How WWE Ruined The Fiend

Sportskeeda Wrestling

Check out Sportskeeda's brand new game, BrainBuster! Can you become the undisputed quiz champion? Play now to find out - https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/brainbuster-wwe-player-guessing-game  The Fiend, portrayed by Bray Wyatt, became a huge hit among WWE fans. The Fiend's character was unlike anything seen before in WWE. Combining elements of horror, psychological thriller, and supernatural themes, The Fiend stood out with his eerie mask, haunting entrance, and unsettling mannerisms. Bray Wyatt's transformation from the leader of the Wyatt Family to The Fiend showcased his versatility and creativity. Fans appreciated the effort and innovation in reinventing himself and his character. But Goldberg's victory over The Fiend at Super ShowDown 2020 destroyed the character and its momentum.  Let's break down the events leading up to the match, the aftermath, and the impact on The Fiend's character    You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe  #thefiend #braywyatt #goldberg #vincemcmahon #wwe #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling

Transcript

00:00Summerslam 2019

00:03The Fiend made his in-ring debut against Finn Balor.

00:06His entrance was nothing short of mesmerizing, leaving the audience in awe and setting the

00:10tone for his character.

00:11The Fiend slowly made his way to the ring with the chilling music and the eerie lighting

00:15enhancing the horror movie vibe.

00:18Balor was visibly terrified.

00:20As the match started, The Fiend used psychological tactics to unnerve Balor.

00:24He dominated the entire match before winning with the mandible claw.

00:28During the same night, Goldberg squashed Dolph Ziggler in just 1 minute and 50 seconds.

00:33He was coming out of that awful match against The Undertaker at Super Showdown, so this

00:37dominant victory was crucial for him to maintain his legendary status.

00:41However, what happened next with both The Fiend and Goldberg is still considered to

00:45be one of the worst booking decisions in WWE history, ultimately ruining The Fiend character.

00:51So what happened?

00:52Let's get into it.

00:53Bray Wyatt appeared on the April 22, 2019 episode of Raw introducing the Firefly Funhouse,

01:15which was presented as a twisted children's show with Bray as the host.

01:18Wyatt appeared cheerful and friendly, wearing a red sweater and speaking in a soft, welcoming

01:24tone.

01:25However, the show's eerie undertones and dark humor hinted at something sinister lurking

01:28beneath the surface.

01:30The segments featured various puppet characters, each representing different aspects of Wyatt's

01:35psyche.

01:36These included Mercy the Buzzard, Abby the Witch, Rambling Rabbit, and Huskus the Pig

01:41Boy.

01:42Over several weeks, the Firefly Funhouse segments showcased Wyatt's transformation.

01:46He revealed that he learned to control his darkness and introduced the audience to The

01:50Fiend, his alter ego.

01:52The segments effectively built anticipation, leaving fans eager to see The Fiend in action.

01:56Finally, he appeared in the ring in July and attacked Finn Balor, setting his sights on

02:01the former Universal Champion.

02:03Goldberg, on the other hand, made his return to WWE at Survivor Series 2016 and squashed

02:09Brock Lesnar in no time.

02:11He then won the Universal Championship from Kevin Owens at Fastlane 2017 and dropped it

02:17to Lesnar at WrestleMania 33.

02:19Fans thought that this would be his last match as he appeared the night after WrestleMania,

02:23delivering an emotional speech.

02:25Although he never mentioned that he would be retiring, many interpreted this as a farewell

02:29address.

02:30The following year, in 2018, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

02:35By the time 2019 rolled around, fans were very much aware that Goldberg was far from

02:40the top of his game from an in-ring standpoint.

02:42He hadn't competed in two years, so his condition was a little more unknown to fans.

02:47However, WWE booked a dream match between Goldberg and The Undertaker at Super Showdown

02:52in Saudi Arabia.

02:53It fit the billing for a Saudi Arabia event, as those shows were given more money to pay

02:58top-level names and part-timers.

03:00If the match was kept short, much like Goldberg's previous matches, then it could have been

03:04an effective match that didn't outstay its welcome.

03:07But things didn't work out that way.

03:09As the match started, Goldberg hit two spears, starting the match off at an electric pace.

03:14However, when he went for a third spear, he hit himself on the ring post, receiving a

03:18legitimate concussion.

03:20From there, the match fell apart.

03:23Goldberg was visibly groggy as The Undertaker executed some moves, including a poorly executed

03:28choke slam.

03:29The dead man then delivered a tombstone, where Goldberg's head hit the mat, risking severe

03:33neck injury.

03:34The match was genuinely scary to watch.

03:37Thankfully, it ended when The Undertaker hit another choke slam and won.

03:41To this date, the match is still regarded as one of the worst matches in WWE history.

03:46It hurt both their legacies, as they probably didn't want to have this kind of match during

03:50the end of their careers.

03:51WWE had to rectify the mistake and gave Goldberg another match where he could shine.

03:57Enter Dolph Ziggler, who had earned a reputation as a reliable wrestler and could bring a good

04:01match out of anyone.

04:03He was booked to have a match with Goldberg at Summerslam.

04:06The only reason this was booked was to make Goldberg look good, and Ziggler did exactly

04:11that.

04:12He jobbed for the WWE Hall of Famer and helped restore Goldberg's mystique.

04:16Following this, Goldberg disappeared for a few months.

04:19In the meantime, The Fiend started feuding with Finn Balor and tormented him every week

04:23before facing him at Summerslam.

04:26During his entrance, the arena plunged into darkness and an eerie, distorted version of

04:31Bray Wyatt's old theme song, Live in Fear, began to play.

04:35Emerging from the darkness, The Fiend held a unique lantern fashioned to look like Bray

04:40Wyatt's severed head with an open mouth with a light coming out of it.

