The Disturbing Truth Behind The Fiend

by Michael Sidgwick
Bray Wyatt Vince McMahon
WWE

"They call him the ‘Great Old One'. You know, I was talking to Cthulhu earlier today, and they told me that they want to open a monstrously craven portal within the WWE Universe.”

“Cthulhu, a skyscraper-sized dragon-octopus hybrid, having trouble building momentum over Drew Gulak.”

The Fiend can’t sell. He has supernatural powers. Selling anything undermines his aura as a monster and achieves a weird, tragicomic effect. There might be a way to adapt the character into a fictional universe resembling pro wrestling, but in hindsight, perhaps the least creative wrestling company wasn’t the best place to do it.

The Fiend character was dreamt up by a deeply creative and motivated individual with agency and the time to perfect it. The vignettes that got it over were produced outside of WWE’s umbrella. The process took a considerable amount of time. The whole thing was ruined, aggregating SummerSlam and Hell In A Cell, in under 10 minutes within the cursed WWE ring. There is a systemic failure rotting WWE from within, and it’s literally got horns on its head.

In the end, ‘Abandon all hope ye who exits here’ was a meta in-joke too far.

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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 surefire Undisputed WWE Universal 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!