The world of pro wrestling was hit with a huge blow this week with the passing of Windham Rotunda, know onscreen as Bray Wyatt. Bray was one of the most creative minds in the business and came up with a lot of concepts for characters, tv segments and matches that weren’t like anything else we were seeing at the time during his career. Now I’ll be the first one to admit that some of those concepts I found to be way too far gone for my tastes but even if I didn’t like what he was doing at the time I always respected his willingness to take things all the way to crazy land in service of us fans.
But if you ask me his biggest professional accomplishment came in the form of completely turning his career around from what could have been a one way ticket out of the business. If you don’t remember or you weren’t around at the time, in 2010-2011 Bray was known as Husky Harris. And let me say that Husky Harris was the kind of gimmick you’re given if management finds themselves stuck with you and have no ideas what to with you. Bray was…..husky, so apparently somebody said ‘well, you’re Husky Harris’ then. Needless to say it went nowhere fast. But Bray returned to NXT and completely reinvented himself inside and out. Bray Wyatt was born and his two ‘brothers’ Erick Rowan and Luke Harper would soon join him to form the Wyatt Family.
The Wyatt Family would go on to feud with the Shield, the New Day, the Undertaker (and Kane) and sometimes with each other. They would take on a fourth member in Braun Strowman who would go on to become a part of the lore as both a friend and adversary, and launch his own successful career along the way.
Part swamp dweller, part supernatural, Bray Wyatt would bring memories of characters like Taker, Papa Shango, and Kevin Sullivan. The Sullivan inspiration was special in that Windham’s dad Mike Rotunda was once a follower of Sullivan’s in the Varsity Club. Bray would take all these and then move them to a much higher place and greater realization than anyone would predict. He truly did leave a creative mark on the business that will be impossible to fill.
But for me it’s the career turnaround that stands out the most. In a world where every day on Twitter there are a million stories of people being done in by bad creative choices, Wyatt was able to overcome that and create something that completely reversed his career fortunes. That is to be commended as much as any match or angle that he participated in. Husky Harris would go on to win the WWE World Title in 2017 in what is for my money the biggest career 180 that I’ve seen.
What follows is my personal list of favorite matches that Bray was in; I presume that all of you will have a different list than me so don’t take any one I leave off as a slight. There are matches like the 2015 Hell in a Cell match vs Roman Reigns that are obvious ‘best of’ picks, but to be honest that’s not one that I’ve personally gone back and rewatched a bunch of times.
Wyatt Family vs The Shield, Elimination Chamber 2014
This was a highly anticipated encounter, the buzz was through the roof. Two factions who’d come up from NXT not even a year apart who were poised to set the tone in the WWE for the next decade or longer. The prematch face off alone felt like a heavyweight fight and it delivered like one. All in all there were four future world champions in this match, four future I-C champions and six former or future tag team champions. The men in this match would go on to face each other countless times over the next six years in singles, tags, and multi-man matches. And in some instances the men who teamed in this match would fight each other, and in others the men who were opposing teams in this match would be on the same side in others. This match truly laid the foundation for these men over the next six years. And oh yeah, the match itself was pretty great too. One of the best matches of the year and on the short list of best six man tag matches ever.
Speaking of rivals becoming allies and vice versa…..
Survivor Series 2016
Bray teamed with Randy Orton, AJ Styles, Shane McMahon, and Dean Ambrose to take on Reigns, Rollins, Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, and Braun Strowman in what may be the best five on five elimination match on the history of the pay per view. The finish came down to Reigns vs. Wyatt and Orton and the two new teammates combined for the win.
Road to WrestleMania Tour, 2017
Bray was World Champion and defended the title against Harper in an absolutely great match at a house show I went to that year (I wrote a report here.) Looking at the rest of my list you can see that I preferred Bray in tag team and multi-man matches, but this was a rare singles match he was in that I really enjoyed. Bray and Harper had great chemistry as partners and adversaries and it really shone through here. When people tell you that some of the best matches happen at house shows this is a prime example.
Fatal Five Way, Extreme Rules 2017
Another bite at the apple for half the guys in that six man tag match as Bray took on Reigns, Rollins, Finn Balor, and Samoa Joe in this match. I was fortunate to be in the building for this one, and you can see what I thought about the show here. This was a great match to close the show and Bray was a major part of it. We got to see the best of everyone in that match and it was a lot of fun.
Inferno Match, TLC 2020
Of all the wacky, looney matches that Bray had through his career this was for my money the best one. The pure insanity of it all, from the way to win (lighting your opponent on fire) to the Fiend’s whole Jason Voorhees refusing to die routine made for an great spectacle. Randy Orton was the perfect opponent as he was one of the few characters who was callous enough to be willing to set an opponent ablaze in order to win a match. The closing shot of Orton hitting his signature pose while the Fiend laid in the ring engulfed in flames is one of the greatest closing pay per view images ever.
Those are my personal favorites. Here are a few more I recommend if you’re looking for matches that are highly regarded across the fandom:
- Royal Rumble vs Daniel Bryan
- Hell in a Cell 2015 vs Roman Reigns
- Elimination Chamber 2017 (vs John Cena, Styles, Ambrose, the Miz, and Baron Corbin)
- Payback 2017 vs Orton
- Firefly Funhouse match vs Cena, WrestleMania 36
I’ll close by saying thank you Windham Rotunda for all you gave us.
Stroke of Genius 