WWE shocked the wrestling world by releasing fan-favorite Bray Wyatt, and once he's legally able to, Wyatt needs to take The Fiend to AEW. Bray Wyatt has been with WWE for over a decade, debuting on the game show version of NXT and later becoming part of the Nexus stable in 2010 under the name Husky Harris. After that didn't work out, Wyatt, real name Windham Rotunda, developed the original Bray Wyatt character, a swamp-dwelling Wyatt Family cult leader who lived in a creepy cabin and spoke of the mysterious Sister Abigail.
Wyatt re-debuted on the WWE main roster in 2013, and became an instant hit, remaining quite popular ever since, despite often being booked in a nonsensical fashion. After some time away, Wyatt underwent his most iconic transformation in 2019, becoming the deranged but friendly host of the Firefly Funhouse children's program, who when pushed would transform into a deadly alter ego called The Fiend. Both in appearance and performance, The Fiend remains one of the coolest characters in WWE history, and garnered a considerable crowd reaction as a result.
To the annoyance of many, The Fiend disappeared after being soundly defeated by Randy Orton at WrestleMania 37 in April, and since then various rumors have swirled about the reason for his absence. Fans definitely didn't expect the recent announcement that Wyatt had been released from his contract. Thankfully, there's little doubt that a performer as endlessly creative as Wyatt will land on his feet, and in the eyes of most, the best place for him to do that is in AEW.
While some rightly argue that AEW can't go signing everyone WWE gets rid of, they absolutely should pay Wyatt whatever it takes to get him on board. Wyatt is excellent on the mic, entertaining in the ring, has a history of creating characters that click with fans, and also tends to sell mountains of merchandise. He's also only 34-years-old, meaning his best years may well still be ahead of him. Plus, AEW's TV-14 product would enable Wyatt to take The Fiend to much darker and disturbing places than WWE's PG rating allows for.
It's worth noting though that The Fiend character, as well as the Bray Wyatt name, will in all likelihood remain the intellectual property of WWE. Still, that shouldn't prove to be much of a hurdle, as Wyatt could easily create similar identities to use in AEW that are just different enough to avoid a lawsuit. Plus, wrestling fans know exactly who he is, so even if AEW just ended up calling him Windham Rotunda and his demonic alter ego The Nightmare, it wouldn't really matter. With WWE fans loudly chanting "We Want Wyatt" during Raw on Monday, there's no reason for AEW not to sign him as soon as whatever non-compete clause he has with WWE expires.