04:44Moving slowly and deliberately, The Fiend made his way to the ring, with the chilling

04:49music and strobe lighting enhancing the horror movie atmosphere.

04:53The Fiend dominated the match from the start and toyed with Balor around in the ring.

04:57The match ended decisively when he applied the Mandible Claw to Balor, securing the victory.

05:03This dominant performance left no doubt about The Fiend's threat level and established

05:07him as a dominant force in WWE.

05:09He quickly became one of the most intriguing characters in WWE.

05:13It was different than anything anyone was doing at the time.

05:16He was not just constructing an isolated character with a new gimmick, he was building his own

05:20universe, each part of himself serving as almost an installment of a horror movie franchise.

05:26The Firefly Funhouse also added another layer to The Fiend.

05:29He became so popular that WWE decided to book him in a feud with the then-Universal Champion

05:34Seth Rollins.

05:36A match between the two was set at Hell in a Cell, which turned out to be one of the

05:39most disappointing Hell in a Cell matches of all time.

05:43Both wrestlers were at the peak of their careers and WWE was in a booking dilemma, so they

05:48ended the match in the worst way possible.

05:51Seth delivered his finisher, the Curb Stomp, on The Fiend one after another, but it didn't

05:55work as The Fiend always managed to recover.

05:58The referee then stopped the match after Rollins used a Sledgehammer on The Fiend.

06:02In a match that had already seen both competitors use various weapons, they ended the match

06:07this way.

06:08The ending left fans scratching their heads.

06:11The controversial finish momentarily hurt The Fiend's credibility as well.

06:15Fans felt the character was compromised by an unsatisfying and confusing ending.

06:19WWE faced significant backlash, forcing them to reassess how to handle The Fiend's character.

06:24They needed to restore his mystique and ensure he remained a credible threat.

06:28That's why they booked another match between The Fiend and Seth Rollins for the Universal

06:32Championship at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, where he finally won the championship in a

06:37Falls Count Anywhere match.

06:39With this, WWE managed to restore much of The Fiend's mystique and booked him strong

06:44following this.

06:45He feuded with many wrestlers and had an incredible match with Daniel Bryan at Royal Rumble 2020.

06:51For all intents and purposes, it looked as though Wyatt was going to go into Wrestlemania

06:5536 and defend his gold against Roman Reigns.

06:58It was a feud that made sense given that Wyatt was a big, unbeatable heel and Reigns was

07:03the ultra babyface challenger who was set to overcome the monster.

07:07This is when Goldberg came into the fold.

07:10He was thrown into the title scene immediately for a match with Wyatt at Super Showdown 2020.

07:15At first, fans thought this would be a good way to further legitimize Wyatt as a champion,

07:19especially on his way to Wrestlemania.

07:20However, there was a potential for Goldberg to face Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania as well.

07:25Well, that could have been done without the title being on the line, but WWE did what

07:29no one wanted them to do.

07:31They let Goldberg beat The Fiend in 3 minutes and 8 seconds, ending his dominant title reign.

07:36It came full circle for both The Fiend and Goldberg.

07:39The Fiend won the championship in Saudi Arabia a few months ago and lost it in Saudi Arabia,

07:43and Goldberg had an awful match with The Undertaker in Saudi Arabia and now won the championship

07:48in the same country.

07:49It was certainly interesting to say the least, but no one was happy with the decision.

07:54The Fiend had been built up as an unbeatable character and his loss to Goldberg in a relatively

07:58short match undermined that mystique.

08:01This decision received significant backlash from fans who felt it damaged The Fiend's

08:05credibility.

08:06There were rumors that Goldberg did not want to lose to The Fiend and push for the title

08:09win, but he shot down those rumors saying,

08:11I'm a talent and I do what the boss tells me to do.

08:14I flew to Saudi Arabia knowing that I was going to lose.

08:17Then somehow it changed and the finish was different, and it surely wasn't me.

08:21Because it's an extremely selfish move, number one, to do.

08:24Number two, then truly it wouldn't be about the business, it would be about myself.

08:28And number three, who the hell am I as a part-time guy to come in and demand anything?

08:33It was certainly a controversial match with an unpopular winner and clearly the reason

08:37for it was to book a match between Goldberg and Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 36, but that

08:43never happened.

08:44He was disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

08:47Roman Reigns chose to pull out of WrestleMania to avoid potential exposure to the virus due

08:52to the health concerns related to his previous battles with leukemia.

08:55With Roman Reigns out, WWE had to adjust their plans quickly.

08:59Braun Strowman was then inserted into the match against Goldberg at WrestleMania, where

09:03Strowman defeated Goldberg to win the Universal Championship.

09:07So Goldberg beating The Fiend at Super Showdown became pointless.

09:11He could have easily taken the title to WrestleMania and had an even more dominant run.

09:15He was one of the most popular wrestlers in the world at the time and WWE had the perfect

09:19chance to make him a legit champion.

09:21However, The Fiend had a Firefly Funhouse match against John Cena, which delved into

09:26Cena's career, presenting various versions of him from different eras.

09:30It was interesting to say the least, but it wasn't enough to bring his credibility back.

09:35He did win the Universal Championship from Strowman at Summerslam 2020, but lost it to

09:40Reigns at Payback.

09:42He allied with Alexa Bliss and engaged in a feud with Orton, which ultimately concluded

09:46The Fiend's storyline at WrestleMania 37.

09:49A few months later, Wyatt was gone from WWE, but later returned in 2022.

09:54Unfortunately, his latest run did not last long, as he passed away in August 2023.

10:00It's a shame that we couldn't see more of The Fiend.

10:03Maybe if Goldberg had not beaten him, we could have gotten a longer, more entertaining run

10:07from The Fiend, but with that loss, the damage was done and The Fiend never recovered.

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