The professional wrestling world has lost one of its greatest storytellers. Bray Wyatt, real name Windham Rotunda, passed away from a heart attack at the age of 36 on Thursday. Wyatt had been away from WWE since February with an undisclosed health issue. His health issue was later revealed to be a heart problem that was exacerbated by a COVID-19 diagnosis earlier this year. Wyatt’s final WWE run may have only lasted a couple of months, but he proved to have a monumental impact in that short time. His “white rabbit” QR codes leading up to his WWE return went viral. His return itself at WWE Extreme Rules 2022 generated one of the loudest sustained pops in recent memory. His first WWE SmackDown promo brought in strong viewership.
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That said, Wyatt’s impact on professional wrestling goes back much farther than just a couple of months. In honor of one of the best creative minds of this generation, ComicBook.com remembers ten of Bray Wyatt’s greatest career moments.
The Wyatt Family Debuts
The first face of Bray Wyatt was a cryptic cult leader. Shepherding Erick Rowan and the late Luke Harper (Brodie Lee), Bray formed The Wyatt Family. This trio ran roughshod on NXT, but their real magic came on the main roster.
Terrifying vignettes warning of Wyatt and his found family “coming” to Monday Night Raw aired throughout Summer 2014, bringing WWE fans to Wyatt’s mysterious compound. On the July 8th, 2013 edition of Monday Night Raw, WWE cameras visited The Wyatt Family compound throughout the broadcast before the trio arrived at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
Wyatt watched on as Rowan and Harper attacked Kane, cunningly sitting in his rocking chair. “We’re here,” declared Wyatt, kicking off his historic WWE career.
The Wyatt Family vs. The Shield
The Wyatt Family proved their dominance that following February when they feuded with The Shield. These two blue-chip prospect factions went to war with one another at WWE Elimination Chamber 2014, the Wyatts coming out on top. Wyatts vs. Shield would be ran back a couple more times on Monday Night Raw in the following weeks.
Nearly a decade later, fans still rave about that six-man feud, with many calling it one of WWE’s best trios rivalries of this generation. Revisiting it is quite a cathartic experience too, as all six participants in the bout would go on to have a profound individual impact on the professional wrestling business.
Undertaker Stare Down
After The Wyatt Family disbanded, Bray carved out a singles career for himself by pursuing the biggest fish in the pond: The Undertaker.
Following the fabled streak’s ending at WWE WrestleMania XXX, Wyatt was tasked with facing Taker in his first match back. Not only this, but Wyatt carried the entire build-up to the bout, running a series of weekly vignettes and promo segments where he called out the Deadman for a match at WWE WrestleMania 31 with the desire of becoming the “new face of fear.”
Their match itself was highlighted by a chill-inducing stare down. Wyatt popped up into his signature spider walk, stalking an prone Undertaker. Taker himself then sat upright, leading Wyatt to collapse in shock.
The Point
Bray Wyatt’s first brief babyface run came following WWE WrestleMania 32 in 2016. He and a reformed Wyatt Family began a feud with the League of Nations, but before those two groups could face off in faction warfare, Wyatt teamed with former rival Roman Reigns on a Monday Night Raw to face the rival group’s Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus.
In the closing moments, Wyatt and Reigns captured their answer to the iconic Dwyane Wade and Lebron James alley oop photo. As Wyatt covers Del Rio for the 1-2-3, he nonchalantly points a finger gun at Sheamus, leading to Reigns answering the command by catching the Celtic Warrior in a spear before he could break up the pinfall.
Sole Survivors
Later that year, Bray Wyatt began calling WWE SmackDown his home. Alongside the likes of AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose, Wyatt became a foundational piece of the new-look blue brand, and he had the victories to back it up.
The returning brand split gave a refreshed feel to WWE Survivor Series 2016, with the typically stale pay-per-view now being bolstered by all-star squads of Raw and SmackDown teams going head-to-head. Wyatt, Styles, Ambrose, Randy Orton and Shane McMahon represented SmackDown while Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman donned Raw colors.
