Bray Wyatt suddenly disappeared from WWE TV earlier this year just as WWE was setting the stage for him to face Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles. The reports at the time indicated Wyatt was dealing with an undisclosed illness and WWE pivoted away from their initial plan by dropping any reference to the storyline, pulling any references to Wyatt from weekly television (such as Uncle Howdy and the Firefly Fun House characters). However, PWInsider is now reporting that Wyatt is completely absent from WWE’s internal roster. He’s still listed on WWE.com’s roster page, though that has built up a recent reputation of being outdated (for example, it still depicts Wyatt in his Fiend persona).
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What caused Wyatt to be removed from WWE’s internal roster is currently unknown. After being released by the company back in 2021, Wyatt was at the center of a wildly “White Rabbit” viral campaign that built up to his WWE return at the 2022 Extreme Rules event. He’d spend his first few months back with the company feuding with LA Knight, culminating in an “MTN Dew Pitch Black Match” at this year’s Royal Rumble.
Update: Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select has since dropped a report with more info on the situation. While Wyatt is off the internal roster, both he and Bo Dallas (portraying Uncle Howdy under a mask) are still with the company. Sapp wrote, “We were told the particular roster that was referenced in the report omitted Wyatt due to injury — specifically the illness he’s been dealing with for months. Uncle Howdy’s creative has been on hold since Wyatt’s absence, but both are in the company. We’re told Wyatt has been hopeful and wanting a return, but there’s been no update on his health or status.”
Following Wyatt’s return, he gave a few rare out-of-character interviews that offered some perspective on his WWE career. He told Ryan Satin of FOX Sports that fans should not expect to see The Fiend return after the infamous WrestleMania 37 match with Randy Orton.
“The Fiend died that day in Tampa, Florida and WrestleMania, to me. The Fiend is not just a goof in a mask, like people think, that’s just ridiculous. To me, it’s so much more, and once you see where all these things come from, how they molded me as a human being, but he died that day, to me. It can never be again. It’s gone. I don’t know how people will react to that, but in my head, it’s gone forever. Alexa, to me, is kind of like the last shining thing in that. His last happy moment. You can look into that however you want. It sucks, but that’s the way it is,” Wyatt said.
WWE Night of Champions 2023 Card
- WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles
- Undisputed WWE World Tag Team Championships: Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa
- Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
