ITR Bray Wyatt Tribute Podcast

He's got the whole world in his hands. He's got the whole world in his hands. I guess I've created some kind of boss here, man. You ain't seen nothing yet. If you hold a new face, I'm a fear. Walk by my side, and I will lead you to paradise. We're here. We'll see you about a dance and feel the magic on the floor. We try to save the lost you, but they never can't let us go. You never had a last stop, you couldn't have shot. You gave us everything, and now you've never reached my heart. This is the Firefly Funhouse. You know what you are, you're all we have, but no. You want to see what I see. We'll see you about a dance and feel the magic on the floor. You never had a last stop, you could have been here. You were the champion of the game, you didn't stop, you didn't stop. We'll see you about a dance and feel the magic on the floor. We try to save the lost you, but no. We try to save the lost you, but no. I can truly say that I have the whole damn world in my hand I would like to welcome you all to the era of What is this is my favorite new toy This you better know it means to mine I am the color red in a world full of black and white I am the eater of worlds I pray why it am forever You are the evermore I can look all of you in the eyes and I can say it Thank you Hey everybody, Kenny Maxwell here. We're doing a special podcast here in Patreon about the life of Bri Wyatt when the rotunda who really sadly passed away yesterday, age 36 I'm joined by Sandra could not quit him so we just wanted to know I had just about gotten there too man like Well it's fine I was on the phone to thin today and I said you know the thing is Although recently the stuff has been dire on TV right like you know if you're if you don't us it has been right it was yeah but the thing with him is Whenever he comes back you're kind of glued again every time yep no matter how many times those are bad segment or about run or ever so and I don't really know any deals to that but He would always just draw you back in right like even even this most recent return I didn't let myself get as invested as I have before because The thing with Bri Wyatt I know that obviously it was critical of his recent work And I think that that you know like I don't undo that like I stand by some of his recent on screen stuff not being great but like He There was a long time where Bri Wyatt was my favorite wrestler right like you know this like I cried when the Undertaker beat him and now I'm especially like more angry about it because he never got to I don't know he never got to rise to the heights that I think he could have um But there was no one who was more invested in Bri Wyatt lower than me for a long time right like I mean I will point to that 2013 f's or no not 2013 2011 the FCW promo where you like hot and wood is standing behind him And he debuts the character and talks about burning his dad shrimp boat down and stuff that he Did like drop references to throughout the years like I mean I've seen that so many times and all of the Bri Wyatt head cannon came from like watching the character from its infancy and I don't the whole thing is just such a Obviously really big tragedy. I mean he had like young kids that he left behind and Everyone's talking about his wrestling legacy and I think his wrestling legacy is really complicated It makes me really wish that he had gotten a chance to do a movie or something to harness that creativity That was put into the Firefly Funhouse match with Jonsina Yeah, I mean it's a tough career because He had the run in XT where he was You know like the revolutionary talent in terms of what he did Is it started in FCW like people forget that this character predates NXT? Yeah, and then he was kind of one of them the new the movie version right where And then when he when he came because I can only really talk about his main roster stuff Because I don't really know as much about the NXT stuff as Ligura But when he came to the main roster in 2013 and he had the food game and even though that Inferno matter of whatever it was called at the summer slang 2013 Oh gosh um, yeah, it wasn't called inferno much was it ring of fire Ring of fire and let me just check here. What was the name of it? It was called it was fire though, wasn't it? It was fire it was yeah ring of fire match And even though that like that match was was dire right it was but that like To your point undertaker sometimes undertaker was never a bit a good match It was about this over the top character and that's how you know that is people There's a reason that people love undertaker because they connected to who wacky the character was and people kind of Love supernatural type stuff and other worldly type characters and he Kind of felt like that and bring why it could have could have been the next Coming of that and I think where they did him a disservice because I think a lot of the rambling of freeway. It's like later Promos and stuff are kind of on him because he didn't have an endgame, but I think The endgame that he had in his head never matched up with the booking because they were never willing to make him the top guy until after they'd already nerfed him You think part of it is that if he came and he obviously beat came and then there was the John Cena feud Which for somebody who posted this morning