Was The Fiend Bray Wyatt actually good?

[@Markyd123]

RIP Bray Wyatt in honour of the man the grade has been bumped up for sure.

[@mtndew210]

Yeah what’s the grade now??

[@Tucj-zh1dy]

​@@mtndew210bumped up once. I haven't watched the video yet, but you can find the rest out

[@kidkold7242]

If you would have been around for the entirety of his career in wwe you would have understood why the fiend was such a character work type of character, his whole gimmick at that point was a demon that bray had access to in order to seek revenge on those who wronged him and to change the heel/face alignment for others, as well to take the title of the new face of fear by force. It was a pretty good gimmick all things considered. It’s a shame he wasn’t able to present it the way he had wanted, there was a lot of tampering with his ideas behind the scenes by people like Bruce and Vince. He was their top earner for a while until they started progressively pushing him down the card. Also the reason he had gotten into worse shape as the run had gone on is because some people that he was very close to had passed away and he wasn’t given any time to properly grieve the loss of those people and it sent him into a deep depression which affected his life on and off the screen. It’s a shame everything ended the way it did, especially considering he was bringing the fiend back and we could have gotten a ring of the hawk video of the evolved fiend.

[@Markyd123]

If we can get 300 comments on this post I’d be willing to bump his grade up as I’m conflicted! Let me know!

[@matthewhenningervonada9914]

Can you do both the warrior runs post 1992?

[@senorfish2503]

That's a lot of squawks mate!

[@mattjohnholmes]

SHUV IT

[@rmcdudmk212]

Only if you admit the Fiend's mask makes him look like a deformed ninja turtle from the 90s turtle movies. 🤣

[@lateralus5925]

penor grande

[@obiwanshinxbi6573]

The Fiend was a great character that fell victim to bad booking

[@DasNordlicht91]

Throwing him right into a title match after the Balor squash had the effect of preemptively killing the Fiend’s run and Seth Rollins’ face run.

[@staalhard666]

Overrated obese juggalo who's selling absolutely nothing while being gassed after 1 minute has nothing to with the bad booking. Bray Wyatt's a hack, just face it. Only Bryan Danielson was able to drag a halfdecent match out of this out of shape cartoon fraud.

[@slammydunk9787]

@@DasNordlicht91 tbf Rollins face run was already half dead. Crowd started turning on him long before Fiend feud.

[@kinggeorge2100]

​@@slammydunk9787 😂

[@SamsarasArt]

The fiend had a lot of potential and his motivations were interesting. I liked that he had a clearly defined goal. He was targeting everyone that wronged Bray Wyatt in the past. Some of the decisions made though made little sense and were a detriment. Like having his matches be bathed in red light, or ending a hell in a cell match by DQ, or being squashed by Goldberg in a couple minutes. Those things are bad but I think the worst stuff happened with the Randy Orton feud. Everything that made the fiend interesting took a back seat to spooky nonsense. It was so bad that it killed the gimmick and now he's not even with the company anymore.

[@billybadass3056]

The Fiends potential was squashed by Vince McClownAzz Being Vince McClownAzz..... now that tired fools finally gone Bray can come back and actually have a career in the WWE..

[@SamsarasArt]

@@billybadass3056 fingers crossed

[@finbarobruadair2761]

@@billybadass3056 bray is a thong wearing fatty

[@BBoy4040]

I thought they were building to another Firefly Funhouse match with Orton at the end there. That segment where Wyatt either "Possessed" Orton or stole his body was great material to use for a cinematic match.

[@KDB349]

I don't agree with the Randy Orton thing. I feel like that was a great fued, the ending just sucked. The gimmick isn't dead either because everyone wants him back. There's still plenty of faith behind the Fiend. I think the issue lays with the fact that he was portrayed as too powerful thus him losing seemed impossible.

[@superior7673]

I think what really fucked up the Fiend was making him go for the title. I feel like he is absolutely one of those wrestling characters/personas that doesn't need/wouldnt want a title and his motivations would be purely to mentally toy with his opponents and physically push them to their limit. The character was specifically targeting people that had wronged bray Wyatt so I feel like there was a lot of interesting ways the character could have gone but they really just fucked bray over big time...twice...

[@dizzy1369]

that's what I said at the time, why would he care about earthly trinkets?

[@aldairreynoso2564]

I think it was more about threading the line between becoming something like Andre who genuinely didn't need a title to be imposing and being a Doink the clown. The difference is it all depends on the gimmick, Fiend can and was falling into Boogeyman / Doink territory it was getting too out of hand and it needed to be grounded. As for people like Andre you knew he didn't need titles because he was a genuinely imposing man with a presence, without altering anything about himself. Did the fiend need a title ? Maybe not but thanks to the title reigns it sets him apart from Boogeyman, doink and any other superstar that is solely gimmick driven.

[@JadePharaoh]

Right. He didn't seem like the type to go for the title straghtaway and they booked themselves into a corner in doing so since Seth had only recently won it. Hence the BS Hell in a Cell finish.

