The spectre of ECW shined bright upon Extreme Rules on Saturday in Philadelphia. Ronda Rousey regained the SmackDown Women’s Championship over Liv Morgan; Matt Riddle conquered Seth Rollins in the Fight Pit…You don’t care about any of that.
Extreme Rules was sold on one thing and one thing only—the reveal of the White Rabbit. Weeks of clever videos filled with QR Codes and easter eggs marked the long-awaited return of Bray Wyatt.
Bray Wyatt was last seen at WrestleMania 37 in 2021, where he lost to Randy Orton with help from Alexa Bliss. Wyatt was released from the company three months later.
Rumors of Wyatt’s next landing spot consistently made headlines over the next 15 months. Vince McMahon’s ouster from WWE in July removed the one roadblock to a Wyatt return.
As the show signed off with Daniel Cormier raising Matt Riddle’s hand, the lights went out. Cellphone lights illuminated the Wells Fargo Center. It was a familiar visual of old, representing Wyatt’s previous tenure in WWE.
“He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” came next as the song ushered in iconic elements of Wyatt lore, such as Haskus the pig and Mercy the buzzard. The eerie door finally opened, and the mysterious figure removed his mask, giving fans the reveal they had long been waiting for.
Despite all the good Bray Wyatt brings to WWE, bad booking made his “eater of worlds” persona stale and made “The Fiend” jump the shark higher than the Fonz ever did.
Now, enter the third incarnation of Bray Wyatt. An amalgamation of the first and second acts with a new shiny mask to mark the occasion.
The one thing, above all else, Paul Levesque needs to do for Wyatt to succeed to the highest magnitude is to treat the character with the same reverence that Vince McMahon had for the Undertaker.
It’s a big ask.
If Levesque believes he can succeed where Vince failed with Wyatt, give him the ball, and let him play the field. In other words, pass Wyatt the torch. Make it known without a shadow of a doubt that Wyatt is the new supernatural force, the new Keyser Soze, the new Undertaker.
Yes, Undertaker did some crazy supernatural spookiness and sometimes went too far. However, when the booking failed, it was up to the Deadman to see it through. Reportedly, Vince and Wyatt’s rocky relationship led to Wyatt’s release last year.
Bray Wyatt’s reintroduction sold Extreme Rules, which speaks to the character’s reverence with the fandom. One-half of the equation is already solved for WWE. They don’t need to make Wyatt special because he already is. Now, they need to keep him that way.
Ringside Logic 