We May Never Fully Grasp The Creative Genius Of Bray Wyatt

Bray Wyatt wasn't easy to understand. In fact, he may have been one of the more complicated characters to ever grace a wrestling ring. He was full of conundrums and riddles, allegories and parables. His words were built with layers that we could only scratch the surface trying to comprehend. And while we tried our best — often struggling — to wrap our minds around the concept of Bray Wyatt, Windham Rotunda knew just who he wanted Bray Wyatt to be.

Rotunda was not a conventional storyteller. If anything, he insisted on writing his own rules to execute the vision he had for Bray Wyatt. Rotunda didn't simply want to do what had already been done before, resting on the laurels of professional wrestling tropes and formulas. He wanted to create something new, something different, something unlike anything we'd seen before between the ropes. And with that comes the often lonely reality of being incredibly misunderstood.

It's not an easy path to walk when others don't get you, when they just want to reel you in and force you to be more like them. They insist on making you easier to digest, to comprehend, because it's safer for them. It allows them to stay within their comfort zone. And yet, Windham Rotunda fought against that every step of the way, for himself and Bray Wyatt, because he was able to see what others couldn't.

That doesn't mean everything always clicked. There were plenty of Bray Wyatt matches and stories over the years, like the House of Horrors, that never quite worked. But if anything, they deserve credit for the big swings that they were. Windham Rotunda wasn't afraid to take risks in the hopes of satisfying himself creatively, because when they did land, those moments were something to remember.

To this day, the Firefly Fun House match at WrestleMania 36 is unmatched. There hasn't been anything like it since, and there probably never will be. It's easily the most unique thing John Cena has been a part of during his wrestling career, and it's still something fans talk about years, because it wasn't afraid to exist outside the box of what people expect wrestling to be.

For every bug projection, there was the deep nuance of the Firefly Fun House and all Bray Wyatt's friends. For every bizarre Hell In A Cell match bathed in red light, we got the White Rabbit chase and the exhilaration of finding the next clue. We knew we were witnessing something distinct, no matter how outlandish or peculiar it seemed. And yet, even in those times when it didn't quite land, we wanted more from it. Why? Because it challenged us; because it went against the norm; because it gave us something unrivaled for us to sink our teeth into. And even then, we never fully got it.

Maybe we were never intended to truly understand what Rotunda envisioned for Bray Wyatt. Perhaps that luxury was only afforded to one man — the man whose mind had invented it all in the first place. It's difficult to unlock the mind of a genius, because it is often only the genius who understands what they want the world to see.

However, that didn't stop wrestling fans from continuing to try to understand better and, most importantly, at least appreciating those displays of genius — even when we had no idea what the hell to make of it. It was heartwarming to see the response Rotunda received last year when Bray Wyatt made his return at WWE Extreme Rules, because it was filled with love and genuine respect. He was someone we had grown to miss for what he brought to the table and for the different take on wrestling he provided. Sadly, we will now miss him all the more.

We may have never fully grasped the creative genius of Windham Rotunda, particularly as it relates to Bray Wyatt, and because he's been taken far too soon, perhaps we never will. But since he first came to be, we damn sure tried like hell, and it made for an experience unlike any other.