[@rdu239]

Bray Wyatt's wrestling skills was further exposed when he turned into the Fiend, his wrestling is mediocre to below average. I can never understand why the IWC overhype this man when Wyatt is just a fat guy in a halloween mask

[@KobaAM]

*some try hard bullshit about wanting to manipulate the wrestling world and toy with the fans* ZOMG so deep

[@manzac112]

What made it sad was Bray Wyatt had to reinvent his character multiple times in his entire career in WWE and he made it work. It just so happened to be under a WWE that was not very creative at the time. Not a smart move to fire your number one merchandise seller.

[@TheRealRollerCodster]

Seriously

[@donniejefferson9554]

Was he #1? I didn't think anyone manages to top Roman since Cena.

[@manzac112]

@@donniejefferson9554 Yes

[@donniejefferson9554]

@@manzac112 Well damn. I knew the mask sold well but I didn't think he even had enough shirts and stuff to make it to 1. Good on him

[@kevenrules]

@@donniejefferson9554 he had 32 items selling more over all but with reigns having 232ish at the same time he had more items selling even if they only had 100ish. I know that doesn't make sense reading it let's put it this way for example 2000 sold for 32 items for bray, but reigns had 1200 over 232 items means he sold more by selling less knocking fiend down to 3rd highest selling at the time

[@jonathanr4160]

Best part of those cinematic matches was hearing Jim Cornette practically having a stroke when reviewing them 😂😂

[@dangerousdays2052]

One of the rare instances of Jim Cornette being right about something.

[@travisprice1325]

I liked them

[@domagojkersun9630]

I would call Bray Wyatt in general a missed opportunity. IMO hes best character was when he was a cult leader. Many legendary wrestlers from the past weren't in ring generals but we watched them for their character.

[@stefanm2731]

Yea but Wyatt could genuinely put on a great match

[@domagojkersun9630]

@@stefanm2731 True!

[@petertr2000]

Exactly. Should have kept him upper mid card, away from the belts, so he could create an aura. For example, how often was Taker really involved in fueds around the belt? Hardly ever, but it didn't matter.

[@jansmitowiczauthor78]

From the past, when the actual wrestling in America sucked ass [certainly WWF]

[@zemox2534]

@@jansmitowiczauthor78 Not in wcw or ECW at least

[@scottmorrison3929]

The Firefly Funhouse Match (His WM "match" with Cena) is the single greatest piece of main roster storytelling the WWE put out since the death of the Monday Night War. It wasn't a wrestling match, obviously, and it honestly wasn't much for The Fiend at all. It was a story, an expose, on John Cena as a character and as a person. Like Wyatt said in the matches buildup, the person Cena cannot beat is Cena, and throughout the entire match, Cena found himself perpetually bested by being trapped in the tropes of backstage cruelty, being more muscle than talent, even mocked for his own failed marriage. It wasn't until the nWo segment where Cena did the least Cena thing possible, turned heel. Following in the steps of Hollywood Hogan, Cena finally realized that he was able to "break" the rules that had bested him all along; but in doing so, he betrayed who he was, and only then did The Fiend begin the match. The Fiend waited until Cena beat himself. To drive that point home, it was Cena's last match for over two years, and in returning he could no longer be the face of the company, jobbing to Roman Reigns.

[@ThePrangon]

The Hawk is a casual WWE viewer. Going into so much detail will only get us a smack with a brick. 😂

[@dangerousdays2052]

Cinematic matches are garbage. Only scrubs like that crap.

[@retrokoh]

Last match for over two years?? Nah. He had a match against Reigns in 2021. It was only a year and some change.

[@jfproductions4141]

Especially during the pandemic era this match I think ages better with time especially with the trajectory Cena has been going since. Maybe it’s just me but he hasn’t felt the same since then and I really like that character work a lot. It’s like this permanent scar on him as a character and I think that’s amazing. Also helps cena has been acting more to really sell that motivation and with his retirement I think it’s perfect. Definitely hard to explain that all to a casual viewer but I do think it’s one of the more interesting moments in WWE even if it’s a bit hard to explain. I do prefer it over the ones with Brawn and Orton since this feels much more personal and vulnerable than just a spectacle

[@Venemofthe888]

His first match against Balor was a perfect way to bring him in and a good start and then they killed him by making him face Rollins in the worst Hell in a Cell match ever, the second in a row with a non finish hell in a cell in the main event and third overall. He didnt need to go for the belt so quickly or even at all but what would have been interesting is him taking people out from his past like Balor & Cena as well as having the after effect of nobody being quite the same after fighting him. When he lost to Goldberg it really stuck one nail in the coffin but recovered against Cena which was really cool storytelling. After the Cena match he really went down hill and lost his lustre

[@TheLibermania]

They shouldn't have booked him into the title picture. The fiend wouldn't need it and like that they booked themselves into a problem.

