History Wrestling / TheWyattFamily

In late 2014, after being absent for approximately two months, Bray Wyatt revealed, through pre-recorded vignettes, that Erick Rowan and Luke Harper had been "set free," effectively disbanding the group and sending all three into singles competition. Wyatt retained all the qualities of his entrance (the theme, lantern, "I'm here" pre-intro, and the rocking chair), and Rowan and Harper were given their own themes respectively. However, the family was later reunited in mid-late 2015, with Braun Strowman initially replacing Erick Rowan due to an injury until his return to the fold prior to Hell in a Cell 2015. Strowman left the stable in the summer of 2016 after the brand split. After feuding with the Family for some time, Orton forged an alliance with them and later became a full-time member.

** Wrestling/RomanReigns. What started as a feud between Reigns and Wyatt after the latter cost the former the Money in the Bank briefcase escalated into a virtual turf war between the reunited Wyatt Family (with Strowman replacing Rowan) and Reigns, Ambrose, and their allies, most prominently Wrestling/RandyOrton. At the center of the chaos, however, is Roman and Bray, as indicated when Roman challenged him to a one-on-one Hell in a Cell match to finish their feud.

** Wrestling/{{Undertaker}} and Wrestling/{{Kane}} in Survivor Series 2015.

* RealityEnsues: A strange, rare storyline example saw the Wyatts end up in a feud because their actions inadvertently pissed off a third party. They went after Wrestling/JohnCena during an important match teaming him and two other Superstars against Wrestling/TheShield, with the winning team being awarded the three spots that were left in the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE World Heavyweight Title. Since they attacked Cena, the Shield were disqualified and lost their shot at headlining [=WrestleMania=]. The Hounds of Justice, predictably, were ''[[UnstoppableRage not happy]]'' about this, to the point where they demanded that Wrestling/TripleH give them a match against the Wyatt Family. [[CoolVersusAwesome The]] [[EvilVersusEvil result]] [[{{Understatement}} was]] [[Awesome/ProfessionalWrestling AWESOME.]]

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Bray Wyatt is a twisted, sadistic cult leader who delights in destruction, twists people's minds, and may or may not be demonically possessed. Windham Rotunda... was worried that one of his promos would hurt Nikki Bella's feelings and made sure to apologize to her before the promo aired.

* MadnessMantra: In one of the vignettes leading up to their debut, the WWE.com reported toured their residence, a dimly lit shack of sorts with minimal technology. The reporter ignored Harper's warning not to stray and stumbled upon a room where an unknown man stood on his knees repeating the word "obey" endlessly.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Either the Wyatts are a supernatural {{cult}} led by the demon inside Bray Wyatt, or they're a group of delusional hicks who most people are too afraid to argue with because they'll get beat up... or worse.

After Wyatt became the WWE Champion, Orton revealed his ruse to destroy the family, burning down Wyatt's house where Sister Abigal's ashes lay. The two collided at WrestleMania 33 with Randy coming out on top in a heavily-panned match. After the even more awful "House of Horrors match" at ''Payback 2017'' the feud mercifully ended and Bray moved on.

** Harming members of the family is this for Wyatt; if they're in a match, you've got leeway. If they aren't, leave them be. When John Cena drove Luke Harper through the barricade at Wrestlemania XXX, [[AFatherToHisMen Wyatt went ballistic]].

* {{Determinator}}: In a meta sense, Bray Wyatt. Where losses like the one to Cena at WrestleMania and Payback would normally deter an opponent or force them to take a different tack or approach in their character, Wyatt's still preaching his word, his hope that the rest of the world will "open their eyes" like he did. JBL summed it up best when he said that to Bray, "wins and losses don't matter." Bray, one way or another, finds a way to his goal regardless of the setbacks he suffers. and even then, victories against him and the family [[PyrrhicVictory can come at a physical and mental cost.]]

** In terms of other well-known wrestlers, he compares in a lot of ways to a young Wrestling/MickFoley (the original Mankind persona in particular). He even uses a variation of the Foley pop. Foley himself even signs off on this comparison, tweeting the day of WrestleMania XXX that Wyatt is “A darker, meaner, more athletically gifted version of what [he] brought to the table.”

** The entirety of Bray's match against John Cena at WrestleMania 30 is basically an extended attempt by Bray to invite Cena to become a monster like he is.

* {{Acrofatic}}[=/=]FatBastard: While Wyatt himself is not exactly "fat" compared to how he used to be, he is definitely overweight compared to most of the roster. That does not stop him from being a very agile wrestler and flexible enough to do the reverse spider crawl from ''Film/TheExorcist'' for real in the middle of the ring (on live television no less).

