Bray Wyatt's Greatest Matches, Ranked

The late great Windham "Bray Wyatt" Rotunda has already gone down as one of the most innovative wrestlers of his generation. The cliché saying of always thinking outside of the box doesn't really apply to Wyatt as he there was never a box for him to think out of in the first place, always drawing on inspiration and influence from the world of horror movies and music to bring new life to the wrestling business.

More often than not there is an argument that, at times, Wyatt was almost too ahead of his time for his own good. Some of his ideas simply didn't land in the way that he originally envisioned, and other ideas fell flat on their face, largely through no fault of Wyatt and mainly because wrestling wasn't ready for his brand of storytelling. After all, for as fondly remembered as he is for being a modern day creative genius, his WrestleMania matches with Randy Orton, a number of his cinematic matches, and the "Pitch Black" match against LA Knight that would end up being his final bout before his untimely passing are matches that are, for the lack of a better term, disappointing.

With that said, just because some of Wyatt's ideas didn't land doesn't mean that they all missed the mark as the former WWE Champion was involved in some of incredible matches throughout his career, and that's what we're here to talk about today. The true high points of a performer who, like all of the brightest lights, shone twice as bright for half as long, and gave WWE fans around the world countless memories that will be talked about for decades to come. So sit back, relax, dust off that lantern and sheep mask and join us on a journey to the Wyatt Swamp as we take a look at the five greatest matches of Bray Wyatt's career.

The final stop on the road to WrestleMania 33 in 2017 was the annual WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, which for that year was a "WWE SmackDown Live" exclusive event. The company re-established the brand split in 2016, and much like the original brand extension in 2002, there is an argument to be made that it was "SmackDown" that came out the better of the two brands. This was largely due to the sheer number of underutilized or mismanaged talent that not only made the blue side of WWE their home, but became true forces to be reckoned with for many years to come. 

This was very evident in the main event scene, which was on full display in the main event of the Elimination Chamber event as six men entered the demonic structure that the show was named after, all with one goal in mind; walking into WrestleMania 33 as the WWE Champion. John Cena had just won his 16th world title from AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble the previous month, with Styles having a lengthy feud with Dean Ambrose over the title in the final third of 2016. All three of those men were in the match, as was Baron Corbin who was tipped for big things at the time, The Miz who had a new wave of crowd support thanks to his work as the WWE Intercontinental Champion, and of course, Bray Wyatt.

One of the things that made this match so special was that it was legitimately anyone's ball game outside of someone like Corbin who fans knew would get his shot eventually, but not at WrestleMania. Cena, Styles, and Ambrose had dominated "SmackDown" since the brand split and put in some of the best performances of their own careers in that time (Styles especially), but The Miz had a lot of momentum behind him, and Wyatt was ready to have his moment in the sun after a rivalry with Randy Orton that would span long into 2017. 

There was a lot of pressure on every man in this match to prove that they were worthy of having such an important match be exclusively for the "SmackDown" roster, and they delivered in more ways than one. Cena and Styles added another mini-chapter to their already iconic rivalry by starting at one and two, with Ambrose looking for vengeance as he entered at number three. Wyatt would enter the match at four, and given his history with Cena and Ambrose, he was firing on all cylinders once Corbin and The Miz looked to enter and secure some easy eliminations.

In the end, Wyatt pinned both Cena and Styles to win his first WWE Championship in what is still seen as one of the best Elimination Chamber matches of all time, and after years of questionable booking, Wyatt had finally reached the top of WWE. It's just a shame that he couldn't keep that momentum going as 2017 went on.

Heading into 2014, Daniel Bryan could probably push the mother of every WWE fan down a flight of stairs and the fans would still end up defending Bryan. The "Yes Movement" was picking up so much steam at the time that it was impossible to ignore, and yet WWE management continued to choose everyone they possibly could over Bryan when it came to a main event spot. However, that didn't stop Bryan from stealing the show at every opportunity, and in late 2013, he encountered Bray Wyatt and his psychotic family for the first time, which kicked off one of the most celebrated rivalries of the time.

