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Backstage Rumor on Potential WWE Return for Bray Wyatt

August 11, 2022 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris
Bray Wyatt Vince McMahon Smackdown Image Credit: WWE

– According to a report by Fightful Select, Bray Wyatt’s name has been coming up backstage in WWE, and his name has reportedly been pitched for a return within the creative team. With Vince McMahon retiring as Chairman and CEO of the company, and Triple H returning to creative, the move is seen by a good sign among money behind-the-scenes in WWE that Bray Wyatt could make a return to the company sooner rather than later.

Bray Wyatt was released from the company in late July 2021, in what was seen as a fairly shocking turn of events. Despite routinely being a top draw and main event act for the company, “budget cuts” was cited as the reasoning for his release.

One talent informed Fightful that he was able to tell by last year that Vince McMahon was “done” with Wyatt and didn’t like the wrestler at all personally. McMahon would reportedly shout derogatory insults at Bray Wyatt regarding his physique. The anonymous talent stated that this likely stems from how Wyatt would often criticize the lack of creative direction in his stories or characters. When rumors surfaced that Wyatt had a “bad attitude,” they reportedly originated from those who worked directly with Vince McMahon.

Additionally, Fightful reports that rumors were started from within McMahon’s circle to try and ease some of the heat off the company for releasing a name such as Bray Wyatt. Those who worked with Wyatt reportedly quickly shot down rumors that he had a “bad attitude” or was difficult to work with. Also, a WWE higher-up said Vince McMahon would have reservations anytime Wyatt’s name was brought up in conversations after he was released. The higher-up stated, “When things were s***, Wyatt would say they were shit, and Vince saw that as difficult to deal with.” This is consistent with another report on Wyatt getting released that emerged last November. It was rumored that Vince McMahon didn’t like Wyatt being outspoken about WWE’s bad creative.

With regards to McMahon insulting and saying derogatory things toward Bray Wyatt, earlier this year, Matt Hardy said on his podcast that Wyatt had a “strange relationship” with Vince McMahon and that McMahon would “punish and insult” the former WWE and Universal Champion. Hardy stated, “When he [McMahon] liked him or loved him [Wyatt], he was all about him, but when he disliked him, oh my god, it was really bad. He would punish him and insult him, it was so strange.”

One person within WWE who worked on the Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt storyline spoke about their frustrations behind the scenes with Orton and Wyatt’s WrestleMania 37 match last year. After months of buildup, and Orton setting The Fiend on fire, the WrestleMania match was changed just days before the event took place. The person who worked on the match and feud said, “No one at any point among the journey…. once… had a f***ing clue as to what the f*** was supposed to happen. The finish changed the day before, they’d bragged a surprise. Randy Orton was supposed to lose and have months off.”

The same person said there was never a long-term plan by McMahon on how to resolve the Orton and Wyatt story. This was said to be very frustrating to those who were involved with it.

Ultimately, The Fiend shockingly lost the matchup to Orton at WrestleMania, and Wyatt was basically done in the WWE after that. His last appearance was in a Firefly Funhouse vignette on the following Raw, talking about looking forward to a “fresh start.”

Another talent spoke about how what happened to Bray Wyatt is specifically why they would not push back on the creative given to them by WWE, being worried that if Bray Wyatt of all people could get fired, their spot didn’t feel safe either. When WWE cited “budget cuts” as the reason for cutting Bray Wyatt, that was a severe hit to morale to a number of talents who spoke to Fightful on the issue at the time. One WWE talent is quoted by Fightful as saying, “If he makes the company money hand over fist and they use budget cuts as an excuse, what am I?” That talent was later released by WWE.

Several sources noted to Fightful that Triple H taking over WWE’s creative department is a potential clean slate for Bray Wyatt. Many believe if Triple H thinks Wyatt can help the company or help WWE make money, he would throw any past issues with Vince McMahon aside to help the show. Case in point, last week’s WWE SmackDown saw both Karrion Kross and Scarlett return to the company.

Talent who are not in WWE informed Fightful that even if they were poorly booked before in WWE or by Triple H himself, Triple H now being in charge brings a renewed sense of optimism because Vince McMahon is no longer at the top. One talent who has heavily worked with Bray Wyatt in the past said, “I can’t speak for him, but I know I’ve heard his name brought up, and I don’t know how you couldn’t feel better about coming in now if you were him.”

Fightful also reportedly spoke to several talents currently on the WWE roster who said they would happily “go to bat” for Wyatt, but they do not think Wyatt would even need it.

During WrestleCon, many people told Fightful that it didn’t seem like Wyatt had completely closed the door on a WWE return. It was also said that Wyatt reportedly had no interest in signing with Impact Wrestling.

Fightful noted that while Wyatt’s name has been pitched for a return by the creative team, it’s not a guarantee that the Superstar will be back in WWE yet. Many names have reportedly been pitched by the creative team, including ones by Triple H and others.

article topics :

Bray Wyatt, WWE, Jeffrey Harris