Bray Wyatt is one of the most interesting and talented superstars in WWE history, with his incredibly creative gimmicks, promo skills and unique look.
The former WWE Superstar is rumoured to be returning to the company, potentially even as early as tonight's episode of SmackDown.
With this in mind, there is probably a few things about the 3-time World Champion that fans might not be aware of, so GiveMeSport takes you through 10 things you didn't know about Bray Wyatt...
Bray is part of a famous wrestling family
The real-life Windham Rotunda is a third-generation wrestler, being the grandson of Blackjack Mulligan and son of Mike Rotunda, better known as IRS.
He is also brothers with Bo Dallas, but their family history has yet to be mentioned on WWE television.
Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas are the sons of IRS
Wyatt received a College Scholarship
Having played American football in High School, Wyatt played at the College of the Sequoias for two seasons before earning a scholarship to Troy University. Here, he played collegiate football for a further two years as an offensive guard.
He studied broadcast journalism
With his impeccable use of the English language and promo skills, it is hardly surprising Wyatt studied journalism in college. He just missed a bachelor’s degree having decided to pursue a full-time career as a professional wrestler.
He debuted in WWE as Husky Harris
Before becoming “The Eater of Worlds,” Rotunda was Husky Harris in NXT, and had Cody Rhodes as his senior pro and mentor (a future storyline?). The gimmick had no impact on the main roster despite being part of the invading Nexus, and he was punted off television by future career rival Randy Orton.
Cody Rhodes was the mentor of Husky Harris in NXT
He has a Goldberg-inspired tattoo
In 2020, Wyatt, then in “The Fiend” persona, and Goldberg had a short feud over the Universal Championship. In the build-up to their match at Super ShowDown, Wyatt took to Twitter to reveal one of his first tattoos, a tribal symbol, had been inspired by Goldberg, much to his regret now.
Braun Strowman is the godfather to one of his children
Proving that The Wyatt Family was and is very much the real thing, Bray named Braun Strowman the godfather to his son, Knash, who was born in 2019. Wyatt is also close friends with Erick Rowan and was with Luke Harper/Brodie Lee prior to his tragic passing in 2020.
He created both the Bray Wyatt and “The Fiend” characters
Triple H has said Wyatt is one of the craziest, creative people he has ever been around and in a good way. This is evident in his character creations, the Max Cady Cape Fear-inspired Bray Wyatt and the next-world Fiend, which was unlike anything seen in WWE history. It is rare in modern wrestling for characters to be created solely by talent but Wyatt is an exception.
He has won Wrestling Observer Newsletter Best Gimmick twice
The incredible creativity of Wyatt was rewarded and recognised by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter naming the Wyatt Family (2013) and The Fiend (2019) as the best gimmicks of the calendar year.
Braun Strowman is the godfather to Bray's son, Knash
The same Newsletter has also handed him four Worst Feud “awards”
In a clear show of WWE’s terrible long-term booking of one of their most talented performers, Wyatt has had four Worst Feuds of the year with Randy Orton (2017), Seth Rollins (2019), Braun Strowman (2020) and Orton again, with Alexa Bliss involved, (2021).
He won best match and worst match of the same year
Wrestling end-of-year awards tell us a lot about the extreme highs and lows of Wyatt’s WWE career, largely as a result of mismanagement. In 2014, Wyatt’s feud with John Cena landed the pair Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s prestigious Match of the Year for a last man standing match at Payback. The PPV prior, Extreme Rules, saw the pair land the Observer’s worst worked match of the year. Quite a contrast.