[@presidentjayhawk9214]

@@TheLibermania thank you...they booked him too quick. Plus in my eyes the fiend is the type of character that can be potentially bigger than a belt. For seth rollins rivalry it could of started with the fiend costing rollins the belt against braun since rollins title run was getting stale by then anyway

[@aldairreynoso2564]

The problem isn't so much that he didn't need the title. It's more so the fact that he solely became gimmick based. As hawk mentioned it started to become character work and no actual wrestling anymore. It was heading towards Boogeyman territory. The cinematic, red lights during matches, props just got to a point where that's where it all depended on. And not everyone can work with that. It started being something that other people had to compromise with. At least in the case of Andre the giant, which people always said didn't need a title, He was imposing by himself. No need to alter anything. You knew he can fuck you up just by sheer presence. Did bray need the title ? Maybe not but it did help it set him apart from Boogeyman, Doink or anyone who's a gimmick based superstar.

[@carloscolon3331]

Than whole Alexa bliss thing happen with black ooze coming out of Randy’s mouth they set him fire and the wrestlemania match happen and it all went to shit.

[@OhyeahMrKrabz]

@@TheLibermania Undertaker and Kane held titles so The Fiend holding a title was gonna happen

[@am2382]

Looking back, it definitely was one of the worst runs. Even Cena made himself seem weak at times.

[@Giantsfanlewis]

When did the fiend look strong?

[@Panama_Red]

@@Giantsfanlewis when his entrance gave my kid nightmares for two weeks. He was awesome, but the hot shottting of the title onto him just to be squashed by Goldberg killed the gimmick IMO.

[@am2382]

@@Panama_Red Not just that, the gimmick felt stupid.

[@Panama_Red]

@@am2382 nah, Wyatt/The Fiend was a solid character with a great entrance, deep background, clear motivations and matches that were based in a storyline.

[@akumawest9021]

Honestly, the whole Fiend character just feels really hard to book. He can be a unstoppable monster on one match and then feel like a clown in the next one, but you can't a have an unkillable monster forever. Just like Kane once did, the Fiend felt like a huge deal in the beginning and then just died, except that Kane died slowly while going to the midcard while the Fiend kept being in the main event even after those awful Rollins and Goldberg matches, it just felt like they didn't know what to do with him. Not only that but some of those cinematic matches at the end felt forced just because the Undertaker vs AJ was so well received. That being said the RKO on fire is fucking sick.

[@mistermann3225]

I hate when people say they didn't know what to do with him. They knew exactly what to do with him. Vince ruined him on purpose because Bray wouldn't lose weight and because he was difficult to work with, ie: just not accepting any old bullshit creative gave him.

[@SmoothSportsGaming]

He's hard to book for the creatively bankrupt. He should be easier to book considering how many layers he has as a character. His lore is so deep you can literally make a horror movie out of him. If Undertaker who's less complex can be booked then so can Bray. All they have to do is let him win

[@D00MTR33]

I think he deserves a C for his promos/character work alone. WWE had a chance to make a new main event superstar but after the Goldberg squash match it went downhill. Its like WWE doesn't know how to book strong characters unless you're Lesnar or Roman. Everyone else gets a good start and then just goes down the drain.

[@EDH10]

I hope someone on your Patreon requests to do Ezekiel. It looks as if that character is done, and that they’ll be bringing back Elias (according to the internal roster at least). Overall, Ezekiel has had 23 matches in WWE (12 on Raw, one PPV, one on Main Event, nine house shows). Which means he definitely qualifies to do the J O B to the H A W K.

[@joshblack4291]

Another cool idea that was killed off by bad booking. Then Trips decided to can it since he wanted Elias back.

[@causesharkboysaidso6867]

It was basically Su Yung’s gimmick copied & pasted down to the mandible claw (don’t bring that “Mick Foley” crap, I know he started it, but Fiend did it because of Su Yung). Even the stuff The Fiend did with Alexa Bliss was literally copied & pasted of what Su Yung did with Allie/Dark Allie a few years before that. Impact storyline recreated in wwe & called “unique” just because the casual wwe fans don’t watch Impact. Was also a little reminiscent of the winter & Angelina love storyline years back but I digress.

[@packedentertainment2866]

Agreed

[@SmoothSportsGaming]

Some similarities yes, but it's not copy and paste. Fiend's lore is based on Bray's career in the WWE and his influences like Mercy the Buzzard, Mr Rogers, Mankind, The Undertaker, Kane etc ...plus did you forget that Bray had already planned on his alter ego years before in that Halloween story. Him having multiple personalities was a natural progression. Seeing as Vince was always burying him. Why wouldn't Mankind be the inspiration? They're both from the same company and Foley's gimmick was made way before Su. So does that make her a copy of mankind? Also, he literally applied the Mandible Claw on Foley and then it became his main move 🤷 If you ask me all 3 characters are unique enough, to not be insulted and called "copy & paste" . Now someone like Joe Gacy is clearly made to copy Bray.

[@codyrhodesisdashingwithbro8058]

Unrelated but it’d be cool if you made a video reviewing Rosemary’s whole career in impact so far. Same as Su Yung. Also a video on Bray’s Wyatt family stuff before the Fiend would be cool.

