Yesterday, the wrestling world was shocked to its core with the news that WWE Superstar Bray Wyatt had tragically passed away.
Bray was one of the greatest talents in the wrestling industry. The mastermind in and out of the ring always had an edge over others in terms of intense character work as one of the most creative minds in WWE history.
Wyatt's WWE career had always been a roller coaster ride. After having a major run with his friends, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, Wyatt rose to prominence with his singles run. However, a repackaged Wyatt Family with Harper and Rowan was then formed with Braun Strowman as a new addition. After making numerous headlines, Wyatt found a spot in the top of the industry with a high-profile singles run, and while he was one of the most underappreciated stars of the industry, the WWE Universe loved watching him.
Wyatt's first WWE Championship victory came at Elimination Chamber 2017, and he'd go on to defend the title at WrestleMania 33 against Randy Orton, one of the industry's biggest-ever stars.
The most infamous alter ego in history, The Fiend, was introduced in 2019, which is still remebered as one of the best characters in the industry.
With his new character, Wyatt defeated Seth Rollins to become the Universal Champion, a title he'd go on to reclaim in 2020 over the aforementioned Braun Strowman.
Bray Wyatt was released by WWE back in 2021 as a part of the budget cuts. This came as a shock to the WWE Universe, due to the insane merchandise that the former WWE Champion sold, and how popular he was with the fans.
However, after Triple H took charge as the Creative Head of WWE, Bray Wyatt was brought back to the company. Though it was a shocking return, the storyline for the comeback at Extreme Rules 2022 dubbed it as one of the greatest returns in history.
Just months after coming back, Wyatt had to take some time away from the ring due to an undisclosed health issue, which Fightful has now revealed was a heart issue brought on by a positive test for COVID-19.
As noted, Bray tragically passed away last night, never having made his comeback to the ring following his illness, and to honour his life and memory, GIVEMESPORT take you through the best matches we saw from the wrestling icon.
10 Bray Wyatt v John Cena v AJ Styles - SmackDown - February 12, 2017
Three of the biggest stars on SmackDown following the 2016 Brand Split were Bray Wyatt, John Cena, and AJ Styles, and they shared the ring during the main event of a show back in February
2017.
With a massive Elimination Chamber victory for Bray Wyatt, where he won the WWE Championship for the first time in his career, all the momentum seemed to be with the Eater of Worlds.
Though Wyatt came out victorious in the hotly-contested match, Cena and AJ Styles also earned applause for their performances, with the bout kicking things off in what millions dub the ‘Era of Wyatt’.
9 The Fiend v Daniel Bryan (Royal Rumble 2020)
Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan have a long history with each other.
Bryan, as one of the best wrestlers of all time, helped deliver The Fiend what is widely regarded as the unique character best match.
The Royal Rumble 2020 saw another bout between the long-time rivals, with this one being a strap match.
Though there haven’t been a lot of strap matches in the past decade, The Fiend v Daniel Bryan kept the stipulation alive, and the match ended up being brutal for both stars, going down as one of the best matches of Wyatt’s career.
8 Bray Wyatt v Roman Reigns (Hell in a Cell 2015)
One of the most brutal Hell in a Cell matches came in 2015, when Wyatt entered the structure to face Roman Reigns in one of the best rivalries of his career.
Though Wyatt punished Reigns throughout the battle, the Big Dog walked out victorious, something that tended to happen during all of Reigns' big matches and feuds at the time.
However, the match was built as a foundation to a more dangerous character for the 'Eater of the Worlds' which paid off during his singles run, which would come later.
7 The Fiend v Finn Balor (SummerSlam 2019)
One of the most famous and unique characters in WWE history was The Fiend, as covered previously.
Performed by Bray Wyatt himself, The Fiend’s debut in WWE was very strong, and perhaps one of the best introductions of a character in wrestling history.
The Fiend’s first match came against Finn Balor, and their battle at SummerSlam 2019 was a must-see.
After a classic victory against Balor, fans expected WWE to redo the match, this time against Finn’s alter ego, The Demon, which is something we'll unfortunately now never get to see.
6 Bray Wyatt v John Cena (Payback 2014)
One of the biggest rivals for Bray Wyatt was always John Cena.
Though their rivalry began in 2014, both men shared the ring numerous times until 2020, with their iconic match at WrestleMania 36.
However, one of their best battles was the Last Man Standing match at Payback 2014. Though Wyatt was not established as a main event singles star at that time, the match turned out to be a classic and the late star’s position in the roster was enhanced, as a result.
In the end, John Cena defeated Wyatt, which to the disappointment of fans, but he did end up gaining a lot from working with the WWE legend, even in defeat.
5 Bray Wyatt v Daniel Bryan (Royal Rumble 2014)
One of the most important matches of Bray Wyatt's singles career came at Royal Rumble 2014.