our last night. It was the the M&M legacy video Which I totally forgot about which was so good. Oh, I forgot about that too. Yeah But like I feel like he was because I looked up he would have been when he was uh When when he was doing the stuff with Cena he even 26 Is it maybe just that the system was set up that somebody who was that young was they were never gonna push some day At 26 or 27 to beat these like Bigger names, but that's kind of the fault of them for not having For set up that system that was kind of designed to fail Well, yeah, and I mean that was the peak time where they were really focusing on veterans coming back for WrestleMania And you know, it was the perfect storm of getting me to hate the undertaker, right? Because he would always come back and then face somebody and then leave and then like I mean CM Punk called it out Right, he was just like well, what does that do though like yeah? Maybe that helps continue to ensure that we have another fucking undertaker match next year But that's kind of it right for people like me that weren't invested in his legacy and I remember At the time of the John Cena feud like Cena was so unstoppable because that was like You know in the time of Lull Cena wins and Lull Cena won And I remember the WrestleMania match being agreed just but what was more agreed? Just was the cage match that they had was that on like was that on raw? Payback maybe it was afterwards, right? You didn't get the technically got the win but like everybody looked like dog shit Yeah, cuz they didn't they had two more matches. They're the one it was the one extreme rules and then payback I'm trying I'm trying to get the it was in a cage. So whichever one was in the cage I'm finding it now. So they had the WrestleMania that thing was It didn't really matter but any of the other matches because what matter was gonna be the WrestleMania match Because that was the one that people ultimately we'd remember because that's the biggest show So the Kate the cage match was extreme rules which was the month after Yeah, yeah, because so Cena wins at WrestleMania then the next month at Extreme Rules, Bray Wyatt wins in the cage match But do you remember how he won He didn't really just crawl it only the just walked out because Like because John Cena absolutely nerfed Brody Lee Luke Harper at the time obviously and Eric Rowan and like I remember the visual of Eric Rowan and like Luke Harper's on top of the cage trying to interfere and Cena just like does a way with all of them including these two monster men and then Like I'm trying to remember Did Bray like hit him with something or he hypnotized him or something didn't he and then you just like walked out the door Let me just share wasn't it like a spooky situation You could think it wasn't like when he beat Dan and Bruce by ghost, but let me read out the results here. So And still cage match John Cena Bray Wyatt during the match Harper attacked Cena on top of the cage resultant Harper fallen into the cage Cena did a super AA on Wyatt Harper broke up Ron attack Cena top of the cage And Cena performed a diving leg drop build organ Harper and attempts to escape through the door The arena lights went off when the arena lights turned on a demonic child appeared singing. He's got the whole world in his hands That's right. It was spooky kid Cena performed sister Abigail and Cena and escape through the door to win the match So he couldn't even pen him after the sister Abigail Just walked out the door. I remember being raging I remember it being one of my essays to you and Robert Yep Just being like I'm so angry He just beat them up and like he takes all this damage and then he just like pops up and like And I was like my first realization of why Supersena is a problem right was And then that's then and then if I no match just pay back where Cena beats in the last man stand in match Mm-hmm, and it's like I think the problem for for Bray was And I get why the undertaker thing was so adjusted. I don't necessarily think that's like an undertaker problem I think it's more a WWE problem where they I think it's a WWE presenting the undertaker problem Like I do not blame Mark Calloway for that decision. I blame WWE for that decision Yeah, because if they if they knew he wasn't going to be able to come To TV like undertaker was not going to be a TV between Uh WrestleMania He wasn't going to be in the dug up right and it was only going to be why it well then And it's undertaker news going to turn up And he So Kenna was going to get a win because otherwise Because he'd lost the year before and they were giving him a win back that they shouldn't have booked it against why it Yes, and then why it got injured that day so then it became like out the match wasn't the match wasn't even that good yeah um I mean it's the only time when I said it was like I think I'm so negative That we feel we're we feel we're going to alienate our page show and subscribe That's like Practically acclaimed wrestle made it everyone loved and you hated it so much Yeah, absolutely. I need to find if I still have that recording somewhere It's very funny and it's very funny. It's like it's me crying and being like I hate everything Everything's so bad and you're like staying and I'm like it's terrible Oh, yeah, there was there was nothing I mean You know, like