There’s new speculation on WWE possibly bringing Bray Wyatt back to the company, according to a new report from
Fightful Select.
WWE Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Head of Creative Triple H has been bringing wrestlers back on a weekly basis, and now many within WWE believe we could see Wyatt make his return soon.
Wyatt was released in July of last year, in a move that shocked the pro wrestling world. One WWE talent recently noted how it appeared last year that Vince McMahon was simply “done” with Wyatt, and just didn’t like him personally. McMahon would reportedly shout derogatory things at Wyatt about his physique, which the talent believes actually stemmed from the fact that Wyatt would often criticize the lack of creative direction that his stories or characters had.
When word came out on Wyatt having a bad attitude, that reportedly came from those who worked directly with McMahon. There were also several instances of rumors starting within that circle to ease the heat off the company for releasing Wyatt. Those that worked with Wyatt heavily were quick to shoot down some of those rumors.
One WWE higher-up noted that Vince had reservations whenever Wyatt’s name was brought up after his release.
“When things were shit, Wyatt would say they were shit, and Vince saw that as difficult to deal with,” one WWE higher up said, before noting they think he’d fit way better in today’s WWE landscape.
One major point of frustration came at WrestleMania 37 after months of the Wyatt vs. Randy Orton storyline, when things were changed just days before the match. One person who worked on the match and storyline said, “No one at any point among the journey…. once… had a fucking clue as to what the fuck was supposed to happen. The finish changed the day before, they’d bragged a surprise. Randy Orton was supposed to lose and have months off.”
Instead, Wyatt was effectively done in WWE. The source close to the situation effectively confirmed that there was never a long-term plan by the McMahon regime for the resolution of the storyline, which frustrated those involved in it, as it was heavily featured.
Another talent recalled that, saying that type of thing is why they specifically didn’t push back on their creative, because if Wyatt could get fired, they certainly didn’t feel safe. When Wyatt’s release was cited as a part of “budget cuts” that was another hit to morale for wrestlers.
One talent said, “If he makes the company money hand over fist and they use budget cuts as an excuse, what am I?” That talent has since been let go by the company.
There’s no word on the relationship between Wyatt and Triple H specifically, sources have noted that it’s a clean slate. If Triple H thinks a talent can help the company or make money, most believe he’s largely going to throw whatever issues they had with Vince out the window, for the sake of creating a better show.
One person who worked heavily with Wyatt said, “I can’t speak for him, but I know I’ve heard his name brought up, and I don’t know how you couldn’t feel better about coming in now if you were him?”
Furthermore, several current wrestlers have said they’d happily “go to bat” for Wyatt, but don’t believe he’d need it.
There was a feeling at WrestleCon back in April that it didn’t seem like Wyatt had completely closed the door on a WWE return. It’s been reiterated that he had no interest in signing with Impact Wrestling.
Those close to Wyatt have started to get very quiet about happenings with him, where they would formerly shoot down incorrect reports about his mental health, or fake rumors of negotiations.
Word now is that Wyatt’s name has at least been pitched for a WWE return within creative, but that does not guarantee anything will happen as many names have been pitched within creative, either by Triple H or someone else on the team. It was also noted that there has been interest, to some degree, for Wyatt to do acting, but there’s no word yet on where his Hollywood career stands as of now.