Backstage News On Bray Wyatt’s New Character

After WWE aired several horror-themed vignettes on Raw featuring a buzzard puppet and a spooky doll, the two-week long build to a new character was revealed on Monday night to be none other than Bray Wyatt.

In his first TV appearance since August, the former WWE Champion reemerged as the host of pseudo children television show called “Firefly Fun House.” He appeared slimmer, wore casual clothes, sported a trimmed beard and portrayed himself in a friendly manner. Wyatt said that he used to be a bad man in the past but it’s all behind him now.

The bizarre segment also featured the puppets shown in the prior vignettes (seen below) as Wyatt introduced Mercy the Buzzard and Abby the Witch. Abby is a reference to Sister Abigail, a supposed demonic presence who Wyatt has followed for years.

The otherwise lighthearted children’s production was laced with Wyatt’s signature dark vibes. He brought out a cardboard cutout of his old persona, saying it was a reminder of who he once was. He then took a chainsaw and cut it in half.

Here is the segment, which also aired last night on SmackDown LIVE.

Brad Shepard of the Oh, You Didn’t Know Wrestling Show podcast explained the idea and direction for the character.

“I spoke to a source in WWE who told me the idea behind Bray Wyatt’s new character was essentially Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood meets Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” Shepard said (h/t Ringside News).

“The idea is for him to be the creepiest and the scariest character that they’ve produced in recent history and for him to be unbeatable for the foreseeable future.”

According to freelance writer Tom Colohue, Wyatt played a big part in the creation of the character and WWE officials are happy with the reception. Furthermore, the segment reminded viewers of Wyatt’s former persona since WWE plans to bring it back again.

From @Colohue's sources in WWE:

Bray Wyatt plays big part in planning of his new gimmick. WWE is happy with the reception.

"We showed the old Wyatt because you'll see it again at some point. There's too much good there to ignore. It's just when the trigger gets pulled."

— Kristen Ashly (@KristenAshly) April 24, 2019

WWE used outside help for the vignettes. Director Jason Baker said on Twitter that he had a “blast” directing the vignettes with Wyatt and building the puppets for legendary prosthetics creator Tom Savini’s workshop.

Had a blast directing these vignettes w/ @WWEBrayWyatt and building the puppets for @THETomSavini studios. #FireFlyFunHouse https://t.co/4UflL2PQP9

— Jason Baker (@bakingjason) April 23, 2019

Savini is best-known for providing make-up, models and prosthetics for a number of horror films, including Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.