Wyatt had attempted to recruit Bryan to his family at the end of 2013, and after Luke Harper and Erick Rowan convinced Bryan to join by beating him to within an inch of his life, Bryan eventually said yes. However, this was just a ploy from Bryan to get to Wyatt as he made his decision as to where his allegiances lay after a Steel Cage match against The Usos in January 2014, and a match for the 2014 Royal Rumble pay-per-view was set. What made it even sweeter for Bryan was that if he won, he would get a spot in the Rumble match itself later that same night, which if he won, he would earn a title match at WrestleMania 30.

It's no secret that a lot of people think that Daniel Bryan is one of, if not the greatest professional wrestler of all time, but this was a match where it looked as if Wyatt could genuinely go on to be the most well-rounded performer in the entire business. He already had the character nailed down, and his storytelling was so intricate and detailed that every single movement he made had a meaning behind it, but in this match, the physicality in the ring was second to none and Wyatt came across looking like a three-headed demon that was incapable of being put down, no matter what Bryan threw at him.

Both Wyatt and Bryan would go on to have some fantastic matches together later on down the line. Wyatt's run as The Fiend saw him wrestle Bryan at Survivor Series 2019 and at the 2020 Royal Rumble event, the latter of which being a strap match, with both of those being seen as the best in-ring performances of The Fiend character. With that said, Wyatt and Bryan set the bar so high with this match that it is still seen as one of the best non-Rumble matches in the history of the Royal Rumble event, and was so good that it ultimately broke the event on a fundamental level as Wyatt picked up the win. That meant that Bryan wasn't going to be in the Rumble, he wasn't going to be WWE World Champion, and the fans would need a different way of getting Bryan into the WrestleMania main event. 

We have somehow reached a point in time where there are people who nostalgic for the "Brand Supremacy" theme that WWE Survivor Series used to have. Whether that's down to the WarGames stipulation being shoehorned into certain feuds over the past few years, making some of the teams who enter "The Match Beyond" feel a bit random, or some fans simply yearning for something that they once had, but when you watch a match like Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown Live from Survivor Series 2016, you can understand why people want the traditional Survivor Series matches back.

There are so many different narratives running through this match. The blossoming friendship between Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens takes center stage for Team Raw, with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins trying to stay on the same page in the background, and Braun Strowman being one of the hottest acts in the company acting as the wildcard for the team. Team SmackDown Live was built on the feud between AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose and whether they could also get on the same page, Shane McMahon being part of the team was a result of Baron Corbin getting injured (that turned out to be in storyline), and the wildcard for the blue brand was the team's mascot, James Ellsworth, and whether or not he could get involved.

Then there is The Wyatt Family, or as it was at the time, The New Wyatt Family as Randy Orton had recently been added to the group. Bray and Randy started as rivals, but the persuasiveness of "The Eater of Worlds" was simply too much for Orton to turn his back on and he became the newest member of the family, and when the two men were added to Team SmackDown Live, they were by far the most in-sync duo on either team.

For nearly 53 minutes, all of the top stars in WWE were on full display and put together one of the best matches in the history of Survivor Series. It was a match that saw all of the narratives not only get time to be appreciated by the audience, but all of them were furthered in some way. Styles and Ambrose worked well together for a little while, but that fell apart as Ambrose opted for a brief reunion with The Shield to try and weaken the WWE Champion for future benefit. Ellsworth got killed by Strowman in a moment that made Strowman look like even more of a monster than he already was, and the cracks had already started to show in the relationship between Owens and Jericho.

In the end, not only did Orton take a bullet for Wyatt, allowing Wyatt to pick up the all important pin, but the New Wyatt Family were both the sole survivors, and the stars of a show-stealing match. Don't be intimidated by the runtime, those near 53 minutes will fly by watching this one.

In an age where everyone wants to be real, Bray Wyatt embraced the surreal and turned his match with John Cena at WWE WrestleMania 36 into his very own David Lynch movie.