you don't the end w. Oh, I don't care. I hate them all You know, you've always got your things on your back pocket where you can like get your podcast partner back in the game You know to make them happy But then I mean because you obviously he ended up winning the w title And that at elimination chamber and that night like I cried that night too Because it was so great like he pinned John Cena and AJ styles it felt like redemption For the undertaker and Cena thing before because he actually got to win it Like and also, I mean, I know that the ending the ending of it was not good But the partnership with Randy Orton was so great Like that was great the storytelling was great. There's a I mean I booed Randy Orton for years and the reason I said boo Randy Orton for years if people don't remember is because he burned down Bray Wyatt's house Like I was that invested in Bray Wyatt and his story And like that K-Fabe story made me hate K-Fabe Randy Orton For literal years to the point where I'm blocked on Twitter, you know To this day to this day I have to log into Queen Street Bosie account to see what Randy Orton tweets Um, but you sort of mean obviously then we'd the House of Horrors match which kind of then I feel like What happened was with with with Bray Wyatt It's like he always got something and then it was like they never went with him fully And then but at this point because I think one of the issues for me with why it was In like 2014, 15, 16, 17 he's still pretty good in the ring I mean, yeah, he could still go um like I mean his matches were never gonna be the best ever But you you're looking for big moments with Bray Wyatt right like you're not looking for but also Yeah, but I mean if you look at look at and I'm I'm always going to make that unnecessary comparison with him I'm always going to make it like I get it makes the most sense But like if you look at undertaker kick him in to WBF in November 1990 So he would have been at that point What age would it mark Halloween being And so he would have been 25 when he came in To WBF right And realistically his first good matches that he really started having We're with Mick Foley in 96 So six years into the run Yeah, and you know Bray Wyatt I mean has has run started in 2013 so in realistic terms 2019 Might have been the first time where he started doing matches that were like great But then obviously by that point made morphed a minute of the fiend which kind of Like handcuffed him. I mean, it was a great We've said this a million times. It would be so good as a movie. It's got so many good ideas, but That they know where else it would have been good where impact Oh, yeah, because they would they would have been Because I think it never fit In the WWE system and obviously like I'm happy that he got to work for WWE He was going to make a lot more money in WWE than he would have been impact like his family legacy is there whatever whatever right But I think that if he Had had the chance if health wise it would have been possible like because he obviously had some some mental stuff that took him away For times as well If the stars had aligned to let him really explore that creativity in A system that wasn't as corporate and shiny and sanitized as WWE I think it could have been magic because impacts the company that you know let the broken universe shine Right and I don't know how much longevity it would have had But I feel like he'd never got a chance to tell the story that was in his head And that's why we're so critical of him and him being part of the I don't know the issue of it not really making sense or jiving right But it seems like he had a really great story in his head and I wish we would have gotten a chance to see it I think the closest we ever got was that firefly funhouse match Well, let's just go through a couple of that because obviously we're just talking about the wrestling stuff because that's all we can really talk about And you know we talked about the senior stuff the undertaker stuff and the art and stuff a lot of that but then One thing that's kind of forgotten and his time is the kind of partnership and rivalry with Matt Hardy What did you where did that set with you do you think it was good? Was it bad? I mean they also did You had the ultimate deletion match on raw. What did you think back about that? I think it was one of those things that I wish would have happened in impact where both of those characters could have lived to their full potential because I I understand why they wanted to put Matt Hardy with Ray Wyatt It was a natural match right like you have spooky character of deletion and you have spooky character of bray Wyatt and It makes sense you want to see the two spooky characters fight But it's kind of like when you put the undertaker against bray Wyatt like the two spooky characters fighting doesn't necessarily work in this environment and because woken Matt Hardy Never felt quite the same as broken Matt Hardy like it just felt like something was missing like there was a raw Edge to it or something that was there in impact that wasn't in wwe Probably just because of overproduction and just like the systems on me for it, right? um It was underwhelming and I didn't come away with it with like a great feeling toward it because it just felt like I don't know I just it felt fizzled like there