[@andrewjones7329]

was the fiend good? short answer: no long answer: absolutely not

[@JoeChillton]

Wrong on both counts.

[@andrewjones7329]

@@JoeChillton elaborate

[@JoeChillton]

@@andrewjones7329 this video is certainly fair but to say he wasn't GOOD just from presentation and work alone is bull

[@andrewjones7329]

@@JoeChillton Presentation was fine, but Wyatt himself went from lean to bloated in 2 matches as the fiend. Hard to be a scary movie monster when you're breathing heavily and slugging around the ring, especially at the reduced work schedule he had at the time

[@EdgarGarcia-jo1se]

The Fiend is the definition of having the highest highs, and the lowest lows. The debut, the firefly funhouse match and the firefly inferno match, alongside everything involving Alexa Bliss was incredible. But the bad stuff wasn´t just bad, it was horrendous. It´s sad we never got to see a resolution to that betrayal at WrestleMania (at least for now I guess).

[@StoneColdClassics]

The firefly inferno match and Alexa bliss was incredible? I wish I saw what you were watching

[@uncledrosselmeyer6480]

Wait....you’re talking the match with orton..? Are you joking? The only good things the Fiend was involved in were the initial vignettes & then the John cena match. That was it

[@jansmitowiczauthor78]

@@StoneColdClassics Yeah I felt like killing myself after I stopped laughing after Orton set that deflated balloon doll on fire. That shit killed TWO characters and ruined Orton for like a year. Hopefully this person is 15 or something

[@carloscolon3331]

What are talking about the Alexa bliss stuff was the horrendous stuff.

[@KDB349]

@@StoneColdClassics Yes Alexa Bliss was great with Bray Wyatt aka The Fiend. What were you watching?

[@youtubebannedme4207]

it's really not fair to judge those cinematic matches it was during covid where there was no crowd and they were just trying to figure out what to do.

[@jimbo_1312]

Wyndham Rotunda is an incredibly creative dude. Both the fiend & the cult leader were great creative ideas that vince just couldn't understand, and sure as shit couldn't book. I'll be interested to see how he does if he goes back to wwe under hhh

[@staalhard666]

yea, so creative ripping off Rob Zombie, Candle Cove, American Horror Story and Death In The Family.

[@clusterflick6333]

@@staalhard666 Most, if not all, great gimmicks in wrestling history have been creative rip-offs of other stuff in pop culture. At least Wyndham was creative in his *choice* of rip-offs.

[@staalhard666]

@@clusterflick6333 stop defending the hack. All stolen concepts, no ideas, no development.

[@florianterreegen]

@@staalhard666 you say this, yet i can bet you 100 dollars you couldn't come up with something as good as bray could

[@staalhard666]

@@florianterreegen no, I couldn't. I can actually come up with something original instead of ripping off "flavor of the month" horror movies. Dikke Bray heeft tijdens vakantie beetje teveel The Black Phone gekeken. Dus kom maar op met die 100 ballen.

[@addi543]

I think what made The Fiend was that it was “different” from anything else on WWE TV at the time. But WWE didn’t know how to handle a character like The Fiend. There’s a lot of factors imo, the Rollins HiaC match, having his matches in a Virtual Boy filter, the Goldberg match (which flushed months of storytelling down the drain) and arguably Roman’s return. There were rumors flying in early September that the plan was to do Fiend/Roman feud that would carry SmackDown to WrestleMania XXXVII, but just when it seemed like they were planting the seeds for it, The Fiend was drafted to Raw for no apparent reason. Now I’m not saying who, but I have a feeling that someone close to Roman, who oversaw the Creative of Rollins/Fiend a year earlier might’ve gotten into Roman/Vince’s ear to “change direction” (and yes, I do believe that the stuff Bray did with Orton was originally meant for Roman) because The Fiend did kill off Seth and The Miz as babyfaces (both were quickly turned heel shortly after their feuds with The Fiend).

[@jesusleyva4386]

Vince really soured on Bray because Bray would not lose weight and get into shape

[@addi543]

@@jesusleyva4386 it still makes me think Heyman had a role in Bray/The Fiend’s downfall. They were already planting seeds before Bray was drafted to Raw (the infamous Alexa stare at Roman/Heyman, Bray introducing a Heyman puppet on the Firefly Funhouse shortly after Payback), plus the rumors were that HiaC’s main event was set to be Roman/Fiend.

[@TheTruth-mv7hm]

@@addi543 there was no way I would've let bray pin roman. That would've been terrible

[@DariusFrench6273]

One of the most infuriating wrestling runs I’ve ever seen in my life. This was the one that got me to stop WWE and up until recently, I struggled to go back and watch it again.

[@PuppyMonkeyBabyy]

I remember every wrestling fan begged WWE not to ruin the Fiend

[@jared.mohammed]

@@PuppyMonkeyBabyy Jim Cornette did not like The Fiend character. It was also incredibly childish to begin with.

[@Bancho_nacho1111]

Same

[@drevonblake6000]

@@jared.mohammed childish? While talking about grown adults pretend fight.

