Before the untimely death of Bray Wyatt, Uncle Howdy was one of the most confusing and intriguing characters in all of wrestling.
Debuting as a rival, and then associate, of the Eater of Worlds, Uncle Howdy had many memorable moments in the WWE.
Appearing from the shadows and attacking various WWE superstars, you never know what he was going to do next. His most memorable moment was at the 2023 Royal Rumble, where he leapt from a great height to attack LA Knight during their “Pitch Black Match“.
But fans haven’t seen him for over 6 months, so what happened to Uncle Howdy?
What Happened To Uncle Howdy?
Uncle Howdy was taken off WWE TV after Bray Wyatt was hospitalized with an illness that eventually killed him.
Bray Wyatt suffered with COVID in March 2023, and due to existing conditions and general health, it affected him much worse than the general population would.
He was sent to the hospital for months due to heart issues, and given a defibrillator jacket to help with any potential heart issues that may arise.
As Uncle Howdy was only used on TV alongside Bray Wyatt and Alexa Bliss (who also left TV due to her falling pregnant), WWE took him off Raw and Smackdown, waiting for Bray Wyatt to return before reintroducing him to the WWE Universe.
Sadly, Bray Wyatt passed away in August 2023, so what happened was that Uncle Howdy has been removed from television completely.
The story behind Uncle Howdy will also never be explained. It was already muddled, with Howdy claiming to be Bray Wyatt, then also fighting him and being his ally at the same time.
It was very confusing, but with the hope that it would all be explained by Bray Wyatt once the story was given time to develop.
Due to his death, that never happened and the Uncle Howdy character was abandoned.
Who Was Uncle Howdy?
Uncle Howdy was betrayed by Bo Dallas, who was the brother of Bray Wyatt.
Dallas had been with the WWE for over a decade when he was released in 2020, winning the NXT Championship, as well as the WWE Tag Team Championships (alongside Curtis Axel).
He was brought back alongside Bray Wyatt in late-2022, although WWE never confirmed Bo Dallas was the man behind the Uncle Howdy mask.
The intention was for Bo Dallas to continue to work as Uncle Howdy, culminating in a match against Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 39.
Bray Wyatt vs Uncle Howdy Was Planned For WrestleMania 39
If Bray Wyatt had not come down with COVID (and eventually passed way), he would have wrestles against Uncle Howdy at WrestleMania 39.
This is despite the reported match between Wyatt and Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania 39, which was ultimately cancelled due to the illness of Bray keeping him off the show.
Writing in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer, Dave Meltzer revealed what was supposed to happen to Uncle Howdy, had Bray Wyatt come down with an illness that would eventually kill him.
“Taylor Rotunda (Bo Dallas) had returned to WWE as Uncle Howdy. At first, the idea was for Wyatt to build to a match with Howdy at WrestleMania, but that plan ended up changing and Howdy was not being pushed at that level and the character dropped. Alexa Bliss, who was associated with Wyatt years earlier in doing a female monster gimmick, was about to go back to the gimmick when he became ill. She later got pregnant so the plans never developed.”
It is unlikely that Uncle Howdy will wrestle for the WWE again. Bo Dallas could be brought back under his previous gimmick, but the likelihood is that he will eventually be fired again from the WWE.