was something missing for me in that feud Yeah, I think there was there was a lot of potential to it but then did you have the kind of thing of wwe were doing the woken thing but not the broken thing and then I mean I did like his big Apen that he had yeah And then obviously he became the scene in 2019 we were very lucky to be there Yeah, I found it. I saw the video on my phone Um from like that little snippet of the entrance when I was sitting with you and kj and trono and I'm glad that I have that and I found the pictures from 2017 before the ring turned into maggots Because that entrance I I'm trying to think that 2017 entrance was the first like big grandiose entrance of his that I got to see You know like I think I sent him live before but It's different at WrestleMania and it's different in an environment like summer slam So getting to see him come back and getting to see The fiend debut and all of us being like what the fuck is going on? He's carrying his own head as a lantern like maybe this time it will be great I know that's for a little while. I thought the Firefly Funhouse stuff was great I actually have my Firefly Funhouse box next to me right now Like I mean there's one of my one of my favorite like one of my most favorite live experiences was That that there's that whole thing that summer slam Entrance and match but then I mean that then I think ultimately this fiend is this Godboy sword because it gave us the Firefly Funhouse match at WrestleMania 36 which was like I mean you're phenomenal. Yeah, I mean because you know like there's that whole thing online the debate about Sememoth wrestling means cinema and stuff. Uh-huh, but like that was cinema. It was But it also there's I think there's so much bad in that like you know the The red light during the matches Seth Rollins the Seth Rollins stuff. I mean it could get the problem Again, they they see spooky and they either overdo it to the point where it just looks too hokey for words or It just doesn't fit with your other characters, right? Like why would Seth Rollins be cowering in fear from the sky And then like I thought the stuff with Brian was good and I mean we didn't even talk about Brian enjoying the Wyatt family in what 2013 Yeah, like 2013 only 2014 like I mean that really helped in the ascension of Daniel Bryan and ww2 like on his way to superstar them accidental superstar them though it may be But then you know the thing with the fiend there was the fiend dead kind of ruin everybody you work with Yeah was the was the issues and then I mean because he had to win but then Where do you go from there? And then it always seemed like every time he won and every time he lost it didn't really matter to him And I think that's where the character stuff started to fall apart was that he was never affected by loss Like he loses to the undertaker and he comes back and says I've got the whole world on my hands Well, no, you don't Because you lost and you should care about that, right? And that's kind of where the crack started to form and And I remember I wish we could have gotten the end of history I remember really vividly Like because you know there's loads of stuff you forget because there's so much wrestling all the time I remember When they announced to match with Goldberg and I remember being nervous about it Just thinking oh, I had I had the fear But I remember I was right but there was like a I'm sure it was like a sit down interview with Goldberg Where he was either via satellite or they were doing it backstage or whatever And why it interacted with him and he completely no soul the whole thing And I was like oh, he's fucking gonna win Like he's gonna and then of course because like you know Goldberg. He's not gonna lose to that guy And then it was the worst jackhammer of all time. Yep The whole thing was just It was a travesty. It was not good. And then I feel like everything passed Uh, the five-life one house was for the fiend was a mess It was the horror show extreme rules with the swamp match The Alexa Bliss joining Lily the doll And it it nerfed Alexa Bliss for a while too right because she was trying to do This whole lily thing and it was all supposed to be with Brae but then Brae wasn't there and then Brae got released and then Alexa Bliss had to still have a doll forever and It just it kind of felt like making a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy of a story And then you couldn't really make out anything that was going on anymore But they wanted to hang on to it because they were like people love this and we're selling a lot of merchandise And then we also can't forget the Firefly and Fair no match where we got crispy Brae why it Look, I love crispy Brae why it I actually really enjoyed the Firefly and Fair no much Is that the one where Alexa Bliss had the goo at the end? Yes Yeah, but then there was the the whole again Orton and Wyatt though their legacies are tied And then they have that match of WrestleMania where Alexa Bliss comes out of the big box I think that's really good. So that's where the goo was. Yeah. Yeah. And but that was also terrible And then of course, so he gets released on he was like July 2022 some of that And then on July 2021 it was 2021 He was gone for over a year And then and then he comes back I mean that extreme rules come back was amazing As always