Just after setting Erick Rowan and Luke Harper 'free' from the Wyatt Family, the Eater of the World battled one of the biggest faces in the company at the time, the aforementioned Daniel Bryan.
Though the WWE Universe rallied behind Bryan throughout the feud, Wyatt was able to handle all the pressure and eventually delivered one of his greatest performances as a singles star.
This match ended up in Wyatt's favour, with the future WWE Champion picking up the win, and it's been dubbed by many as the match that established Bray as a top singles star.
Although the fans didn't like him, given that he was a heel and had just defeated one of the most beloved WWE stars, Bray's win against Bryan at Royal Rumble 2014 acted as a catalyst for his singles run.
4 Raw (Jericho, Owens, Rollins, Reigns & Strowman) v SmackDown (Wyatt, Styles, Ambrose, Orton & Shane) (Survivor Series 2016)
Though there have been numerous traditional men's Tag Team Elimination matches at Survivor Series, the battle in 2016 stands head and shoulders above the rest.
With some of the hottest storylines going on during the event, the WWE Universe was very excited to witness the battle between ten of the company's most popular wrestlers at the time.
The star-studded battle, which included the likes of Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, saw the ten men tear each other apart, all in the name of brand supremacy.
With cracks in both teams, the match was showcased as one of the most chaotic yet intriguing battles in Survivor Series history.
The match generated some of the greatest moments that year, and is also regarded as one of the biggest matches in Wyatt's career.
In a battle filled with action and engaging storylines, Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton turned out to be the Survivors after eliminating Roman Reigns in the end. This was used as a massive step forward in the friendship between Wyatt and Orton, before the latter betrayed him around WrestleMania.
This victory turned out to be very important for Wyatt's career as a way to get the 'Eater of the World's' into the World Championship picture, where he'd win the title just a few months later.
3 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt v John Cena (WrestleMania 36)
Though Bray Wyatt v John Cena has happened a couple of times in the past, their battle at WrestleMania 36 was a lot different.
Dubbed as the 'Firefly Fun House match', nobody expected what the match would deliver in the end.
However, after a lot of storytelling and mind games, the WWE Universe acknowledged it as one of the greatest and unique battles in WrestleMania history.
At first, things seemed a bit weird when the WWE Universe and John Cena weren't able to understand what was happening. Though the match seemed to be a bit long, the storytelling played as a massive boost for the battle and was soon named one of the most thoughtful battles in history.
The 'cinematic' match turned out to be a massive opportunity for WWE to bring back the lost interest of fans in the product. Delivering the intense battle right after when the world was suffering from COVID-19 was amazing.
Wyatt won against Cena and the match was clearly one of the best matches in his legendary career, and one of the most unique in the industry's history.
2 Bray Wyatt v John Cena v Baron Corbin v Dean Ambrose v AJ Styles v The Miz (Elimination Chamber 2017)
The men's Elimination Chamber has always been a treat to watch for fans.
However, the WWE Championship match in 2017 is considered to be one of the best Elimination Chamber matches in history.
With John Cena defending his WWE Championship in the match, all men had a huge chip on their shoulders, and the bout really had the big-match feel.
While John Cena v AJ Styles was the trending feud heading into the chamber, all the stars turned the match into a classic. After an action-packed battle, Bray Wyatt pinned AJ Styles in the end to win his first WWE Championship.
This was not only the first singles title victory for Wyatt, but also the biggest wins of his entire career. Though Wyatt became the Universal Champion twice later in his career, the Elimination Chamber win felt like the biggest and most significant of his career.
His victory at the event was soon accompanied by a massive storyline with Randy Orton heading into WrestleMania, with the two rivals, and former friends, sharing the ring at the biggest show of the year.
The WWE Championship victory at Elimination Chamber marked the beginning of one of the biggest rivalries of Wyatt's career. Elimination Chamber 2017 is considered to be the platform where Bray Wyatt rose to prominence and the main event match will always be one of the best matches in history.
1 The Wyatt Family v The Shield (Elimination Chamber 2014)
One of the best matches in the history of the pro-wrestling industry is considered to be the classic six-man tag team match between The Wyatt Family and The Shield at Elimination Chamber 2014.
Being two of the biggest factions in the industry at the time, the WWE Universe expected all six men to test each other apart.
While all stars in the match delivered with their intense battle at the event, Bray Wyatt carried his team to victory.
This was a massive push for Wyatt and was then used to lead to a singles match between John Cena at WrestleMania XXX.
Though Wyatt rose to prominence with his performance in the six-man tag team match, he helped the careers of the young Shield members with the battle.
All stars of The Shield, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose (a.k.a. Job Moxley), were given a huge push after their battle with the Wyatt Family, turning themselves into even bigger stars.
Though not many remember the intensity and immense action in the battle, all six men proved why they were the rising stars of their industry with their match.
The Wyatt Family v The Shield is written down as one of the greatest matches in the history of WWE.