[@crimsondragon9099]

The Fiend sucked

[@only_son5040]

I loved the Fiend. I think the reason they had alot of cinematic matches because it was lockdown and covid times. When he had a crowd he was amazing. I seen him in a dark match after Smackdown and everyone loved it. Sad he's not wrestling right now.

[@ryankeefe2102]

Bray reminds me very much of raven his ideas and concepts were I think too smart sometimes for wrestling bookers

[@TeamTowers1]

I'll say it now I actually think demented kid's show host Bray Wyatt was way more interesting than the Fiend. The Fiend was just boo I'm scary, while kid's show host Bray had his horror be more of a creepy underlying aspect. Once he revealed his big scary alter ego, that was it, the overt horror was never anywhere near as creepy or interesting, as the more subtle horror, of kid's show host Bray. But of course kid's show host Bray couldn't have worked as an actual wrestler and they would have to pay off the under the surface horror sooner or later. So the character was always doomed to fail, despite how interesting he was.

[@rmcdudmk212]

I'd agree with that

[@bennett420316]

Wowie Zowie is the stuff of nightmares 😳

[@dylansetright3359]

Networks screwed with that, Bray originally had kids on the show and everything was basically a cult leader but for kids which is such a fucked up gimmick if you think about it. Network didn't want that so they had to drop that part of it

[@emmanueleferrarotto2986]

Great Gimmick - Bad booking Great Match-Ideas - Bad Matches And why that stupid red light that makes everything hard to actually see yet even worse to watch? Great Commentary by the Hawk - Great Video making a bad run watchable ^^

[@TakerKaneanite619]

Fun fact, the original video of his entrance from Summerslam 2019 on WWE's KZbin channel got taken down because of the head lantern.

[@lowkeymike]

rip bray wyatt

[@KingGhidorah5464]

This video helps illustrate how much the Fiend's mannerisms changed as the run went. He went from being horror movie slasher to acting way too much like the Funhouse Wyatt despite being the Fiend.

[@JoeChillton]

It's two separate people, Bray is the twisted Mr. Rodgers type that doesn't wanna hurt while Fiend is the Michael Myers/Jason of his psyche.

[@JunkyardGod]

I hope Triple H can get him back. I love how Bray referenced The Fiend in those old ghost stories videos

[@slammydunk9787]

Stop using Triple H as a vessel for your every hope and dream in wrestling. Especially considering that he is not that into gimmicks, he is mostly into wrestling matches and Fiend is awful when it comes to actual wrestling.

[@JunkyardGod]

@@slammydunk9787 and who pissed in your Cheerios?

[@only_son5040]

@@slammydunk9787 the fiend might have been because that's the way the character was suppose to be but saying Bray is a bad wrestler is stupid

[@slammydunk9787]

@@only_son5040 I’m not saying that he is a bad wrestler, while he is not great in the ring he is decent and good producers/wrestlers can make good match with him. BUT Fiend isn’t good in the ring and its a gimmick issue rather everything else. Edit: Ah I see why you wrote your comment. Thing is OP originally was talking about “How good it would be for Triple H to bring back Fiend character” not Bray Wyatt wrestler and he changed his post. I have nothing against Bray Wyatt a wrestler (not a fan but I’m not hate him), I just think that Fiend was a bad gimmick when it comes to in ring work.

[@only_son5040]

@@slammydunk9787 that's acceptable. Not everything is for everyone.

[@imabirdo]

I genuinely got eyestrains from seeing the fiend wrestle with the red light I can't imagine how editing that must have felt.

[@ZB3003]

The firefly funhouse match is great if you followed the characters but I understand why you were confused

[@Markyd123]

Yeh I thought it would be something like that

[@ZB3003]

@@Markyd123 it was basically a deconstruction of Cenas whole carrer, which makes it more frustrating he just came back after Bray was released as if nothing happened to fight Reigns at Summerslam 2021.

[@wweminehead5458]

Ohh yes been waiting for this 1

[@RomaroBrandon]

His first match should have been against Demon Finn Balor, and his final match should have been in the Fun House against Randy Orton with Bray Wyatt winning both. And if we're really being honest, not only should Bray Wyatt as The Fiend never lose, but he should have also never competed outside of of the Big 4 and Saudi Arabia shows, with a MITB appearance as an exception.

[@TravisBroski]

I would kill for an Orton Funhouse match. They genuinely should have kept doing Funhouse matches, I don’t care if they’re cinematic, the one with Cena was written in gold.

[@MrGoldenmyer]

The consistency to keep calling Alexa a Petrified Rat is hilarious to me.

[@Markyd123]

Yea that one goes back a while now hahah

[@ASwagPecan]

Started off new and refreshing then ended up with go away heat with me by the end of his run.

[@jamieholmes4751]

Would it be weird to say that I think putting a title on The Fiend hurt the character ? 🤷‍♂️

[@jamescara7286]

Not really I don't see a reason as to why The Fiend would want the universal championship.

[@DasNordlicht91]

It’s pretty much a universally agreed-upon opinion. It never made sense for this horror movie monster like the Fiend to even want tangible things like a championship belt. He should’ve been Bray’s vengeance made manifest against those that wronged him.

[@DXVTHRIDXRSFC1765]

@@DasNordlicht91 if so then wouldn’t bray want a championship he did get played for the wwe championship like years ago

[@JadePharaoh]

I do agree on the great character work. Bray is an example of an amazing talent that was marred by poor booking decisions. Same could be said for his initial run on the main roster; similar to Umaga and Rusev, started off with a monster push only to be eventually fed to Super Cena, then slid down the card. Here's hoping Triple H is able to bring him back and give him a better run.

[@JoeChillton]

Just from a character view which is missing, messing with Bryan, Orton, Balor and Cena was great. He was the monster they made outta humbling him several times, but the Hell in a Cell farce, the stuff with Braun (which i think can be put on Braun too and the booking) and all the Orton stuff just fizzled out. I'm ok with his moves, it's the mind of Bray that makes everything work with his character. Reminds me of Mick Foley doing his Three Faces.

[@kevincarreiro5560]

It’s so sad watching this now. R.I.P Bray

[@slayerBO2EPC]

Short answer, yes, as much as Vinnie Mac tried to butcher it, Bray with his character pulled through, could've been soo much better though. Hopefully HHH brings him back and does him justice. One of the best characters WWE ever had

[@yohini5470]

I think I agree with most of what you said. As someone who did get alot of the references in the Firefly Funhouse match I think that as a breakdown of Cena is the best of the cinematic matches. But watching this I forgot how little wrestling was done during his run, like goddamn

[@dmitrosk]

You missed a lot of references in match with Cena. A lot of people liked this match because it breaks the line between wrestling and backstage issues. (There were also references to Cena's ex, which was pretty funny.)

[@Bale4Bond]

He missed all the smark bullshit then…shucks

[@apollojustice5338]

Imo they never should've listened to the people saying Bray should be the Universal Champion. The Fiend gimmick did not need a world championship. The moment he won it at Crown Jewel, the gimmick got crippled

[@drpeabs2951]

The fact that fox asked to get him on smackdown thats a huge up for him.

[@Dbanks700]

So glad you made this video I really loved the fiend

[@dexenationgracey1979]

Bray should be doing movies, he's always been better at character work than the actual wrestling.

[@trafficosrs]

The Fiend was so much more than his Matches is was one of the few things you waited for every week to see a new segment then after i seen the segment raw would get turned off till next weeks segment lol

[@mattjohnholmes]

Oh hell yeah hit me with a brick

[@robertlogan5354]

my impression of the fiend's run was that somebody *coughvincecough* backstage was like 'oh, how dare one of my superstars have his own creative ideas!'

[@JacksonLane02]

The Feind was great until they put the championship on The Feind. The Feind is one of those people doesn't need a championship to be great. Funhouse Bray Wyatt could hold championships but not the Feind. Plus how do you get Disqualified inside Hell In A Cell apparently getting thrown off Hell In A Cell is okay but using a sledgehammer to hit someone under a ladder and toolbox is too far

[@ryankeefe2102]

I can understand their thinking and I almost can't be mad at it the fiend was hot so let's put the belt on him

[@1roundleft821]

I've haven't watched pro wrestling religiously since like 06-07. Seth Rollins whole moveset seems to be nothing but finishers. Lol wtf. Totally takes away any of the impact off of a pedigree, Blockbuster, Enziguri when these moves only get 1 or 2 counts.

[@petesmart1983]

But that how wrestling is sadly now. everything is big moves and very little selling leading to an over the rope move . aew is even worse than WWE for it

[@mrrandom3484]

From what I understand, wrestling continues to loose realism and focus more on entertain per decade which Kinda make sense. The biggest promotion in the word focus more on sports entertainment that actual wrestling. The biggest star of the WWF in the 80s was literally a muscular man who rarely has actual good matches that in mid-matches, gets a sudden drug invincibility boost and wins. Lets say you show people two matches, old school technical classic like Savage vs Steamboat and a flippy bomb fest like Lucha Bros and Young Bucks at All Out 21. Most old/hardcore wrestling fans would prefer Steamboat vs Savage but most non/casual wrestling fans would pick Bucks vs Lucha because its entertaining. And we need those non/casual wrestling fans.

[@1roundleft821]

@@mrrandom3484 wrestlings basically dying out other than promo work. It used to be a must see event when somebody kicked out of 4-5 finishers.

[@gn0015]

If Bray can find a good balance between wrestling and gimmick then he could be a solid main event worker.

[@Bale4Bond]

Not gonna happen

[@DanVillainFilms]

That Fiend Vs. Seth Rollins HIAC match looks like it was presented by and on a Virtual Boy.

[@BulletClub444Life]

Imo a wrestler that gets far too much credit. Below average worker who can only do well with better opponents. And on the mic insanely overrated. Just endless pseudo spooky nonsense that gets more annoying each time you hear it. The booking really didn't help him, but he's not good either.

