Mike Bennett Says He Almost Played Sister Abigail To Bray Wyatt’s Fiend

Mike Bennett has revealed that he and Eric Young nearly brought the puppets from the Firefly Fun House to life in one planned WWE story that didn’t come to pass. Bennett spoke to Metro ahead of his bout with Jonathan Gresham at ROH Best in the World, and you can check out some highlights below:

On nearly being involved in Bray Wyatt’s Fiend run: “Early on when Bray Wyatt turned into The Fiend, Vince was always high on having Bray lead a group for some reason – he always wanted him to lead a group. We were about a week away from making it happen where me and Eric Young were gonna be part of Bray Wyatt’s group. We were gonna actually be – they were gonna bring to life the puppets. Each puppet was gonna represent an actual person. I don’t remember, there were talks that I was gonna be Sister Abigail and Eric Young was gonna be a buzzard.”

On being willing to do it: “It was one of those things where, ‘You guys will play these characters.’ He’s portraying them as the puppets [in the Firefly Fun House], but then they’ll come to life. I thought it was really cool, I was ready to sink my teeth into it. But then like most stuff there, right before it happens they’re like, ‘Oh yeah we’re not doing that anymore’. You’re like, ‘Oh, oh OK cool. That would have been a really cool spot but I guess I’ll go sit in catering.'”

On some of the less popular parts of his arc with Maria: “The stuff with me and Marie that made people cringe, that was one of those things where I was completely, 100% a company guy. In my head, I’m playing a role on television. You hired me to play a role. At the end of the day, yes, that is my real wife but we are playing characters on television. That’s why I always think you should have credits at the end of the wrestling show. Even if it’s ‘Mike Bennett’s playing Mike Bennett’, who cares? I’m still playing someone else that’s not me as a person. This person right now is not who you see on television. It always blew my mind when people were like, ‘Did it bother you?’ I’m like, no, because it’s make believe, it’s pretend! It’s like if I was to go and get a role in a TV show and I played a serial killer, you wouldn’t come up to me and be like, ‘Does it bother you that you have to kill all those people?’ No, it doesn’t, because it’s make believe and I’m pretending!”

When it comes to the work Bennett’s doing now – particularly as he prepares for his Pure Rules match with Gresham – he’s concentrating on ‘wrestling as a sport’, rather than the more outlandish areas of the business.

On his ROH Pure Title shot: “I’m very much in the zone where I really like to focus on wrestling as a sport. I think it’s because it’s such a contrast with how I used to be. I always viewed wrestling as sports entertainment,’ he admitted, noting he can still enjoy that side as a fan and performer. Now I’m very much big into the NOAH, big into All Japan, and that’s why I love the Pure division in Ring of Honor because it truly focused on the sport of wrestling, which I think is an incredibly fun aspect to focus on!”