At the 2023 Royal Rumble Bray Wyatt defeated LA Knight in the Mountain Dew Pitch Black match. It was a brand new stipulation for the first match back in WWE for Bray Wyatt in two years and the anticipation was enormous. Wyatt was known for his fun and terrifying horror-style matches, although they always received mixed reactions from fans.
However, the Mountain Dew Pitch Black match was an absolute mess that has soured the fans of Bray Wyatt. His spookiness has worn off and his cult-like following is diminishing. Could this be the end of the road for Bray Wyatt and what is next for the Eater of Worlds?
Bray Wyatt’s Pitch Black Match
For the first time since he was released by the WWE in 2021, Bray Wyatt wrestled in a sanctioned WWE match. He was also known as the man who brought the supernatural element to the company and his first match back was no different.
The former WWE Champion wrestled LA Knight for his return match. Bray Wyatt invented the Mountain Dew Pitch Black match to take place at the 2023 Royal Rumble. The rules oft the match were not shared before the event so fans were excited to see how it would shape up.
Unfortunately the match was much worse than expected. The Pitch Black Match was not what anyone expected with very little supernatural elements to it. The lights were turned off but a black light illuminated the arena. Various parts of the match were “glow in the dark” such as ring ropes, popcorn on the floor and LA Knight’s ring gear.
The rules of Bray Wyatt’s Pitch Black Match were just a regular No-Disqualification match. This would have been fine had WWE not tried to convince everyone this was a brand-new match type. Bray Wyatt won the first ever Pitch Black Match by hitting LA Knight with a Sister Abigail and pinning him for the victory.
After the match, Bray Wyatt took LA Knight to a stage area and laid him on a table. Uncle Howdy, the spooky creature who has been accompanying Wyatt in recent months, leapt from some scaffolding and crashed the through the table. This ended in a big explosion to mark the culmination of the Pitch Black Match at the 2023 Royal Rumble.
The Pitch Black Match Ruined Bray Wyatt
Bray Wyatt won the Mountain Dew Pitch Black Match but suffered defeat in the eyes of the fans. He looked stupid in defeat due to the silly nature of the match. He had played a serious character since his return at Extreme Rules 2022 but it was hard to take Bray Wyatt seriously after this performance.
The glowing ring ropes and ring gear made the whole match look very silly. LA Knight also wrestled like it was a regular match and not befitting of such a special stipulation. However, with the lack of interesting rules this could never have been anything other than a generic and disappointing brawl.
The aftermath was even worse. Uncle Howdy’s dive onto LA Knight was spectacular but it was clear from the first angle that he completely missed him. He crashed through the table as an explosion was set up but the fact that he missed him and crashed the table on his own made the stunt meaningless.
It was like something out of a bad horror movie. Bray Wyatt didn’t look particular strong or spooky. His mask changed colour after the match, glowing red in what was a cool but ultimately pointless effect. Give this was Bray Wyatt’s first match back in WWE for nearly two years it could be the last straw for WWE fans to take him seriously.
What’s Next For Bray Wyatt?
After the disastrous Pitch Black Match, where can Bray Wyatt even go from here? There are rumours he will be facing Uncle Howdy at Wrestlemania 39 in April but that does not seem like an interesting idea at all.
After the failure of the Pitch Black Match, it’s hard to take any of Bray’s spookiness seriously anymore. He has disappointed multiple times now, from his feud with Dean Ambrose in 2014 all the way through to his lacklustre matches with Randy Orton at Wrestlemania.
Everyone knows Wyatt is not a top-class in-ring performer. His wrestling skills have a lot to be desired but he made him for his limitations by his fantastic promos and excellent character work. Sadly, the character simply wont work if not taken seriously by the fans and after the Royal Rumble I can’t see how they keep on doing it.
Nobody will take much notice of the next spooky match Bray Wyatt will have. Off all the original match-types he has been a part of, only the Firefly Funhouse match holds up as an actual good one. His Ring of Fire Match, the Wyatt Family Compound match and his failure in mind games against Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 33 spring to mind about times when Wyatt has promised the world and failed to deliber.
Maybe Bray Wyatt isn’t as good as we thought he was. He was once touted as the next The Undertaker. He hasn’t come close to living up to the legend and nor should he. Bray Wyatt followed his own path and it has not ended well for him. As much as a creative genius he is supposed to be, the former Wyatt Family leader has many more misses than he has had hits.
It’s time to take the reigns away from Wyatt or else subject the fans to more of these needlessly spooky and convoluted storylines with shoddy actions and poor endings. Whatever is next for Bray Wyatt, I simply cannot keep my hopes up any longer. The Pitch Black Match has broken me.