[@glennb6020]

His two best matches were Owens and Bryan… everything else was just plodding

[@carlaspinall7418]

The fiend just uses other wrestlers moves

[@willkayl8793]

I liked The Fiend as a character. He looked cool and had a great presentation but, the matches were all so short. Good visuals, bad, short matches.

[@bluezayyad1296]

Booking did him wrong losing to goldberg

[@ipacklunches]

The Fiend was overly gimmicky. He just wanted to be The Undertaker.

[@maitreyas.4902]

It was all trash after the first couple of weeks.

[@der_jannik_0115]

“It’s straight out of WCW 2000!”. Goddamn, talk about tough but fair😂😂

[@disfiguringthegoddess1102]

Match 6 i remember a kid front row YELLING FRICK YOU DUDE over and over it and i think they've edited it out. Lol.

[@VinnieGer]

In love with the character work, he was one of my favorites when I began to start watching wrestling again in 2019. I just really wish he actually wrestled more.

[@coltonwilkie241]

He's a good character, but then he has to wrestle and you remember that Bray Wyatt sucks at wrestling.

[@Bmd-gc]

The neck snap should’ve been protected like randy Orton’s punt. Especially when doing a neck snap properly can kill or paralyze the person receiving it

[@40088922]

the thing is the segments really were important to build up the character, as well as his time in the Wyatt Family (and his cinematic match against Matt Hardy was what brought out the Fiend side of Bray to begin with), since The Fiend was more of a character than a wrestler... which would still make a grade kinda hard to give since we tune in the watch *wrestling* and not a horror movie, however, Bray was always made it work somehow, but regardless, for a company that people rag on for not having long-term storytelling, The Fiend was definitely a cool outlier

[@Markyd123]

Yea you’re not wrong but that isn’t how I did everybody else on here. Can’t do all his backstory and segments when nobody else had tht treatment.

[@40088922]

@@Markyd123 I know, it's a bit of a Catch 22, goes to my point about him being more of a character than a wrestler, it makes him trickier to categorize, I actually don't think the ROH's rules could've done him more justice as the situation stands. it's like trying to compare strawberry cake with a cereal

[@oharold]

The Fiend was one of the greatest characters. There’s so much about this review that is missing the actual feel of the time. One Covid… there were no fans, everything was empty so Bray Wyatt was legit the only thing that was really interesting at this moment. 2.. yes without context to the stories you’re missing so much little things that made some of these matches better. I’ll give you Goldberg, Seth Rollins HIAC, Randy Orton Wrestlemania & even the Braun Strowman feud because I thought they should have had 1 maybe 2 matches max. But you really had to be tuned in. Example is the firefly fun house match where after the match there were so many gems in the match. Now I never thought Bray Wyatt was the best wrestler but like Undertaker, Kane, Abyss & others he didn’t need to be but was able to have good matches with the right people.

[@dosenplok140]

Loved The Fiend. Greetz from germany.

[@gerrymcwilliam]

I still feel like The Fiend vs Demon could be a great Wrestlemania attraction but whether match would be good is another thing.

[@jciii3334]

Finally!! Here is a topic I can sink my talons into..... HAWK!!!!

[@Vertical-sandwiches]

Was never a fan of bray Wyatt myself and the fiend I found super cringey but being in my mid 30's I wasn't the intended audience for that. I have no desire to see him back in the WWE but can understand why some people would.

[@VersaceVyper]

It really really sucked, if he debuted like that then fine but what's scary when we already knew what he looked like before that, it ain't like Kane debuting and nobody knew what he looked like because internet wasn't a thing, the mystique factor. I can get with guys that don't sell much like taker, kane who are 7 foot monsters but not a fat dude in a mask playing with puppets every week and no selling 11 finisher's and sledgehammers, everybody got way less over after feuding with him. He still sucks now.

[@lacuevademisgustos9172]

Discounting the Goldberg squadh, i feel the friend Main problem was the rush. Hes a character that doesnt need a championship, and his second match was basically a no win scenario, either he winsnans we have to deal whit Supernatural monster that somehow needs to get defeated, or we deal whit the Hottest Star loosing all momentum. The HIAC DQ it's crap, but at least it mantained the fiend horror movie slasher presente, he wasnt defeated, And he still had the last laugh.

[@JSTmore]

It was an incredible character, everything bad about it had Vince written all over it

[@conradojavier7547]

The Fiend is One of those Characters who don't need a Title to get over.

[@slashandbones13]

I wouldn't have counted the Firefly Funhouse Match or the Swamp Fight, although the Firefly Funhouse Match was pretty fascinating for what it was.

[@ASoberBear]

If wrestling skills was the sole reason for getting over Lance Storm would be a legend.

[@garymurden6146]

The fiend, to some he was fantastic, for some like myself, he was an annoying, overpushed idea. Loved Bray, disliked the fiend.

[@anonluxor470]

The fiend is what black reign should have been

[@barrymk400]

My favorite character ever in wrestling. Fiend was so cool!

