At WrestleMania this Sunday, Bray Wyatt will be defending the WWE World Championship in front of a live audience of 70,000 and a worldwide audience of millions more. Ahead of Wyatt’s big night, it’s worth looking back on his original debut with the company.
Windham Lawrence Rotunda originally performed for the WWE’s NXT brand, wrestling under the name Husky Harris. Harris made his debut on the main roster when he interfered at Hell in a Cell 2012, helping Wade Barrett win in a match against John Cena.
But Rotunda would not make his debut as Bray Wyatt on WWE television until the summer of 2013. Starting on May 27th’s Monday Night Raw, mysterious vignettes started airing promoting Wyatt and his family. In these promos, Bray Wyatt speaks enigmatically as he walks through the woods with his followers. Wyatt also calls himself the “eater of worlds” and tells everyone to “run,” two things which would become staples of his character later on.
This all culminated in The Wyatt Family’s debut on the July 8th, 2012 episode of Monday Night Raw. During the segment, Kane is in the ring when the Wyatts suddenly appear on the Jumbotron. Bray Wyatt rocks back and forth in his chair, saying that people are sheep who need to be lead. Finally, Wyatt lights a lantern to reveal Erick Rowan and Luke Harper standing behind him. He then says “we’re here,” and the Wyatts enter for the first time on WWE television.
It wouldn’t be until later on that WWE audiences would begin using their phones to create the illusion that fireflies were surrounding the Wyatt Family. Instead, during this debut, the camera stays on Wyatt throughout the entire entrance, and the audience sits almost completely in the dark.
Bray Wyatt then remains seated in his rocking chair as Luke Harper and Erick Rowan attack Kane. After Kane is taken out by Harper and Rowan, Wyatt kneels in front of him and laughs as the show cuts to commercial.
Some fans actually sabotaged this debut a bit by chanting “Husky Harris,” which was Windham Rotunda’s character prior to Bray Wyatt.
Bray Wyatt’s entire WWE debut segment can be watched in the embedded YouTube player above. And what follows are the teaser segments used to promote the Wyatt family prior to their debut: