stop laughing at this, and then, my laughter turned into confusion. Bray would go on to be beaten by Orton, at Mania 36, this to me was when. WWE gave up on Bray. The Night after Mania 36, would forshadow what would come next. In early July of 2021, Bray was fired by WWE. The usual, excuse of. Budget cuts, was used. The shock of this news was met with confusion, as to why WWE, have departed ways with a creative mastermind, that they haven't seen, since the days of Mick Foley. This is something, that I don't think we will ever get the answer to.
The Final Run
In the Summer of 2022. He Who Shall Not Be Named, was forced to retire in disgrace, after Allegations of Sexual Assault. Misconduct, and. Hush money payouts, all came to light. HHH, took over the creative aspects of the company. Gone were days of one month rivalries, and in it's place was a slower paced outlook, that allowed storylines to breathe. In September of 2022 would start to see the introduction of QR codes, and what they would reveal was, a game of Cluedo, allowing fans to work out, what this all meant. The game of hangman, echoed old insights into Wyatts lore, and when the abysmal Fight Pit Match between Matt Riddle, and. Seth Rollins at that years Extreme Rules was over. He returned. Bray Wyatt was back. His return promo came on the following episode of Friday Night Smackdown, as the hindsight of Uncle Howdy was introduced, this would be a running theme throughout the back end of 2022. This would start of a Rivalry with LA Knight, this would come full circle, at the 2023 Royal Rumble, the match was uneventful, and would end up being his last match for the promotion. Following this, he would start a rivalry with Bobby Lashley, but this wouldn't get its finish.
22nd of August 2023
On the day of the 22nd of August 2023, the world lost its holder. HHH confirmed on twitter, that WWE lifelong member Bray Wyatt, aka. Windham Rotunda, had passed away. I learned this in the early hours of that morning, and as the day carried on, I found myself in a near tears state, as I couldn't believe what I heard, as the tributes came rolling in from all corners of the wrestling industry. It hit me, he was gone. 2023, had already seen its fair share of deaths in the realm of Pro Wrestling, from. Lanny Poffo. Jay Briscoe, and. Terry Funk. But Brays, hit differant, just three years before this, we lost Brodie Lee, and now Bray was gone. Death is never an easy subject to talk about, and when the sad aspect of life takes a hold of us, we must use the time to celebrate those we have lost. In june of 2024. WWE would introduce. The Wyatt Sick, an altered bunch that thrived on chaos, and cathartic power, as the unused, and wanted, become the anti heroes, in a world built on distruction. Windham, and. John, would be proud of this. In my life, when things have gone bad, from facing my learning difficulties, at a young age, to getting bullied at school, and isolation. I found music was a great relief, so i'm going to leave with the words of a man who has greatly inspired me. Chester Bennington. Who cares if one more light goes out, in a sky of a million stars, well I do. RIP Windham Rotunda. Bo is doing you proud.