incredible and like the white rabbit clues before it kind of leading to stuff like you know It's going to be why yet, but they had enough teases that it could be somebody else. That was really cool Um again really creative stuff that didn't have an endgame And then you were killed early night for a while with such black match then he had the thing where I was live For bringing her there a match Yeah, and what what gave us just this kind of summary live of what was it like it was bad Like it but the people in the arena like it. No Everyone was kind of quiet. Everyone was either going to get drinks or Just kind of like what's going on because it looked really cool on TV It did not look cool in the arena. It just looked like I don't know a black light shining on a toy set or something and we like we had decent royal rumble seats I wasn't I think we were tier one um And it just it wasn't that good and it was underwhelming and You know like when Uncle Howdy and the puppets appeared at the top the thing I could see it And I saw all the dive kind of like the opposite side of the arena So I didn't really see but then like watching that back on TV you see that he missed it just It's It's it's a shame like it just felt like such a whimper of a way to To go out before he obviously ultimately was gonna build the feud with Bobby Lashley that never happened I think for me to think it made me know that the the the brain why it And Kai's like he was doing who kind of was was not something other than to anymore was Because I'm really like undertaker like whisper thing And I still think if they have been able to do somewhere the two then work together with undertaker was like In a faction with him that could be amazing But obviously they were never gonna do that and then I mean they had the whisper thing as like Oh, this is me finally putting you over or something But it just felt like too little too late to me like you had such a special talent on your hands man But then like but then remember what it was like or um some of these gonna be facing Why it wrestle me and you're a little god that pure fuckers gonna be screwed whoever they are And but over I mean, I think in terms of the last ten years I don't really think there's anybody who's been more creative with character stuff than him Although a lot of it has been insane and made no sense and kind of made you want to like bash your head against the wall Well, it's like he needed somebody who understood the character And then he also needed people around to work with that would have highlighted the character instead of You know, they were caught in a bit of a double-edged sword where he's a top star That makes them a lot of money and they want to present him because people want to see him on TV But they don't want to sacrifice any other top stars to him Which makes sense because for a while they were doing that with the fiend and it just kind of felt like he was nerfing everybody You know the way that He he just he just didn't fit like he did not fit in the WWE landscape he was too Too creative for it, but also needed somebody to reign in some of the stuff because it felt like He had a lot of ideas about dropping clues and like You know his tweets about like hey, I left a secret coded message in eight promos from 2013 or whatever And nobody ever found it and then he tweets the lines out and I know which promos he's talking about because like I said no one was more No one was more attentive and obsessive about coming through Bray Wyatt lower than me, right? And so to see the lock the the message all lined up and to be like oh that's what he was talking about when he said this and It seems like he had an idea in his head, but it just it didn't fit in the WWE landscape and I think that's really unfortunate Yeah, that is unfortunate and I think the The one thing I'm quite sadder and this is just a selfish thing probably is that we never got the sit down and interview with Bray Wyatt Yeah sort of because he was never able to sort of explain his side of everything And I remember when he was when he'd been released and Like I never got as far as me talking to the person, but I knew who I knew the person who represented him and I just was like She's if I book him He's never gonna give me the story because he's right He knows he could go back and if he goes back and he gets with the story then and I've been barmed up before I don't need to answer that again, but I think it's a shame that we didn't get to hear Has you know because there's like things he could have told people about Unexplained to try to but what this was meant to be and we're probably never going to get that now because I don't like in deals Point understands any over Yeah, so that mean like you it's it's such a bum. I mean obviously like we're talking about all the wrestling stuff like The tributes pouring in have been about you know what a good dude He was and always willing to help and always willing to talk to people backstage and like give people advice on promos Like he was one of the best storytellers the companies ever seen you know what I mean like In terms of actually physically presenting a story to someone. I think Obviously the end goals to the story is we're not always clear But he was such a creative mind like that character was entirely from his brain and such a hard