As Bray Wyatt passed away today from a long-standing illness, we look back at the best matches from his iconic career.
What is top of the list of Bray Wyatt best matches? Will your favourite bout of The Fiend rank high on this list? Keep reading to find out.
Ever since his debut in NXT, Bray Wyatt has also been an enigma in WWE. After floundering as the awful Husky Harris, he became a huge star with his Bray Wyatt character.
Some of Bray Wyatt’s best matches have been some of the most creative and original matches in WWE history, and the Fiend brought an even more original angle that wrestling has never seen before.
His early WWE career involved Bray Wyatt as the head of the mysterious Wyatt Family. The backwater cult, heavily inspired by Charles Manson and Waylon Murphy, were one of the most interesting teams in WWE history.
Wyatt incorporated so much backstory into his incredible promos that it left fans wanting to know more about the team of Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper (Brodie Lee).
His character would later evolve in a number of ways. He became a supernatural entity as “The Eater of Worlds”, with high profile feuds against wrestlers like The Undertaker and Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley).
In this time he added another member to his clan, the monstrous Braun Strowman. This helped Bray Wyatt dominate in WWE, although poor booking meant he never became the star he should have been.
Bray Wyatt best matches are some of the most unique spectacles in wrestling, and especially have been in recent years thanks to the introduction of ‘The Fiend’.
WWE Championship and the Fiend
He did become a WWE Champion however. He pinned John Cena and AJ Styles at Elimination Chamber 2016 to win his first World Championship, which he lost at Wrestlemania just 2 months later.
His feud with Randy Orton had lasted almost a year, although fans were certain that Luke Harper should be added into the match to make it a triple threat.
After some time off, he returned as a “Mr Rodgers” style character, with his own kids TV Show. As the host of the “Firefire Fun House”, Wyatt showcased a new facet of his character and helped to reveal his newest and greatest creation – The Fiend.
The Fiend was an unstoppable monster, who was as destructive as he was terrifying. He debuted by destroying Finn Balor, and would go on to defeat Seth Rollins to become the Universal Championship.
He would be the biggest star on the show, but would lose the belt to Goldberg in one of the worst WWE Matches of all time.
This all but killed the hype of the Fiend. He had his last match at Wrestlemania 36 where he lost to Randy Orton, and was taken off TV. Bray Wyatt was released by WWE in July 2021 due to Covid-related budget cuts, and has so far yet to sign with any other wrestling promotions.
Here are the best matches of Bray Wyatt’s career. We will be looking at matches both wrestled as Bray Wyatt and the Fiend and picking out the best matches that Windham Rotunda had in his WWE career.
Bray Wyatt Best Matches
10. vs Daniel Bryan (Strap Match) – Royal Rumble 2020
The first match on this list of Bray Wyatt best matches is a unique stipulation for the unique character that is the Fiend. At Daniel Bryan’s request, he took on the Universal Champion The Fiend in a strap match. The match stipulation was chosen by Bryan to stop the Fiend from running from the Dazzler, who had been tormented by the Fiend for weeks.
Daniel Bryan is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. He thought that could he get the Fiend into the ring, then he could outwrestle him on the mat and take away his supernatural advantage. He was incredibly wrong, but you can see the logic he was going for.
Despite his best efforts, most of Bryan’s offence simply bounced off the Fiend. He could not hurt the monster which demoralised and scared the former WWE Champion. After 17 minutes of hard fought wrestling, The Fiend shook off multiple hits with the strap from Bryan and shoved his fingers down his throat. Locking in the mandible claw, the Fiend hit Bryan with an accompanying chokeslam and pinned him for the victory.
9. vs Finn Balor vs Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins vs Samoa Joe (Extreme Rules Match) – Extreme Rules 2017
In 2017, the Universal Championship was held hostage by Brock Lesnar. Since ending the Undertaker’s streak in 2015 he had been an unstoppable monster and one of the biggest stars on the show. Finding someone worthy of challenging Brock Lesnar was hard enough, so WWE booked a huge match at Extreme Rules 2017 to find a new number one contender.
Five men faced off in the fist ever Fatal Five Way Extreme Rules Match. Bray Wyatt took on Finn Balor, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Samoa Joe in this blockbuster bout which was sure to turn hurts due to it’s sheer brutality. With these five men you were sure for an incredible match in the ring, but with the added stipulation of Extreme Rules you were guaranteed violence and bloodshed.
Despite a great showing in one of his best matches, Bray Wyatt would not be victorious in this match. He was taken out before the finish of the match, where Samoa Joe choked out Finn Balor to earn his shot at Brock Lesnar. Joe would not beat Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire, and left many fans lamenting what could have been with Samoa Joe as World Champion in WWE.
