Rumours of Bray Wyatt returning to WWE have picked up steam in recent weeks. Now, more fuel has been added to the fire, through the unlikely source of John Cena.
Wyatt was controversially released by WWE last July, after a three-month absence from televised programming.
His last match for the company was at WrestleMania 37, in a match against Randy Orton. Wyatt, portraying ‘The Fiend’ gimmick, lost in under six minutes.
The 35-year-old then appeared in a Firefly Funhouse segment on Raw in April 2021. He promised a fresh start and a ‘brand new me’.
WWE fans, however, never got to see the brand new Wyatt in action, as he was later released by the company.
His departure disappointed wrestling fans universally, due to the strength of his character work and gimmick. They were critical of how WWE booked Wyatt.
One moment that springs to mind is in 2019, when a Hell in a Cell match between Wyatt and Seth Rollins was controversially declared a no contest when Rollins hit his opponent with a sledgehammer. Minutes later, however, Wyatt was back on his feet, beating down ‘The Visionary’.
Why did WWE release Bray Wyatt? Will he return?
Earlier this year, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter claimed there were a number of reasons behind WWE’s decision to release Bray Wyatt.
Metlzer said: “He was fired having to do with things that I probably shouldn’t talk about, so I’m not going to start a can of worms. It’s got nothing to do with that.
“He also had health issues, as far as being kept out of action and everything like that.
“The argument against him was that, you know, with the exception of Daniel Bryan, pretty much everybody he worked with got destroyed by him, and was left for [expletive]. They had to rebuild and had to turn heel.
“There was the argument that he was more harm than good, other than the fact that he sold a lot of merchandise. They obviously felt pretty highly of him, considering they signed him to a contract for almost $4 million a year… I think he was third-highest paid in the company.”
With Triple H replacing Vince McMahon as head of WWE creative, however, fans are now more optimistic that ‘The Fiend’ can return to the company – and potentially be booked in a better way if he does so.
John Cena fuels Bray Wyatt WWE return rumours
On Thursday, reports linking Bray Wyatt to WWE were again strengthened by none other than John Cena.
Cena fought Wyatt at WrestleMania 36 in a ‘Firefly Funhouse Match’ at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 46-year-old described it as one of his favourite matches in his WWE career.
Taking to Instagram, Cena posted two photos relating to Wyatt, but did not elaborate on them or give a reason why he had posted them. To be fair to Cena, his Instagram bio does state: ‘These images will be posted without explanation, for your interpretation. Enjoy.’
One is a shot from their ‘Firefly Funhouse Match’, whilst the other is a screenshot of a long message that Wyatt posted to Twitter earlier this week.
You can see the photos below:


With several former WWE and NXT stars recently returning to the company, including Dakota Kai and Karrion Kross, perhaps Wyatt could be next.
Featured Image Credit: WWE