How The Fiend Saved Bray Wyatt

SummerSlam 2019 was a home run for The Fiend.

Everything worked. Everything. The new mask, attire, and entrance completed the act's unsettling new aesthetic. Coming courtesy of acclaimed metalcore noiseniks Code Orange, the discordant, squealing theme was recorded in hell's pit. That lantern, too, was a stroke of genius, with Wyatt's old, eyes-sewn-shut head literally lighting the new Fiend's way from his gaping maw.

This fusion of past and future is part of why The Fiend works so well. This is a character informed by the mistakes of old. Its presentation thus far suggests WWE and Bray himself have looked at why his original character failed, then applied them here.

It continued in the match itself, with Bray blending the familiar (Sister Abigail, teasing the spider walk) with new (the horror movie neck-snap, headbutting a charging Bálor's throat). He has evolved. The roots of 'The Eater of Worlds' remain, but, at this early stage, it looks like WWE have retained some of the better elements of the old Wyatt while shedding the b*llocks. This will go a long way towards destroying all memory of those big pay-per-view losses, babbling promos, and the bloody House Of Horrors.

This is a special, special act, and one that needs to be protected. Fortunately, WWE seem to agree.

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