Many felt Vince McMahon no longer liked Bray Wyatt, more on his release
Added 2021-11-02 18:29:23 +0000 UTCAfter multiple reports in regards to Bray Wyatt and his WWE departure have been disputed, Fightful asked for more on the situation, and what could have led to the top star's release.
The creative team had been told this past summer that Bray Wyatt had been cleared and that he'd be returning to the company prior to his release. He was seen at a few post-Mania episodes of WWE Raw, and we're told that he and Randy Orton among others involved with the WrestleMania match were not happy with the creative direction or outcome of that match, which changed two days before the show. At one point, Fightful was told there was "never a true creative endgame for that story" that went on six months. Initially after that match, Orton was supposed to take time off, but it was Wyatt who ended up getting time away, while Orton remained and began a team with Riddle. In addition, we've heard of WWE Superstars that actually approached Orton and Wyatt, saying they felt bad that the WrestleMania match was getting changed.
There were numerous people backstage who said that Wyatt was outspoken when he thought creative was bad, and by the end, some felt Vince McMahon just didn't like him due to that.
Creative was also told about some major frustration around the "burned Fiend" angle, specifically the size, weight and movement of the suit. Though Wyatt hasn't confirmed this himself, the creative team was told that he believed it was too heavy, was going to look bad and it would be difficult to move inside it, so it was scrapped.
Talent was told that Wyatt's release was a "budget cut," though we don't know if that was specifically cited to Wyatt himself. This created a gigantic amount of frustration with the roster, staff, and employees alike, with nearly 20 reaching out to Fightful directly after the release, saying there had to be more to it than that considering that he's a known money-maker.
A consensus was that almost nobody in the company truly believed this was a budget cut, citing Wyatt's popularity, and merchandise sales among reasons. Wyatt was well known within the company to move merchandise when he was an active performer, and several other long-time stars said that they don't feel like their jobs are safe any longer, despite their positions on the card or prior pushes.
Comments
Good job on lowering morale Vinny. 🙄
Michael Peterson
2021-11-03 13:31:49 +0000 UTCFor a company that (allegedly) prides itself on doing what’s “best for business”, they surely make stupid business decisions. The Saudi deal is apparently great business (arguably so), but the boss putting negative feelings aside to continue generating money from a proven draw like Wyatt is….not? Hmmmm.
kai
2021-11-03 01:50:50 +0000 UTCThey don't have a "true endgame" for ANY story. It's all up to the whims of a 76 year old megalomaniacal senile toddler suffering from dementia.
Jeff Brown
2021-11-02 21:04:51 +0000 UTCSo in a nutshell…Vinny Mac didn’t like the fact that Bray spoke up and called out the bullshit. So Vince sabotaged his character and fired him…wow
Busby
2021-11-02 20:59:57 +0000 UTCStanding up for yourself should never be punished by job termination.
Maggie
2021-11-02 19:30:30 +0000 UTCIf you’re going to do an angle where you burn a character alive, it sure seems like you should figure out an “endgame”. Booking for moments is all well and good, but also insults (MOST) viewers’ intelligence when it ends in typical WWE fashion.
Wallace Koalis
2021-11-02 19:28:10 +0000 UTCProbably more to do with how much stock they had on hand before each was released; if Bray was moving merch as well as is stated, it'd make sense to have more of it made to keep up with the demand.
Dirty Jose
2021-11-02 19:18:25 +0000 UTCWWE seems like such a shit place to work, and it’s mostly because of Vince. I hope up-and-coming wrestlers stop aspiring to go there with there being other options nowadays, most of which seem like much better working environments.
Steveisnotmyname
2021-11-02 19:16:51 +0000 UTCgreat work here
Rhyme Wilder
2021-11-02 19:06:24 +0000 UTCManagement getting rid of a locker room leader unafraid to speak up for others it seems.
Brian Bayless
2021-11-02 18:53:00 +0000 UTCIs there anything in the fact that WWE Shop still has two pages of Bray Wyatt merch whereas Adam Cole and Ric Flair (for example) have zero items for sale ?
Andrew Hendrickson
2021-11-02 18:49:32 +0000 UTCGood for Bray for standing up for bad creative, I bet he’s now deemed “hard to work”
JJ Gyllenhaal
2021-11-02 18:41:40 +0000 UTCIt's really sad that a wrestler's booking and presentation is tied to Vince McMahon's feelings. It's like there's no room to compromise. And sometimes it's not even the fault of the wrestler.
Sheila Antonio
2021-11-02 18:40:09 +0000 UTCSRS is doing great job 👏 he deserve alot credit for giving us this and everything
Kyle
2021-11-02 18:36:49 +0000 UTCWe shall wait and see if Bray shares his side of the ordeal. It's becoming clearer that the two sides didn't agree on creativity.
2021-11-02 18:35:06 +0000 UTCThis all checks out. It's just sorta hard to wrap your head around.
David Blumberg
2021-11-02 18:32:10 +0000 UTC
