Report: Bray Wyatt Was Cleared To Return 2 Days Before WWE Release
More details on Bray Wyatt, why he was off WWE television for 3 months, and his release.
Bray Wyatt had been cleared to return to a WWE ring two days before being released by the company on 31 July.
This is according to Sports Illustrated's Justin Barrasso, who reports that Wyatt was out of action with an undisclosed physical ailment after competing at WrestleMania 37. He was deemed good to go again on Thursday 29 July and then let go by WWE on Saturday 31 July.
Barrasso adds that Wyatt and WWE agreed terms on a new contract worth millions of dollars in 2020, including a 90-day non-compete clause. This means that Bray will be unable to appear or sign for another wrestling promotion before 29 October.
2021 has been a year of mass roster cuts for WWE, with over 40 wrestlers let go, often in rounds of up to a dozen at a time. Of them, Wyatt was comfortably the most surprising. A known money-maker for Vince McMahon's enterprise, given his merchandise-selling prowess, his cut is believed to have harmed backstage morale.
Though not as disruptive as they could have been, this week's Raw crowd peppered the show with occasional chants of "we want Wyatt." WWE's network partners are also believed to be upset by the situation.