[@OliveMule]

Go watch some Disney

[@shararm]

The hell in a cell match with Seth Rollins was a major fuck up in a run I had really enjoyed

[@_alexdez8053]

I don't think Wyatt's wrestling ability is the problem, he wasn't bad as the cult leader. I think the on/off booking was awful, and he didn't have a good set of opponents. He's a monster, he works best with underdogs ! We should have gotten more underdogs against him like Bryan, which was his best feud by miles away. Some good underdog character against him that can put rhythm in the match, and the character would have worked. But with braun ? No way that was ever working.

[@gablefanproductions01]

I think having Fiend losing the Universal Championship to Daniel Bryan at Royal Rumble would have been way better than Goldberg at Super Showdown

[@TheRealRollerCodster]

They Really drop the f'n ball with the fiend

[@randallcobb6406]

I was so excited when the fiend debuted and overall it was pretty solid but had sooooo much potential for more

[@TheTruth-mv7hm]

His wrestling was terrible

[@splashofcitrus66]

I died a little inside once you said Hell in a Cell was the second match. I don’t remember them messing it up that fast 😂

[@RedSoxFanatic4Life]

The red light matches between Wyatt and Rollins were so bad that they managed to bury both of them.

[@causesharkboysaidso6867]

Ngl though the fiend would’ve been good in Decay if he was to joking Impact. Finally we’d get that Abyss replacement because Black Taurus rn is not it, he made Decay a joke.

[@petesmart1983]

Decay is a joke to be honest, apart from rosemary the rest are trash. Now they finally starting to put her back together with taya , the rest probably get released

[@matthewpulama106]

The Fiend was the epitome of "Good character & Decent Worker...Who got wasted by the incompetent bookers".

[@glennb6020]

I hated this run so much. The matches were horrific, no one looked good after feuding with him. Wyatt being overly protective of his character ruined everything. Hitting 9 finishers and not going down, just was awful. Not excited to see him back

[@Jolto_Syxx]

It was refreshing

[@muhammadnaqi1220]

No one looked good afte feuding with him, I'm pretty sure he himself never looked good after a feud either. In my memory, there isn't even 1 singles feud that he won. So, in the end, he wasn't good, not for himself and neither for his opponents

[@paulghignon4092]

If rumors swirling around are anything, he constantly had everything he wanted to do undermined. Apparently Vince didn't get the character at all, and honestly seems like whoever booked him didn't know what to do with him either. I honestly don't know if all of this was a result of Windham being too protective over the character or if creative had no idea what to do with the character, but if history tells us anything I'm leaning towards the latter.

[@Grizzexploder]

My stance on him tbh, and I doubt HHH being in charge & allowing for longer/more flexible matches could've made the Fiend work any better

[@glennb6020]

@@Jolto_Syxx what was refreshing his matches were just bad, shouldn’t have been champ, I don’t care how good the character was. He was awful when the bell rang

[@marcohavokkhaos]

Rumble 2020 match, should have been a dog collar collar/chain match. I can't believe they didn't do the touching the corner rule. I seen that PPV, but I never remember this match. I only think of Bryan vs Wyatt first Rumble match, it was epic.

[@bigrudd9346]

I despise the fun house mess. I feel The Fiend character should've won more matches as he's o.p on taking damage, but lost a lot.

[@DanRoom27]

I'm not gonna be popular for saying this during October, but anything 'spooky' can frankly get a punch to the gut and a brick to the head. I've had enough, I hate it.

[@HereIsRick]

The biggest problem with Bray Wyatt and all of his characters is that no matter how good his character work is he is still Bray Wyatt in the ring. He just isn't a good wrestler.

[@paulcarpenter7844]

The only one problem is that there was never a kane versus the fiend just a small tease with a fiend attack Kane

[@HauntedHemo13]

I definitely forgot about the flaming RKO lol so badass

[@scottfitzgerald5309]

Think he deserved a B for his character work and talk segments...it's not all about the wrestling. And of course COVID made it a bit more challenging

[@turdferguson7105]

Sad that he was difficult to work with. Creativity extremely good but not with management.

[@theman6705]

Management was terrible tf man lol

[@stevearnold8265]

They should turn on the red lights when he’s about to do a finisher or the match is gonna end. It will create suspense when the red lights come on.

[@freddiejohnson6137]

The Firefly Funhouse segments early on were truly epic and everyone in the arena watching them live was silent the whole time. If anything it was actually too good for everything else going on and it was always going to fail to live up to expectations. He was rushed to the top and then squashed once he got there.

[@gandalf_thegrey]

I always loved Bray, because imho the greatest thing in wrestling are the promos. And even when he didn't make sense all the time, he was just captivating. I was weirded out by the Fiend at first, but immediately gave it a chance because Bray is such a gem. With the Firefly funhouse segments I was fully on board an loved every single bit. The Firefly funhouse against Cena is one of the greatest matches/segments of all time and I won't allow disagreement on that lol I was so sad when he was released and I don't know how firing your No. 1 merch seller (which is a freaking heel) is in any way a good business move... Hope he comes back to wrestling (no matter where) and is allowed to create his magic. Captivating talker, dangerous presence. Just full love from me.