After weeks of QR codes, Jefferson Airplane blaring at arenas, and hidden messages, the White Rabbit was finally revealed last night at WWE Extreme Rules.
Matt Riddle defeated Seth “Freakin” Rollins last night in the Fight Pit match at Extreme Rules. Following the match, the lights in the Wells Fargo Arena went out and the Firefly Funhouse puppets were shown in human form in the crowd.
A mysterious door then appeared and Bray Wyatt walked through it to an enormous pop from the crowd as Extreme Rules went off the air.
Here are 3 things Bray Wyatt instantly brings to the WWE:
Buzz
Bray Wyatt’s return has been a huge success for WWE in terms of numbers of social media. The return video on YouTube already has garnered close to 1.7 million views less than 24 hours later.
PWInsider provided the following metrics earlier today and they have already gone up drastically:
- YouTube: 1.86 million views (between two videos)
- Twitter: 1.2 million views, 5,252 retweets, 27,200 likes
- Instagram: 437,045 likes
- Facebook: Around 500,000 views
- TikTok: 73,000 views with 20,000 likes
The two videos of Bray’s return (the reveal at the end, Firefly Fun House comes to life) have no accumulated 2.7 million views between the two videos. The numbers provided by PWInsider earlier today were already some of the highest numbers from WWE in 2022. It will be interesting to see how far the views climb over the next few days.
Creativity
WWE’s ‘White Rabbit’ teaser campaign captivated the wrestling world as they tried to put together the pieces from each clue. The QR codes kept viewers locked in and had every wrestling site on the edge of their collective seats trying to post the clues before each other.
It was reported that WWE was mainly “hands off” in the creative process of the White Rabbit campaign because fans were having so much fun with it. The company used fan-assisted viral marketing with the White Rabbit campaign and it was seen as a major success backstage within the company.
Bray Wyatt’s character “The Fiend” wasn’t beloved by every wrestling fan, but there is no doubt that it was creative. The split-personality aspect of the character was compelling as well, as Bray would often portray a demonic Mr. Rogers of sorts in the Firefly Fun House segments. Bray even “wrestled” John Cena in a Firefly Fun House match at WrestleMania 36 in a match you either enjoyed or absolutely hated.
Unfinished Business
Bray Wyatt was released from WWE in July 2021. His final match was a loss against Randy Orton during Night 2 of WrestleMania 37. The Fiend had the match in control but was betrayed by Alexa Bliss at the conclusion of the match. It was never explained why Alexa turned her back on The Fiend and Orton simply moved on from the feud.
Randy spoke with The Ringer Wrestling Show earlier this year about feuding with The Fiend and admitted it was difficult.
You go out there and do your best job. Even though I am lighting a dead guy on fire and he’s the babyface. I had a very hard time trying to make that real, but I feel like I did a good enough job to where even though it was a little cringe-worthy for some people
Randy Orton on working with The Fiend (via The Ringer Wrestling Show)
Former WWE CEO Vince McMahon and Bray Wyatt reportedly had issues during their time working together. AEW star Matt Hardy revealed that Vince and Rotunda (Wyatt) had a strange relationship. Matt claimed that Vince would praise Bray when he did something he liked, but would get overly angry when Wyatt did something he was not a fan of.
Following Vince McMahon’s resignation in late July, Triple H took over the promotion’s creative as the Chief Content Officer. Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan were named the new co-CEOs of the company. Triple H has brought back several released WWE Superstars and Bray Wyatt is the latest at Extreme Rules.
Bray presumably now has more creative freedom than he’s ever had in his career. The Game spoke about Bray before his debut with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport and claimed that Bray can sometimes be a victim of his own mind.
He is one of the most, and I mean this in the best way possible, crazy creative people I’ve ever been around. His mind just never stops thinking of creative, but it’s like being in a whirlwind of stuff, without the harness and without somebody to point the tornado, it’s just all over the place. And he’s a victim of his own mind.
Triple H on working with Bray Wyatt (via BT Sport)
If Triple H can serve as the “harness” for Bray’s tornado of ideas, the WWE Universe could be in store for the best run of Wyatt’s career in years ahead.
More from SEScoops:
- WWE & AEW React To Bray Wyatt’s Return
- Bray Wyatt Breaks Silence Following Return At WWE Extreme Rules
- Closer Look At Bray Wyatt’s Creatures From WWE Extreme Rules
