The Fiend: All Live Appearances Ranked From Worst To Best
The Fiend: This is not your father’s supernatural wrestling gimmick.
“Worst” is of course a relative term. You can’t title an article “The Fiend: All Live Appearances Ranked From White Hot To Pant-Wettingly Exciting,” even if it would be more accurate.
It was never supposed to be this good.
Remember when Bray Wyatt first re-emerged in his Firefly Funhouse after months off WWE TV? We were baffled but delighted by his new direction, revelling in his creativity. As the weeks wore on though, there was doubt, apprehension, even anxiety. How would this new Bray work in a live setting? Many of us would have happily delayed his in-ring return indefinitely.
So far WWE creative (or Vince McMahon or Bray Wyatt himself or whoever it is calling the shots at this point) have yet to put a foot wrong. Which is great - but it does fuel the heated dialogue inside the head of every jaded WWE fan.
“This is amazing!”
“Well, yeah, sure it is but remember Shinsuke Nakamura? Remember Rusev Day? What about the original Wyatt Family? They were amazing too. Right up until they weren’t. How are WWE gonna ruin it this time?”
So in case, or before, they do undermine it all, it’s worth celebrating and cherishing these fleeting moments of sports entertainment brilliance...
8. The Fiend Distracts Finn Bálor, SmackDown Live 30th July 2019
Finn Bálor seemed to have things under control in a routine TV bout against Dolph Ziggler - before the lights dimmed, that eery horror movie music started, and suddenly The Fiend was with us once more.
Once bitten, twice shy Finn was understandably shaken in the ring but as quickly as he had appeared The Fiend was gone again.
Ever the opportunist, Ziggler took advantage of his visibly rocked opponent delivering a super kick as Finn turns back and winning the match.
This was far from a bad Fiend Appearance. It helped build to The Fiend and Bálor’s Match at SummerSlam and really at this point we were hungry for whatever piece of The Fiend we were given.
That said it was his least destructive and therefore, let’s face it, least exciting appearance to date.
Besides, should a monstrous, supernatural entity like The Fiend really be helping Dolph Ziggler score a cheap pin from a distraction finish?