For nearly a year, Bray Wyatt and The Fiend have run roughshod over the WWE. Brutalising everyone they came into contact with (but of course for Bill Goldberg, though the less said about that the better), Bray would not only physically but more importantly mentally break his opponents, leaving them changed men.
Seth Rollins and The Miz turned heel following their encounters, while Daniel Bryan’s entire look and demeanour was altered, bringing back the Yes Movement
When The Fiend challenged ultimate babyface John Cena to a Firefly Funhouse match at Wrestlemania then, the stage for his greatest masterwork was set.
This time though rather than seeing the situation through the eyes of our universe, we were whisked into the world of The Fiend – The Firefly Funhouse itself.
When The Fiend challenged ultimate babyface John Cena to a Firefly Funhouse match at Wrestlemania then, the stage for his greatest masterwork was set.
This time though rather than seeing the situation through the eyes of our universe, we were whisked into the world of The Fiend – The Firefly Funhouse itself.
Wyatt and the leader of the Cenation have a history themselves of course, with Cena’s defeat of Wyatt at Wrestlemania 30 often cited as the moment the original Bray Wyatt character began to lose his lustre.
History would be the key to Bray’s tricks here, as he would force Big Match John to relive his past, making him face his greatest failures.
First, in a darkened ring the Mr Rogers version of Bray would mimic Kurt Angle’s promo from the day of Cena’s debut all those years ago. Suddenly John was there in full Ruthless Aggression debut gear.
When asked what quality he might possess to be able to go face to face with (in this case) Wyatt, Cena would reply with the immortal “Ruthless Aggression” answer and take his swing, but – knowing his history – Wyatt expected it and ducks out of the way.
Wyatt impresses upon Cena that he’s too cookie cutter for his own good, – transporting both men to an episode of Saturday Nights Main Event in the 80s and cutting a Hulk-Hogan-esquepromo, before turning on Cena and shoving him into the next room.
Here John was now in Doctor of Thuganomics gear, able to speak only in rhyme. After some witty back and forth, the gimmick gets stale fast, and Bray clocks him with the Chain Gang chain, knocking Cena out and bringing us into the next phase.
Finally we had reached the crux of the matter. The moment Wyatt and Cena’s path would cross. Wrestlemania 30. We see Bray now in his cult leader garb, in the Wyatt house on his rocking chair. He cuts a promo on Cena and then they’re back in the ring, this time with Cena in the same clothes he wore that fateful night.
In the original match Bray had handed John a chair, and told him to embrace the hate and smash him across the face but Cena refused. This time Bray again gives him the choice.
In the original match Bray had handed John a chair, and told him to embrace the hate and smash him across the face but Cena refused. This time Bray again gives him the choice.
Having presented him with so many places he went wrong in his career, the psyche of Cena has been damaged and this time he takes the swing – only for Bray to disappear.
The cracks were showing and the moment to strike was finally there. In one final jump we arrive on – of all places – WCW Monday Nitro. Bray this time is mimicking Eric Bischoff and introduces a new John Cena – an nWo John Cena – who has turned heel. This is the Hollywood Hulk Hogan treatment for the next great superhero of the WWE.
Hate running through his veins at last – The Fiend’s trick having worked - Cena began to pummel Bray only for the spell to break and suddenly reveal it wasn’t Bray but Huskusthe Pig in the ring.
Cena looks broken and dejected, realising he has been lead down the destructive path – and finally The Fiend appears, locking in the mandible claw and pinning Cena for the 3 count, before Cena’s body would literally vanish from the Funhouse.
The cracks were showing and the moment to strike was finally there. In one final jump we arrive on – of all places – WCW Monday Nitro. Bray this time is mimicking Eric Bischoff and introduces a new John Cena – an nWo John Cena – who has turned heel. This is the Hollywood Hulk Hogan treatment for the next great superhero of the WWE.
Hate running through his veins at last – The Fiend’s trick having worked - Cena began to pummel Bray only for the spell to break and suddenly reveal it wasn’t Bray but Huskusthe Pig in the ring.
Cena looks broken and dejected, realising he has been lead down the destructive path – and finally The Fiend appears, locking in the mandible claw and pinning Cena for the 3 count, before Cena’s body would literally vanish from the Funhouse.
If there was any danger The Fiend might have been ruined by his loss to Goldberg, we needn’t have worried. A master of mind tricks and manipulation, we have just seen him break the man many thought was unbreakable.
In one match arguably the greatest superhero in the history of the company was completely deconstructed to the point he broke his own rule. He couldn’t rise above hate at the hands of the Fiend, and if Cena can’t, the question can only be: Who can?
The Firefly Funhouse match was not only wildly entertaining – more so even that the equally cinematic Boneyard Match from night one - but offers us our most brutal look at the powers of this new iteration of Bray Wyatt yet.
If Wyatt can destroy Cena’s very essence to the point he vanishes without a trace, what might he be able to do to someone lesser on WWE’s totem pole?
In one match the mystery and the mystique have been completely reinvigorated, and the memory of the loss to Goldberg eradicated.
In one match the mystery and the mystique have been completely reinvigorated, and the memory of the loss to Goldberg eradicated.
Whats next for Wyatt and the Fiend? I don’t know. But I can’t wait to find out.
