I have a friend who likes to talk about wrestling. I rarely hear from him but I just woke up and plastered a funny video on a couple of my group chats and I just messaged me that Bray Wyatt just died.
I have the same reaction as that of Booker T.
I can compare the deaths of Terry Funk and Bray Wyatt to those of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. Fawcett’s sickness has been documented even a couple of months before she passed but while Jacko has had hospital bouts, we still found his death shocking, especially with the circumstances surrounding it. With Funk, I know it’s shocking but he was already in his late-70s.
Bray is just 36.
I thought The Firely Fun House was a skit that should have ended up with Wyatt becoming a talking version of The Fiend because the wrestling world needs monsters. With that said, I loved his spooky Duck Dynasty version. I was also looking forward to his return to in some ways rewrite the wrongs that are his supernatural self returning again. I thought his stable would be a mix of Duck Dynasty and Sons of Anarchy but in a spooky setting.
Again, I really love his Waylon Mercy-like character.
But I also love his first Fiend entrance.
The greatest contribution of Bray Wyatt is the characters he developed throughout his career. I am not just talking about his spooky swamp dweller version. I am talking about his Rob Zombie-ish matches, insane puppet friends, dark comedies, and basically having the courage to create outlandish things that people would normally cringe at. As a writer, I like the fact that even with creative constraints, he can still deliver his point across. Yes, some of his words may be mumbles and gibberish but he ends every segment knowing that he got what he wanted.
Well, somewhat... but he got the better as compared to most guys.
The Muscle Man dance with the Vince McMahon puppet is insane!
Thoughts and prayers for his family.