8. vs AJ Styles vs John Cena (Triple Threat) – Smackdown Live
This match came toward the end of the “Golden Age” of Smackdown post-brand split. When Shane McMahon took over as the commissioner of Smackdown in 2016, it became the best wrestling program on television. Huge stars like John Cena, Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles led the brand with feuds over the WWE Championship, while lower card wrestlers like Baron Corbin, The Miz and Dolph Ziggler put on some of the best performances of their career.
Other stars like Bray Wyatt finally reached the potential that fans had seen in them for years. Wyatt finally became the WWE Champion in February 2017, winning the Elimination Chamber from then champion John Cena. Cena had beaten AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble 2017 in one of John Cena’s best matches to win his 16th World Championship, with Styles failing to get his one-on-one rematch.
Bray Wyatt best matches list continues with his incredible performance inside the Elimination Chamber.
This gave the fans the opportunity to see a dream triple threat match between Bray Wyatt, AJ Styles and John Cena. Each man came into the match for different reasons.
Cena was chasing history, a record 17th World Championship. AJ Styles was chasing legacy, a second WWE Championship and another win over one of the best of all time. Bray Wyatt was chasing power, the WWE Championship cementing his as the most powerful entity in the WWE.
The match played into this perfectly and was one of the best triple threats in WWE history. With Mauro Ranallo booming on the commentary desk, the match felt like a classic NXT Takeover main event with the incredible work rate of all three men. With crazy kick outs and never ending huge moves, it left fans wondering when this match would ever end.
Finally after nearly 20 minutes of action, Bray Wyatt caught John Cena with a Sister Abigail. He pinned Cena, retaining his championship and announcing himself as the most powerful man on Smackdown Live, in one of Bray Wyatt’s greatest matches of all time.
7. vs John Cena (Last Man Standing) – Payback 2014
Next on the list Bray Wyatt Best Matches is his Wrestlemania XXX bout against John Cena.
The John Cena feud in 2014 was one that badly damaged the aura of Bray Wyatt. From an unstoppable, creepy and sadistic cult leader who was undefeated to a supernatural, terribly un-spooky punching bag, John Cena made Bray Wyatt tumble from the top of the card to the middle of the mid card.
Their first match at Wrestlemania was built around Wyatt trying to turn Cena to the dark side. He carried the feud with a set of incredible promos leading up to Wrestlemania XXX. Sadly, Cena won in the end without compromising his principles, making Wyatt look like a bit of a loser.
Their second match came at Extreme Rules 2014, inside a steel cage. It had an even worse ending, with a choir of singing children appearing from nowhere to distract Cena. This helped give Wyatt the win in a way that made everyone involved look awful and put a dampener on the expected third match.
Luckily, despite the match result, the final match between of the feud was the best. The pair fought in a Last Man Standing match at Payback 2014, putting a definitive end to the rivalry. In a great match with featured huge spots like Cena throwing stairs to Wyatt outside the ring, and buying him inside a cupboard, Cena took the victory and buried Wyatt once and for all. It was a big loss for Wyatt, who would not truly recover until he developed “The Fiend” character many years later.
6. vs John Cena (Firefly Funhouse Match) – Wrestlemania 36 Night Two
One of the most original matches in WWE history is one of the best matches of Bray Wyatt’s career. Wrestlemania 36 was an adventure into the unknown as the Covid-19 pandemic overtook the world. The wrestling world was shaken as WWE announced that Wrestlemania 36, their biggest show of the year usually in front of upwards of 80,000 fans, would take place at the WWE performance centre in front of exactly zero.
Despite everything holding them back, they managed to make of the most unique matches in history, which is why it ranks high on the list of Bray Wyatt Best Matches.
However this did allow wrestlers like Bray Wyatt to let their creativity shine. Rather than a regular match between two men who thrive on audience participation, they opted for a pre-recorded match that redefined what a wrestling match was.
I will link the match below because no description can do it justice. You are much better of experiencing the match blind rather than a reading a write up.
5. vs Roman Reigns – Hell in a Cell 2015
Mid 2015 had a great rivalry between two of WWE’s biggest and best young stars. Roman Reigns took on Bray Wyatt in a multi-month feud, with it culminating in a brutal match at Hell in a Cell 2015.
The pair squared off inside Hell in a Cell, the barbaric structure which has housed so many of WWE’s most violent encounters. From Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker to Edge vs Seth Rollins, the demonic structure has played host to a number of WWE’s best matches, and this encounter was no different.
Roman Reigns came out as victorious, using a barrage of weapons to help fend off the supernatural demon that is Bray Wyatt. It was a great match and worthy of being on anybody’s list of their best matches, especially Bray Wyatt best matches.