---> "If you look up at me, you will see a friend. If you look down at me, you will see an enemy, but if you look me in the eye, you will see a ''god.''"

* AnimalMotifs: Sheep. Wyatt often gives speeches about the sheep walking upright and turning on the wolves, and Rowan wears a child's sheep mask when not wrestling... not to mention Wyatt's occasional singing of "Mary Had A Little Lamb."
** Braun Strowman is described as "the black sheep of the family" and wears a black version of Rowan's mask

* BreakupBreakout: Bray, towards Wrestling/TheNexus along with [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] and Wrestling/{{Ryback}}, and ''most certainly'' is this out of the prospects that joined the Wrestling/CMPunk-led version of the stable.[[note]][=McGillicutty=] was repackaged into Wrestling/CurtisAxel after nearly two years off TV. Won an Intercontinental title, but never truly got over, even with the help of Wrestling/PaulHeyman. David Otunga shifted to an out-of-ring character and now most of the work he does for WWE is in a backstage capacity. Mason Ryan's career never gained traction from the beginning, and he was sent back to put over upcoming young talent on NXT.[[/note]]
** Towards the end of the Family's run as a cohesive unit, there was an arguable amount of BadassDecay going on. Then, Bray "released" Rowan and Harper, all three now going into more-or-less singles competition. So who broke out? ''All of them!'' Bray entered a stellar feud with Wrestling/DeanAmbrose, Harper became part of Team Authority at Survivor Series (being rewarded with an Intercontinental title run), and Rowan was the ultimate surprise entrant for Team Cena. While time will tell who has staying power, it seems the WWE is fairly confident about all three men.

* [[CheapHeat Cheap Pop]]: A rare, ''weird'' example of a ''heel'' using this to great effect. At some point in early 2014, Bray started preceding his "We're here" CatchPhrase with the name of whatever city they were in for the episode.

* CompositeCharacter[=/=]{{Expy}}:

* ContinuitySnarl: As Bray Wyatt's gimmick evolved since his NXT times, we have got at least three distinct biographies for his character: a disturbed bayou dweller who burned his father alive, a dark cult leader whose very birth is related to the enigmatic 'Sister Abigail', and now an ancient evil possessing Husky Harris's body. But the ''scariest'' part is that the three lives are implied to be somehow one and the same. We just could realize how little we know about him.
** According to one interpretation, his different life histories could belong to his previous vessels, whose personalities he [[SplitPersonalityMerge keeps in some way]]. The implications don't make the matter less eerie, certainly.

* CreepyChildrenSinging: On April 28, 2014, Bray scared the living hell out of John Cena by bringing in a crowd of children who sang "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands" while wearing sheep masks.
** [[UpToEleven Taken even further]] at Extreme Rules 2014.
** On the June 16, 2014 edition of Monday Night Raw, Jerry Lawler claimed that earlier in the week, a four-year-old girl asked him for his autograph. While he was signing it, he asked her who her favorite Raw superstar is, and she replied by staring Lawler square in his eyes and singing "He's got the whole world in his hands..."

* DeepSouth: The Wyatt Family was based in Louisiana on NXT. Parts of the pre-Family Bray Wyatt hype vignettes took place out in the bayou, and Bray's father was a shrimp boat captain. They're now based in the real {{Ghost Town}} of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_Bight,_Florida Snake Bight, Florida.]]
** This is noted when the group fought on April 8, 2014. The New Orleans crowd was ''ecstatic''.

* EvilIsHammy
** Subverted slightly when Wyatt, instead of yelling, dropped his voice in a whisper while warning Wrestling/{{Kane}}: "I heard you like to call yourself [[RedBaron 'The Devil's Favorite Demon.']] You might want to be careful who you say that in front of, because you never know ''who might be listening.''" But then double subverted when the next thing Wyatt did was ''scream'' at the top of his lungs, '''"FOLLOW THE BUZZARDS!"''' loud enough for half the arena to hear him without the aid of a mic.

** A minor one, but anyone watching their entrance for the first time is likely to jump upon noticing Erick's sheep mask right behind Bray just before he says "We're here."
** Not so minor is their tendency to use the above Titantron effect, cut the lights, and then, just when you're expecting the Wyatts to start their long, deliberate entrance, the lights come back on and the Family is instead already standing around or ''in'' the ring.

