The rumors of WWE potentially re-signing Bray Wyatt (Windham Rotunda) reportedly led to a late boost in ticket sales for last Sunday’s WWE Hell In a Cell event, but WWE still has not brought the man behind The Fiend back.
A new report on Wrestling Observer Radio included some cryptic information on Wyatt’s WWE departure back in July of last year.
“[Wyatt] was fired for reasons having nothing to do with being over or not over and he was not fired having to do with his gimmick,” Meltzer said. “He was fired having to do with things that I probably shouldn’t talk about, so I’m not going to start a can of worms. It’s got nothing to do with that. He also had health issues, as far as being kept out of action and everything like that.”
Meltzer also said that there was a feeling that the booking of Wyatt as The Fiend did more harm than good, other than the fact that he moved a lot of merchandise.
There were all sorts of rumors on why WWE let Wyatt go last summer, even though the official reason given was budget cuts. Mat Men’s Andrew Zarian reported last year that Wyatt was being “a little difficult in the lead-up to his release” and that he had performance issues in the ring, as well as issues with his weight. It was also said that Wyatt just wasn’t happy. Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso noted then that Wyatt had been out of action with an “undisclosed physical ailment” that was not concussion-related before being released. Wyatt was reportedly medically cleared just days before he was cut.
On a related note, AEW’s Matt Hardy recently recalled how WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon was furious with Wyatt for not doing his signature spider walk during a match.
Hardy, who from November 2017 – July 2018 feuded with and then teamed with Wyatt, noted during a recent episode of his “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast how McMahon was upset with Wyatt after a match where he failed to do the spider walk.
“He [Vince McMahon] said, ’Bray, why didn’t you do that spider walk. What’s wrong with you? You’re not in shape, can you not do it anymore?’ He really laid into him and then he said, ‘you’re not even playing the gimmick’. It was just like reaming,” Matt recalled.
Matt previously discussed the “very strange relationship” between McMahon and Wyatt, noting how there often seemed to be a father-son dynamic there.
“Windham has always had a very strange relationship with Vince, very strange, like, I almost felt like Vince looked at him like a son in some ways,” Matt recalled on another episode. “When he would do things that he liked, he would love him and he would really give him everything that he could possibly give him. He would bend over backwards to try and accommodate him. But then when he did something he didn’t like, he hated, like he was going to lock him away for good.”
Matt continued, “It was almost like a really weird, a really strange and different duality that Vince shared with Bray. When he liked him or loved him, he was all about him. But when he disliked him, oh my god, it was really bad and he would like punish him and insult him. To me, it was so strange. It was almost like a parent.”
Wyatt has been working on some Hollywood projects and has made some signing appearances as of late, with more coming up, but he has not appeared for any wrestling promotion since his WWE release. At one point Wyatt was rumored for AEW and Impact Wrestling, but that has not happened. You can click here for Wyatt’s recent cryptic comments, which was seen as a teaser for his potential return to the ring.
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more on Wyatt.
(H/T to Sportskeeda for the quotes)
Follow Marc on Twitter at @this_is_marc. Send any news, tips or corrections to us by clicking here.