4. vs AJ Styles vs Baron Corbin vs Dean Ambrose vs John Cena vs The Miz (Elimination Chamber Match) – Elimination Chamber 2017
Bray Wyatt found his best championship success as the Fiend, but his first WWE Championship came as his supernatural cult leader Bray Wyatt. At the 2017 Elimination Chamber event, he had one of his best performance ever as he pinned both John Cena and AJ Styles to win the WWE Championship inside the Elimination Chamber.
John Cena walked into the much just two weeks shy of winning his record-joining 16th World Championship. He joined Ric Flair as having the most title reigns of all time, but his 16th and final reign would be one his shortest. Also joining him were the last two champions, AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose, as well as The Miz and Baron Corbin.
Wyatt picked up an unexpected victory, winning the championship he and the fans had waited years for. It was a huge moment in WWE, although soured slightly as he would lose the championship shortly after at Wrestlemania to Randy Orton. That match certainily wont make it onto the list of Bray Wyatt best matches, nor any other list, aside from “biggest disappointments”
3. vs Daniel Bryan – Royal Rumble 2014
The 2014 Royal Rumble was infamous for the crowd completely ruining the show. The Royal Rumble match, usually the highlight of the wrestling year, was booed out of the building when the fans realised that fan favourite Daniel Bryan was not a part of the Royal Rumble match.
What went under the radar was the match Bryan actually did have on the show. He had been embroiled in a feud with Bray Wyatt since the Autumn of 2013. After failing to regain his WWE Championship due to hefty amounts of bullshit, Daniel Bryan was brainwashed by Bray Wyatt and forced to join the Wyatt Family.
Fans hated it, it was awful and they just wanted to see Daniel Bryan win the WWE Championship and be the top guy in WWE. Luckily WWE nixed the feud after the Rumble, but we did get one of the greatest moments in WWE history, when Bryan turned on Wyatt inside a cage and became the Dazzler that we all know and love again.
The pair faced off in singles competition at the 2014 Royal Rumble in one of Wyatt’s first pure wrestling matches in WWE. He defeated Daniel Bryan to win the feud, but fans didn’t mind. Of course, if Daniel Bryan lost to Bray Wyatt, that would mean that he would come out later and win the Royal Rumble match, punching his ticket to the main event of Wrestlemania XXX.
He didn’t and people hated it. It was awesome.
2. vs Braun Strowman, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins (with AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton & Shane McMahon) – Survivor Series 2016
The first inter-brand Survivor Series match after the 2016 brand split is the second best match on Bray Wyatt’s WWE career. It was a match with very little personal rivalry, but a great deal of rivalry steeped in the history of Raw vs Smackdown matches past.
Bray Wyatt was on team Smackdown for the match. He teamed with WWE Champion AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton and Shane McMahon. Orton had joined Wyatt earlier in the year, a la Daniel Bryan in 2013 and this match would help build to their eventual match at Wrestlemania 33.
Team Smackdown would win the match, beating the team of Braun Strowman, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in a match that went nearly an hour. Highlights included Braun Strowman being eliminated by James Ellsworth, the man who debuted by being squashed by Braun Strowman that summer, and The Shield reuniting to hit AJ Styles with a triple powerbomb.
The match was taken down a notch by a concussion suffered by Shane McMahon when a Coast-to-Coast into a spear went awry.
1. vs The Shield (with The Wyatt Family) – Elimination Chamber 2014
Which match tops the Bray Wyatt best matches list? Well, what else could it be!
The best match of Bray Wyatt in WWE is the six man tag team match against The Shield at Elimination Chamber 2014. Wyatt, along with Wyatt Family teammates Erick Rowan and Luke Harper, took on the team of Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, also known as the Shield.
The match was a long awaited battle between the two trios, who had been dominating the WWE for the best part of two years. The atmosphere was electric. The crowd were on there feet and screaming as the six men stood in the ring, before they could even start wrestling.
The match was an all out brawl. The six men brawled all around the arena after a short spell in the ring. Rollins and Harper showcased their pure wrestling ability before the match descended into madness. The highlight of the match was Seth Rollins jumping from a balcony and landing on the Wyatt Family below.
The Wyatt Family won the match, as Bray Wyatt got the pin fall on Roman Reigns. It was a dream match that completely lived up to the hype, and watching Bray Wyatt pinning the golden boy of WWE, Roman Reigns, in one of his best matches ever, was a sight to behold. The battles between The Wyatt Family and The Shield were always special, and there is no surprise that Bray Wyatt best match comes in one of these six-man tag epics.
So there you have it. The top 10 WWE Bray Wyatt best matches list comes to a close. Did your favourite match make the list? Let us know in the comments and tell us why we are wrong, or click the button below to read more.