left from like the Axel Not trying to remember what what the name is but it was axled the hockey mask character that he did an fcw for a while and like Husky Harris was What even was a Husky Harris? I mean he was a tank with a frog engine. Whatever that means um But braya braya was such a departure from that and so iconic and Like I mean, I can say without a shadow of a doubt my wrestling fandom would be different without braya Because when I became a fan of his in 2013 He introduced me to the love of spooky shit the way that I'll undertake her did for a lot of people And I think that's why I was so devastated when When they didn't make him the guy because he was just at the wrong time like I feel like if he would have debuted Now and had the same career now. I think it would have been much different And Yeah, it's I mean it's really sad. It's really sad that he's you know 36 It's so young. It's awful. I mean like that's That's the age my mom was when she died, you know, and that's like he is young kids and That sucks like it. It's just really tragic like I I feel awful for his wife and for Obviously their whole family like I mean Bodalis obviously had been working with his brother finally which they'd wanted to do for I mean they were fcw tagging champions I think but you know like they were finally getting to do a thing and The whole thing is just really really sad and he'd been like medically cleared to compete two weeks before he died He was actually cleared. Mm-hmm. I didn't realize he was actually cleared I knew it was like on the way to being cleared Yeah, he was reports where that he was getting better Yeah, he was um he was he was cleared um and Yeah, and and he's making point of steps and It's just it's such a such a sad thing right and made me think of obviously Keith Lee had a lot of heart complications from COVID as well and it's It's just really really sad that That this happened. I mean a hard attack at 36 is just There's there's nothing you can say other than it's a tragedy Yeah, this very very sad. Well, I said um both both will stop there um any last any last words I want to say just now but what you know we'll talk about a lot going forward and yeah one day we'll end up covering I mean, we're just we're in the retro game for the duration right like it's gonna be cockroaches and you and me talking about like 2023 and I'll have her in 20 years I'll be here. I'm someone who like when I'm watching 2003, I'm like watching it in a different way. I think in 20 years we'll be watching today in a different way So I think it's going to be really fascinating once we get to Like the advent of Bray Wyatt like there's part of me that things when we get to um Like to the time that NXT debuts obviously. We're not gonna watch NXT as well um If you want to give us the same cool little things that I I might like be like hey Here's what's important in the NXT realm today or whatever um Because you know, and then if there are things like Bray Wyatt's debut in FCW at the time and in you know Whenever that promo was with Eli cotton with standing behind him like those are the kinds of things that planted seeds for I think a legacy that will be looked on fondly. I think it's best to remember his wrestling legacy before the fiend Honestly But the fiend had a lot of really good stuff to it too And I think there was some masterful storytelling with the puppets and like I look at my ramblin rabbit pin every day It's on my pinboard that's that's right by our door in our apartment and I wish we could have gotten to the bottom of what ramblin rabbit knew about the fun house, you know I feel like his story just never got to be Completely told but I think him for Really instilling my love of wrestling and loving the weird shit Also We will never know what Bray Wyatt and drag was gonna look like when he was gonna wrestle Finn Balor a sister advocate with you Oh, that's right Wasn't that the What was that men and gait us or something that took that match from us or the monkey pokes was something like that yeah It's like he had he had a lot of unfortunate Stops and starts that weren't his fault too that were just medical things or mental health stuff I mean he was he was obviously a very guarded person, but Yeah, like it It just sucks it sucks a lot I cried yesterday for for a little while One last difficult questions for you and then you can go Which Bray Wyatt songs you want to finish with The good one the first one And like not even a question it has to be broken out in love or what did they call it live in fear? Yeah, live in fear. Yeah, it has to be that one Here is this here's the loving fear song by Bray Wyatt and you know just I'll give it when you off you never know everyone you love yeah And apart from Donald Trump or whatever and we said everyone you love Yeah And so thank you so much for always support everyone here's Bray Wyatt and we'll talk to you soon. Bye Bye Oh Got you flies It was Oh Been crawling back Back to the top Top of the stairs Of the stairs You'll see the sun again the years to come it's broken out in love Like a cat Without a cat Oh Through the streets You could find him And amongst the pigeons In the square Yeah You see the sun again the years to come it's broken out in love You you I miss some again, the only ways to go Is broken out of it all Broken love in love You