New details on the end of the WWE run of Windham Rotunda (fka Bray Wyatt) have been revealed, courtesy of Fightful Select.
It was noted that the WWE creative team was told this past summer about how Wyatt was cleared to work, and that he’d be returning to action prior to his release. He was spotted at a few post-WrestleMania 37 RAW episodes, and word is that he and current RAW Tag Team Champion Randy Orton, among others involved with their WrestleMania match, were not happy with the creative direction or outcome of that match, which was changed just two days before it happened.
Regarding the WrestleMania match, at one point there was “never a true creative endgame for that story” that went on for six months. Orton was originally supposed to take time off after the match, but it was Wyatt who ended up getting the time away, while Orton remained in the storylines and was paired up with Riddle. There are WWE Superstars who actually approached Orton and Wyatt, commenting that they felt bad that the WrestleMania direction was being changed.
Numerous WWE sources noted that Wyatt was outspoken backstage when he thought the creative was bad, and by the end, some felt like WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon just didn’t like him due to that. This is interesting as wrestlers have stated in the past that Vince liked it when Superstars would speak up.
There was also talk of “some major frustration” around the angle where The Fiend was burned, specifically the size, weight and movement of the suit Wyatt had to wear. Though Wyatt has not confirmed this himself, the writing team was reportedly told that he believed it was too heavy, was going to look back, and that it would be difficult to move inside of it, so it was scrapped past the initial angle.
As we’ve noted, WWE talents were told that Wyatt was released as a budget cut, but many believe this isn’t true, and there has been speculation on various reasons why WWE made the decision to cut Wyatt. The budget cut talk led to a significant amount of frustration with the roster, staff and employees alike, with the feeling that there had to be more to the release than that because Wyatt was a known money-maker with merchandise.
There was a consensus that almost no one truly believed Wyatt was cut due to budget reasons, due to his popularity and merchandise sales, among other aspects. Wyatt was well known to be a merchandise mover when he was an active performer, and due to his release, several other longterm talents have said they don’t feel like their jobs are safe any longer, despite their positions on the card or prior pushes.
Wyatt became a free agent from his WWE contract last Friday as the 90-day non-compete expired. There is still no word on if he’s headed to AEW or Impact Wrestling, but he does have interest in Hollywood projects.
Stay tuned for more.
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