** {{Satan}}: A few promos have very heavily implied that the demon possessing Bray Wyatt is none other than ''the Devil himself,'' or that he at least has some sort of tie(s) to Lucifer

* PowerStable
* PsychopathicManchild: Bray has shades of this.

* TheUnintelligible[=/=]ConvulsiveSeizures: [[http://youtu.be/rdAzGCw25x4?t=1m7s Appeared to go through a combination of the two on May 23, 2014, during a promo on John Cena.]] Neither Rowan nor Harper, standing behind him silently, so much as batted an eyelash as Wyatt dropped to all fours and went through some sort of supernatural/religious breakdown. Bray himself didn't miss a beat, either, as he began singing "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands" only seconds afterwards. Just another average day with the Family.
* VerbalTic:
** Initially (right after their debut), Bray Wyatt appeared to be unable to keep from using "man" as a filler word during promos ("They lied to you, man!"), but has gotten much better with avoiding the tic since then.
** Interestingly, there is a not-small segment of the fanbase who enjoyed it because it lent Bray's promos a unique cadence and went a long way towards making them [[RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic sound unscripted and genuine]].

* VillainSong[=/=]{{Leitmotif}}:
** "Live In Fear" by Mark Crozer and the Rels (formerly known as "Broken Out In Love" prior to WWE buying the rights to the song) is an incredibly unnerving track with a perfect creepy backwoods Southern sound that accompanies their promos and entrance. Since Orton joined the Family, they've added a small intro where the opening riff of his first theme "Burn In My Light" and the first few lyrics of his current theme "Voices" play before breaking down and being replaced with "Live In Fear".
** Has taken a habit to using "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands" as one of these.

** Said several times to [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] during he lead up to TLC 2013.
---> They can't love you, not like I can Bryan, and I understand that together we can tear the walls of this place.
*** And then, finally, Bryan joined the Wyatt Family on December 30 on ''Raw''. [[spoiler:Only to turn on the Wyatts two weeks later.]]

** When {{Sheamus}} threatened to shove his foot down Bray's throat, Wyatt just laughed and clapped and shouted, "I LOVE IT!"

** In the 2016 Royal Rumble, Triple H tried to strike up a temporary alliance with Bray Wyatt to eliminate Roman Reigns. Bray briefly seems to agree and menacingly approached Reigns... before he immediately starts beating the hell out of Triple H instead. It took Triple H and the Authority-aligned {{Sheamus}} to get rid of him.

** Arguably, Harper is one to MinistryOfDarkness-era [[Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield Bradshaw]] with the dark hair, imposing presence, cultlike devotion to his leader, and [[CombatPragmatist his finisher being a ''really hard'' clothesline]].

** It's a bit unclear, as the Wyatts go after ''everyone''. Even ''Wrestling/TheShield''. Then they targeted Daniel Bryan, and have since targeted John Cena, The Usos, and Chris Jericho. As the years have gone on, though, ''Wrestling/TheShield'' is the one group that is constantly on the Wyatts' (mainly Bray's) radar. Bray has gone after all three over the years, and makes it clear that he will ''never'' leave any of them alone.

** It's a bit unclear, as the Wyatts go after ''everyone''. Even ''Wrestling/TheShield''. Then they targeted Daniel Bryan, and have since targeted John Cena, The Usos, and Chris Jericho.

While they are portrayed as heels, they won the fans over with their charisma and their unique gimmick. They are cheered often, and fans typically turn on their cell phone flashes, and wave them as if they were lighters, when they make their entrance for a match.

After Wyatt became the WWE Champion, Orton revealed his ruse to destroy the family, burning down Wyatt's house where Sister Abigal's ashes lied. The two collided at WrestleMania 33 with Randy coming out on top in a heavily-panned match. After the even more awful "House of Horrors match" at ''Payback 2017'' the feud mercifully ended and Bray moved on.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: When the Bray Wyatt character first debuted, he was more of a preacher and less of a messianic archetype. He was also ambiguously Christian - he was careful never to outright refer to Christian mythology, but he often talked about "[[Literature/TheBible the Good Book]]" and once cut a promo comparing himself (unfavorably) to "[[{{Jesus}} a certain carpenter]]." He also had a backstory in which he grew up poor white trash on the bayou, working on his father's shrimping boat. His father died in a fire on that boat that Wyatt implied he set himself. It's possible that the retcon of Wyatt's backstory was done because on the main roster it was harder to ignore his past as Husky Harris, and so his backstory was reworked to include Harris.

