The New face of Fear, Bray Wyatt has been considered one of the most captivating and exciting WWE superstars of all time. Wyatt has made an incredible mark on the global juggernaut ever since he debuted the mesmerizing persona in 2012 and emerged to become a marquee attraction for WWE.
Moreover, fans have been waiting to see Bray make a huge impact ever since he came back to WWE last year at WWE Extreme Rules. That has been the result of some of the most amazing moments that shaped the career of the former WWE Universal champion.
10 The Debut Of The Cult Leader
Windham Rotunda began his career in the previous incarnation of NXT during its second season in 2009 under the ring name, Husky Harris. He went to be featured on the main roster as well, being a part of the Nexus stable, however, things did not work for the future world champion.
But all changed when he was repackaged from the heavyweight and generic Husky Harris into a cult-leader persona known as Bray Wyatt. He made his debut in the NXT brand in 2012, as the leader of the Wyatt Family and that marked the beginning of the rise of one of the most intriguing WWE superstars of this generation.
9 Bray Wyatt Reveals His Dark Secret
After achieving immense success as the leader of the Wyatt family, Bray Wyatt underwent a huge character change in 2019. Dropping his cult-leader outlook, Wyatt transformed into a jolly and fun-loving host of the Firefly Funhouse show. For a few weeks, the WWE Universe seemed convinced that the Eater of Worlds had given up his evil ways. However, that did not seem to be the case.
During another Firefly Funhouse episode, Bray revealed his dark secret and the fans got to see the first glimpse of his sinister and ruthless alter-ego of him, known as the Fiend. Furthermore, the Fiend made his official debut in July attacking his former rival, Finn Balor signaling the beginning of the dark days in WWE.
8 Burned Fiend Emerges
The heated rivalry between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton took a sadistic turn at the end of 2020. At the TLC event, Orton and Wyatt battled in the Firefly Inferno match, with Randy ending the bout by setting The Fiend on fire. While he was absent from WWE television programming for weeks, Alexa Bliss continued to play mind games with The Viper and remind the fans that ‘He’ would return.
Wyatt eventually reemerged at WWE Fastlane in 2021, donning the burned Fiend gimmick as reminiscent of Orton’s action during their last encounter. This was the addition of another dark layer to the sinister presentation of The Fiend that would be carried on until his mega clash with Randy Orton at WrestleMania 37.
7 Confrontation With The Boss
Vince McMahon kicked off the first episode of Friday Night SmackDown in the state-of-the-art Thunderdome in 2020. What seemed like the start of a new experience during the pandemic era, soon turned into a bizarre moment in the history of WWE.
As the Boss was standing in the middle of the ring, the lights went out and the entire Thunderdome went red as The Fiend marched towards the ring. As he stood face-to-face with McMahon, Wyatt tried to intimidate him and looked to charge at Vince. However, his effort was cut short by the arrival of his arch-rival, Braun Strowman.
6 Winning The WWE Universal Title In Saudi Arabia
Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins were engaged in a heated rivalry during the summer of 2019. Both talented in-ring competitors were coming off a heavily panned Hell in a Cell match at the last pay-per-view and were looking to redeem their performance in a Falls count anywhere match for the WWE Universal title.
The match lived up to the expectations of hard-hitting action and excitement of the WWE Universe at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia. The ending of the match saw The Fiend locking in his Mandible Claw near the stage area on Rollins and capturing his first-ever WWE Universal championship.
5 Targeting Alexa Bliss
The most shocking moment in Bray Wyatt’s tenure as The Fiend saw him target an absolutely unexpected WWE superstar in Alexa Bliss. During an episode of SmackDown in 2020, Bliss was berated and left in the ring alone by her then-tag team partner Nikki Cross.
As Bliss was left in tears inside the squared circle, the lights went off and The Fiend appeared right before her to the shock of Little Miss Bliss. As he began to run circles around Bliss, Wyatt suddenly locked in the Mandible Claw on Alexa, laughing as she suffered pain and was laid out unconscious. This was the beginning of corrupting Alexa Bliss and bringing out a hidden and evil side of her, that eventually led her to align with The Fiend.
4 John Cena Is Tormented Before WrestleMania 36
After their epic encounter at WrestleMania XXX, John Cena found himself confronted by the evilest side of Bray Wyatt in 2020, which eventually led to Cena accepting his challenge for a rematch at WrestleMania 36. While Cena looked confident heading into the match as he delivered a promo on the go-home edition of WrestleMania, the lights suddenly went off.
As they came back, the Cenation Leader saw the Fiend standing on the balcony area of the WWE Performance Center as he stood in the ring. However, as the two were locked in an intense staredown, Bray Wyatt’s Firefly Fun House character appeared right behind him and scared the lights of the 16-time World champion, before disappearing and leaving Cena confused and struck with fear.
3 Ripping Off Daniel Bryan’s Hair
During his intense feud with Daniel Bryan in 2019, Bray Wyatt resorted to a heinous act in an attempt to put down Bryan for good measure. The G.O.A.T had come up short in his quest to dethrone Wyatt (who competed in his Firefly Fun house gimmick) for the WWE Universal title at Survivor Series.
After accepting a rematch to step inside the ring with him yet again, Wyatt’s dark alter-ego, The Fiend emerged from nowhere and attacked Daniel Bryan while ripping out the majority of his long hair in one of the most remembered moments of his WWE career.
2 Winning His First-Ever World Championship
Bray Wyatt had become a top attraction on the WWE roster due to his charismatic and captivating personality and exceptional in-ring performances. But that still did not lead him to any major title win added to his resume. However, that drought finally came to an end at the WWE Elimination Chamber in 2017.
The New Face of Fear was a part of the namesake match against five other competitors for the WWE championship. The closing moments saw Wyatt planting AJ Styles with a Sister Abigail and pinning him for the three counts to capture his first-ever world championship in WWE.
1 WWE Return In 2022
Bray Wyatt was released by WWE in July 2021, that came as a shocker for the fans to see one of the biggest WWE superstars being let go by the global juggernaut. Wyatt kept a low profile for the entire next year and around the same time, there was a change in WWE management.
A year later after Bray’s release, vignettes surrounding a ‘White Rabbit Mystery’ had begun and left the WWE Universe behind the entire presentation. The mystery was finally unveiled at the end of WWE Extreme Rules in 2022, as Bray Wyatt emerged from the bright light to one of the loudest pops in WWE history and signaled the return of dark days in WWE.
Which is your favorite Bray Wyatt moment? Do you think his second run has been a disappointment so far? Sound off in the comments!
