“Keep Vince [McMahon] away from him this time” – Fans erupt after former WWE Universal Champion teases return of old gimmick

Fans have often held Vince McMahon responsible for popular acts not reaching their potential in WWE. There were some murmurs of that when Bray Wyatt teased the return of The Fiend character on the latest episode of SmackDown.

Bray Wyatt made his way to the ring to address Uncle Howdy’s recent attack on him. He also warned ahead of his upcoming Mountain Dew Pitch Black match against LA Knight at the Royal Rumble Premium Live Event.

There was a sense of familiarity as the Eater of the Worlds placed himself on a rocking chair, akin to his old gimmick as the cult leader of the Wyatt Family. This was not the only tease of the night.

Prior to his promo segment, a QR code flashed on the screen. It redirected viewers to a website featuring a Bray Wyatt video where he was in the Firefly Funhouse. The former WWE World Champion said the phrase that became anonymous with the Fiend: ‘Let me in.’

Considering that the Fiend was a highly popular character, fans erupted with excitement on Twitter.

LA Knight commented on his upcoming match against Bray Wyatt at WWE Royal Rumble 2023

Bray Wyatt has yet to wrestle an official match since returning in September 2022. He picked LA Knight as his first victim, and the two will wrestle in the first-ever Pitch Black Match at Royal Rumble 2023.

On the After The Bell podcast, LA Knight discussed the upcoming match.

“The pitch black match, I think it’s something new in the making there. There was something to the point where I was like, I don’t know what the hell this is. I don’t know what the hell this is going to be, but every indication that I’ve been given is this going to be kick a** street fight. It’s going to basically be kind of in the dark. I don’t know what the lighting is going to be. I don’t know how that’s going to work. I don’t know what other kind of factors or elements are going to come into play. All I know is this is just going to be a fight at the Royal Rumble,” LA Knight said. [From 18:21 to 19:07]

Bray Wyatt’s last televised WWE match took place at WrestleMania 37, when he lost to Randy Orton in under six minutes. He was released from WWE a few weeks after that.