* XMeetsY: Braun Strowman is basically Bray Wyatt-meets-Wrestling/MarkHenry. A scary thought...

The Wyatt Family is a professional wrestling stable consisting of Wrestling/BrayWyatt (real name Windham Rotunda), and his followers Wrestling/LukeHarper (real name Jon Huber), Wrestling/ErickRowan (real name Joseph Ruud), Wrestling/BraunStrowman (real name Adam Scherr) and Wrestling/RandyOrton. Their gimmick is somewhat hard to describe, but think of the hillbillies from ''Film/{{Deliverance}}'' mixed with a creepy Charles Manson-esque cult. Wyatt himself has a bit of Max Cady from ''Film/CapeFear'' and the mannerisms of a Southern bayou preacher. They are a very dark, creepy bunch with an ominous presence enhanced by Wyatt's incredible mic skills and hypnotic charisma. They debuted on the July 8, 2013 edition of Monday Night Raw attacking Wrestling/{{Kane}} and injuring him. Since then, they have engaged in a number of feuds, including mid-late 2014 storylines with Wrestling/JohnCena, Wrestling/TheUsos and Wrestling/ChrisJericho.

After Wyatt became the WWE Champion, Orton revealed his ruse to destroy the family, burning down Wyatt's house where Sister Abigal's ashes lied. The two are now on a collision course for WrestleMania 33.

** Wrestling/{{Undertaker}} and Wrestling/{{Kane}} in Survivor Series 2015

** Bray can be extremely detrimental to the plans of even Wrestling/TheAuthority as well. At MoneyInTheBank 2014, when Wyatt hit Sister Abigail on Wrestling/RandyOrton and looked to capture the WWE World Title, TripleH and Stephanie had a ''massive'' OhCrap moment that ''he'' could come away with the championship, because they know there's no way he could realistically be corralled under The Authority.
** In the 2016 Royal Rumble, TripleH tried to strike up a temporary alliance with Bray Wyatt to eliminate Roman Reigns. Bray briefly seems to agree and menacingly approached Reigns... before he immediately starts beating the hell out of Triple H instead. It took Triple H and the Authority-aligned {{Sheamus}} to get rid of him.

** Bray can be extremely detrimental to the plans of even Wrestling/TheAuthority as well. At MoneyInTheBank 2014, when Wyatt hit Sister Abigail on RandyOrton and looked to capture the WWE World Title, TripleH and Stephanie had a ''massive'' OhCrap moment that ''he'' could come away with the championship, because they know there's no way he could realistically be corralled under The Authority.

And then Wyatt became the WWE Champion.

The Wyatt Family is a professional wrestling stable consisting of Wrestling/BrayWyatt (real name Windham Rotunda), and his followers Wrestling/LukeHarper (real name Jon Huber), Wrestling/ErickRowan (real name Joseph Ruud), Braun Strowman (real name Adam Scherr) and Wrestling/RandyOrton. Their gimmick is somewhat hard to describe, but think of the hillbillies from ''Film/{{Deliverance}}'' mixed with a creepy Charles Manson-esque cult. Wyatt himself has a bit of Max Cady from ''Film/CapeFear'' and the mannerisms of a Southern bayou preacher. They are a very dark, creepy bunch with an ominous presence enhanced by Wyatt's incredible mic skills and hypnotic charisma. They debuted on the July 8, 2013 edition of Monday Night Raw attacking Wrestling/{{Kane}} and injuring him. Since then, they have engaged in a number of feuds, including mid-late 2014 storylines with Wrestling/JohnCena, Wrestling/TheUsos and Wrestling/ChrisJericho.

* PlaceWorseThanDeath: Their "compound". Just ask a [[Wrestling/TheNewDay certain trio who dared but ultimately failed try to bring positivity while there.]]

* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: April 7, 2014. The audience displayed what could be described as cult-like behavior with the Wyatt Family... clapping, swinging their arms in the air and the... oh yes, sending "BRAY IS GOING TO KILL YOU!" chants (although Wrestling/{{Tazz}}, Wrestling/KurtAngle, and Wrestling/SamoaJoe have invoked this chant long before Wyatt even debuted) to Big E., Wyatt's opponent that night. Creepy.

At TLC 2016, they became the WWE [=SmackDown=] Tag Team Champions; with Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton defeating Wrestling/HeathSlater and Wrestling/{{Rhyno}}. The reign wasn't extremely long, though; they would lose the titles to American Alpha on the last ''Smackdown'' of 2016.