10 Ultimate Wrestling Guilty Pleasures
2. Bray Wyatt's WrestleMania 33 Ring Projections
When Bray Wyatt finally captured the WWE Championship at 2017's Elimination Chamber, fans hoped he would enjoy a lengthy title run worthy of his exceptional charisma and indisputable presence. It's a shame he had to cross paths with "The Viper" Randy Orton at that year's WrestleMania, in a bout that saw Wyatt stoop to ridiculous depths in his futile quest to retain the belt.
The match's opening moments are nothing out of the ordinary, that is until Wyatt bends over backwards and summons the first in a series of bizarre ring projections designed to terrorize Orton. From maggots to worms and insects, this was one idea that ran out of gas quick. In fact, the Orlando crowd turns from initial enthusiasm for the gimmick to outright hostility in only a matter of minutes. When Wyatt's last batch of mind games fails to distract "The Viper" and results in an abrupt RKO and anticlimactic finish, the whole match comes across as an abject failure and a moment unique in WrestleMania history that never bears repeating. Once was enough.
A few years removed from Wyatt's abortive inaugural run with the WWE Championship, it's easier to look on this awful experiment with a more forgiving eye. Sure, it'll never go down as a five-star classic, but that was hardly the intent. Enjoy it now for what it is: a spooktacular Halloween reject designed solely to entertain.