WWE Releases 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt!

WWE announces that Bray Wyatt has been released.

by Andrew Pollard
Bray Wyatt
WWE.com

In some major breaking news for a Saturday, WWE has released Bray Wyatt.

Taking to Twitter, Vince McMahon's sports entertainment behemoth announced it had come to terms on the release of the two-time World Champion - and of course wished him well in his future endeavours.

Wyatt has been absent from WWE programming since losing to Randy Orton at WrestleMania 37; a bout that the Fiend was reportedly scheduled to win before that plan was changed on the day of the match.

Prior to that appearance at this year's Showcase of the Immortals, Bray had taken several significant breaks from WWE television across the past year or so.

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The real-life Windham Rotunda had been with WWE since the turn of 2009, debuting in the Florida Championship Wrestling developmental territory before having a cup of coffee on the main roster as Husky Harris. Following that brief run - which saw him featured as part of the Nexus - Rotunda was repackaged as Bray Wyatt in FCW in 2012.

From there, FCW would become NXT, Bray would become the Eater of the Worlds and have the Wyatt Family under his charge, and Wyatt would soon turn into one of the most compelling acts in the business. By May 2013, vignettes started running on Raw to announce the arrival of the Wyatt Family, and the subsequent years saw Bray embark on a singles run that brought him a run with the WWE Championship, a run with the Universal Championship, a couple of Tag Team Title victories, and the stunning transformation into the Fiend.

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What's next for Windham Rotunda remains to be seen, but at just 34 years of age the hugely charismatic star still has so much to offer the professional wrestling business should he opt to remain in the game.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.