Everyone knows how much of an impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the wrestling business, with some fans even choosing to simply stop watching all together. A form of entertainment that is driven to provoke reactions from a live audience having to be performed in front of empty seats was simply too much for some people to sit through, but a handful of performers ended up thriving in an era where even the most miniscule details could be picked up on. WWE Superstars like Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan changed their approaches to play in to the silence. WALTER showcased how violent wrestling could be when you can hear every chop, blow, and slam, and Bray Wyatt took John Cena and the WWE itself to places no one ever thought they could go.

To put it simply, the Firefly Fun House match is a meta-commentary on Cena, Wyatt, and WWE. Wyatt wanted to take Cena on a journey through his own mind and have him face the one person he knew he couldn't beat; himself. Over the course of the match (if you can even call it that), we see Cena in scenarios from his past, warped versions of his present, and even fictional versions of himself in alternate timelines. Ever wanted to see John Cena in WCW as part of the New World Order? You've got it here. You want Cena to be part of the original Saturday Night's Main Event? You can have that as well. You want the match between Cena and Wyatt at WrestleMania 30 to play out differently? Boy, are you in luck?!

All of these scenes are Wyatt countering the point Cena made on one of the final episodes of WWE programming where he said that Wyatt is the most over hyped, over privileged, and over valued WWE Superstar in the company. Wyatt wanted to show Cena that he has been all of those things and more during his then 18 years with WWE. He was the golden goose of the company and had been given every opportunity on a plate, regardless of whether or not he had any talent. All he could say when he started was "Ruthless Aggression," he lifted so many weights starting out that he couldn't throw a punch, and his "Doctor of Thuganomics" gimmick just made him out to be a bully with no redeeming qualities.

Wyatt used Cena's entire career against him and drained the life out of him at the end of it. It was bizarre, it was creepy, it was strangely funny at times, but overall, this match was Wyatt's crowning achievement from a creative standpoint. At a time where the world stood still, Wyatt had Cena's whole world in his hands.

The Firefly Fun House match at WWE WrestleMania 36 was Bray Wyatt's Magnum Opus as a character, but in terms of pure in-ring work and a match that actually took place in front of a live audience, there was only ever going to be one match at the top of this list.

The 2010s were an odd time for WWE. The company seemed to constantly fight against a wave of fans who had access to more wrestling than ever, expanding their respective tastes to a point where a lot of people had almost grown out of the company they grew up with. Questionable booking decisions, a lack of new ideas, and an over reliance on nostalgia had made a large part of the WWE Universe become estranged with the company, but with that being said, when WWE got it right, it was so right, and there was nothing more right in the 2010s than who WWE picked to be the next big stars. 

At WWE Elimination Chamber 2014, The Wyatt Family and The Shield entered as two of the most exciting acts in all of wrestling. Two units that were forces of nature in their own unique ways. The Wyatt Family weren't afraid to get scrappy and fight like three wild animals, knowing that any one of them could be beaten individually, but they were unstoppable as a trio. The Shield were the same, but in the opposite way. A well oiled machine where every part is just as important as the rest, and while they've beaten as singles stars, or even in tag team matches, when all three of them work together, there is literally no one that can stop them.

Everything in this match just hits the way it's supposed to, but even all these years later you can feel it through the screen, the feeling that you are watching the future of WWE unfold before your very eyes. Obviously, not everyone in this match went on to reach the same heights as a singles star, and sadly one third of the participants aren't even alive anymore. But when you watch this match you just get the sense that everyone involved has so much ahead of them.

Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Erick Rowan are like a swarm of wasps around Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose at times. You simply cannot contain them no matter what you do, but The Shield have mastered their own strengths and rally some of the most exciting babyface comebacks of that era. Classic tag team psychology with an extra intensity between six men that weren't going to allow the fans in Minneapolis go home thinking about anything else and they delivered something truly special on this night. In an era of WWE that can be described at times as rough, this was one of the shiniest diamonds within that rough, and easily the greatest match of Bray Wyatt's eventful career.