Bray Wyatt officially returned to WWE at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view on Saturday night, revealing himself as the mysterious “White Rabbit.” After Matt Riddle successfully defeated Seth Rollins inside the Fight Pit the show appeared to be over, but suddenly the lights in the arena went out. Wyatt could be heard singing “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands” over the intercom as fans lit up the arena with their phones. Figures representing the different Firefly Fun House characters started to appear, culminating with The Fiend being shown at ringside.ย
Videos by ComicBook.com
The camera then cut to inside the Firefly Fun House, which was clearly dilapidated as the puppets were shown lifelessly scattered across the room. The TV inside the house began to flicker and a new figure in a black mask could be heard speaking. Suddenly, back in the Wells Fargo Center a door that had been propped up on the entrance ramp flew open and a blinding white light could be seen behind it. Out from the light stepped Wyatt, holding his signature lantern while wearing the new mask. He unmasked and blew out the lantern to officially end the show.
Wyatt was released from the WWE back in July 2021 but reports of him starting negotiations with WWE for a return started popping up in mid-September. Shortly after that, the song “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane started playing while the cameras weren’t rolling on episodes of SmackDown and various live events. This was followed by mysterious messages embedded in QR codes popping up on episodes of Raw and SmackDown, each of which had references to Wyatt’s past.ย
It was then reported that the big “reveal” regarding the White Rabbit would take place at Extreme Rules, and the clues from this week’s Raw and SmackDown both pointed toward that. As fans arrived at the Wells Fargo Center for Saturday’s show, many of them were greeted by men wearing white rabbit costumes who were passing out word searches with the words “Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter” hidden within them. This was not only a reference to Dante’s Inferno, but to the words drawn on the door of Wyatt’s Firefly Fun House.ย
A video of a white rabbit digging his way through a purple X (meant to represent the Extmre Rules event) interrupted the broadcast just before the first match began…
During his hiatus from the wrestling business, Wyatt posted a number of obscure messages on social media. The last of them, which was deliberately less obscure, came in early August with Wyatt explaining his love for the pro wrestling business.ย
“Wrestling is not a love story, it’s a Fairy Tale for masochists. A comedy for people who criticize punchlines. A fantasy most can’t understand, a spectacle no one can deny. Lines are blurred. Heroes are villains. Budgets are cut. Business is Business,” he wrote. “But it can also be a land where Dead men walk. Where Honor makes you Elite. Where Demons run for office. And Rock bottom is a reason to rejoice. WOOOOO! It’s an escape. A reason to point the blame at anyone but yourself for 2-3 hours. An excuse to be a kid again, and nothing matters except the moment we are in. Wrestling is not a love story, it’s much more. It’s hope. And in a world surrounded in hate, greed and violence, a world where closure may never come. We all know a place that has hot and cold hope on tap. For better or for worse.”