In the 52-minute elimination bout, it was Wyatt and Orton that stood tall for Team SmackDown, with Wyatt himself pinning Reigns to solidify the victory. With Wyatt’s early WWE days being criticized for the Eater of Worlds failing to back up his talk, wins like this emphasized Wyatt as a dominant in-ring force and legitimized his coronation the following February.
WWE Champion
Four years after his main roster debut, Wyatt reached the pinnacle of sports-entertainment. Wyatt flexed his multi-man match dominance once again inside the Elimination Chamber when he defeated a field of AJ Styles, John Cena, Baron Corbin, The Miz and Dean Ambrose to win the WWE Championship.
Days later, Wyatt was showered in “you deserve it” chants from WWE fans on WWE SmackDown.
“I can truly say, I have the whole damn world in my hands,” Wyatt declared, hoisting his first world title.
The Fiend’s Haunting First Entrance
After getting lost in the shuffle in late 2017 and 2018, Bray Wyatt went away for nearly a year. It was not until April 2019 that breadcrumbs for his return began surfacing on WWE TV.
Vignettes of puppets popped up on Monday Night Raw until eventually Wyatt himself showed face inside his new “Firefly Funhouse.” Taking on a dark Mr. Rogers-esque persona, Wyatt carried himself as a children’s television presenter with a sinister secret.
That sinister secret would be revealed to be The Fiend, a demonic alter-ego that targeted Finn Balor upon his arrival. Before the two locked up at WWE SummerSlam 2019, Wyatt made his first entrance as The Fiend in a haunting moment that has to be seen to be believed.
The Firefly Funhouse Match
The WWE ThunderDome era of programming has been largely buried in the minds of fans, but that’s not to say that the lockdown restrictions were without memorable moments.
The happiest accident to come as a result of these limitations was the Firefly Funhouse Match. Wyatt was set to rekindle his rivalry with John Cena at WWE WrestleMania 36 with the goal of righting the biggest wrong of his career. Wyatt and Cena previously faced off at WWE WrestleMania XXX in a match that significantly derailed Wyatt’s momentum after Cena picked up the victory.
Rather than rematch in a typical singles contest, Wyatt and Cena fought in a Firefly Funhouse Match. This match operated more like a prolonged segment inside Cena’s psyche, with Wyatt walking the You Can’t See Me man through his career. Layered with metaphors for WWE’s flawed behind-the-scenes inner workings, the Firefly Funhouse Match is still hyper-analyzed to this day and is the most unrestricted and unapologetic representation of Wyatt’s mad genius.
Wyatt Bears His Soul
After being released in 2021, QR code teases for a “white rabbit” began to surface in Summer 2022. These breadcrumbs eventually led to Bray Wyatt’s return at WWE Extreme Rules 2022, but the real magic came the following week.
For the first time in his career, Wyatt addressed the WWE fans without smoke and mirrors, showcasing the man behind the character more than ever before.
“You were there when I was weak, when I was vulnerable, when I was down,” Wyatt said on the October 14th, 2022 edition of WWE SmackDown. “So I just wanted to say thank you. You all saved my life.”
Undertaker Passes The Torch
Eight years after they faced off at WWE WrestleMania 31, Wyatt and Undertaker met inside the ring again this past January at Raw is XXX.
With a prone LA Knight in Taker’s clutches, Taker tossed Knight to Wyatt, who proceeded to deliver a Sister Abigail to his new rival. As he exited the ring, Taker whispered to Wyatt.
“I just let him know too that my phone’s always on and if he needs to talk to me about things or run things by me, that’s cool,” Taker revealed his words to Wyatt in a later interview.
With the pomp and pageantry of this moment taking place at Monday Night Raw‘s 30th anniversary, many fans took this as Taker symbolically passing the torch to Wyatt, officially christening the former WWE Champion as the new face of fear.
ComicBook.com sends its condolences to Wyatt’s friends and family.
