10 Precise Moments Wrestling Fans Rejected Internet Darlings

5. Bray Wyatt - WWE Extreme Rules 2014

Bray Wyatt Spooky Lil Kid
WWE.com

As someone who attended WrestleMania XXX in person, Bray Wyatt used to be over. Countless fans turned up in Hawaiian shirts and straw hats in support of him.

Over as in "over," not "any supernatural gimmick is automatically over to the subset of fans who are into that sort of thing". He was actually over, not "over to goths", which is one of the stranger fandom phenomenons. They'll likely bloody owt if there's a ghostly voice, cryptic symbol and images of dolls in a cut-heavy vignette. "Are we witnessing the birth of the next Undertaker?!" they say at the merest hint of a creepy music box tune.

Bray's debut hardly went well. He was pelted with chants of "Husky Harris!" on his main roster bow, and the SummerSlam '13 match with Kane positioned him as the next Firebreaker Chip more than the next Undertaker - but an incredible series with the Shield raised his stock. The quality of his programme with John Cena wasn't as important as the fact that he won it, but he didn't, and the quality was in fact so dismal that fingers were as burnt to a crisp as the Fiend was at TLC 2021.

The interference of a spooky child was such hack horror sh*t that many fans watched later, more promising developments - like the early stages of the first Randy Orton feud - with extreme caution.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!