Bray Wyatt was released by WWE on July 31, 2021 despite being regularly featured on television and one of the top merchandise movers in the company.
Bray hadn't wrestled since WrestleMania 37 when he lost to Randy Orton. During his time away from the company, he remained out of the wrestling business, but filmed a movie with Jason Baker.
Wyatt would return to WWE at Extreme Rules 2022 after viral teases, which was called the White Rabbit project. He will return to the ring at WWE Royal Rumble to face LA Knight in a Mountain Dew Pitch Black match.
Speaking to Ryan Satin on Out of Character, Wyatt was asked how he's feeling heading into his return.
"There is a certain reluctancy to me, where there hasn't been in the past. It's part of any athlete, when you're away from something for so long, there is something in the back of your head that is like, 'Am I still it? Am I still what I am, what I should be?' For the majority since I've been back, I was kind of there, in a sense, and the weeks have progressed, I've started to come into my own again and remember why I do this and how much it means to be out there and perform at things like the Royal Rumble. The closer I've gotten, I've started to sink my teeth into being what I should be," he said.
In Wyatt's return promo, he said he was showing his true self and he thanked the audience for believing in him.
Speaking about the promo, Wyatt said, "Genuinely, that moment was not for me. During my time away, I had opportunities to do really cool things, movies and TV shows and stuff, and I wouldn't, because I felt broken. There was something that was shut off and I didn't understand why. It was literally people telling me and keeping me alive and dragging me back, telling me, 'You should still do this, we miss you.' I didn't feel that way at first. I felt damaged. It was that, that gave me the strength to kind of build back out and explode. It was geared for them, it was."
He continued, "I despise the way my mind worked. That's the truth of it all. I'm the first person to ever tell you all of my flaws. I refuse to watch myself back, I've never seen pretty much anything I've done, I can't watch. I'm that kind of headcase, man. It's also kind of my superpower. It's what makes me, me, the obsession. When I'm geared on something, I'm so deep into it that there is no separating life from anything else, it just is. When I dive deep like that, it's what makes me connect and it's the reason that I have fans that are so into what I do, it feels like it's part their life too. If I didn't have such passionate fans, I wouldn't be here, I really wouldn't. It's them that led me back here."
In the promo, Wyatt mentioned that he lost two people close to him and ended up losing himself as he lost his job. When asked about going through the loss of a close friend, Wyatt said, "There was so much going on, and it was out of nowhere. I wasn't prepared for any of that. I lost my childhood best friend, I lost Brodie (Lee), I lost my best friend from college, Mark Olive. It was something that I think I didn't deal with very well. Brodie's wife Amanda and his kids dealt with it better than me and (Erick) Rowan did. There is something there that reminds me of him every single day. That time period was such a conundrum for me, and I wasn't myself. It took me a while to remember what makes me, me. It was a long journey, but it's led me here to this moment. This is the best I've ever felt."
In Wyatt's return promo, he was interrupted by a voice who would later be revealed as Uncle Howdy.
Uncle Howdy has made multiple appearances on WWE television, but it is unknown who the man is behind the mask. Fans can check out the current lineup for WWE Royal Rumble by clicking here.
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