The Story of… The Fiend’s Debut at SummerSlam 2019

With the WWE Network discontinued (Netflix hosts old PPV’s and all current PPV/PLE content is archived on ESPN Unlimited, at least for American audiences), fans seeking out more vintage content have likely found the YouTube channels of WWE, whether it’s their home channel, WWE Vault, or the WCW spin-off channel, a great place to begin. While not perfect, the casual drip of content covers things like classic matches, full events, previously unreleased content, compilations, and more, and since the Vault’s debut in early 2025, they have regularly put out a series called “The Story of…” which covers rivalries and characters, some classic and some maybe not-so classic, but at the end of the day, are easily digestible videos, though some subjects might become repetitious, like “Sting runs in… again” when talking about his feud with the New World Order in 1997, and sometimes having the subject spoiled can be annoying (every clip used has a graphic on screen that slaps you in the face about what will happen)

Before we dive into our first “Story of” recap, what brought us to where we are in the timeline? After several years of being a solid attraction that could flirt with the Main Event scene and at worst be a gatekeeping mid-carder for someone pushed for bigger things, Bray Wyatt’s stock had fallen a bit in 2018, working with a solo Matt Hardy who had adopted the “Woken” variant of the Broken Matt gimmick that was made famous during his time in TNA/Impact Wrestling, in our classic “rivals turn to friends” trope, with the duo briefly holding the Raw Tag Team Titles before dropping them to, and yes this is what they were called, “The B-Team” of Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel, the companions of The Miz. Bray and Hardy both disappeared from WWE TV during the Summer of 2018, with Matt returning early into 2019 in a limited role before departing the company by year’s end, and Bray… well, that’s what we’re doing here today. Welcome to the Story of The Fiend’s Debut at SummerSlam 2019.

The Firefly Fun House Premieres on the April 22nd, 2019 episode of Raw. I’m sure ideas were borrowed from multiple sources, but for someone of my age, I can’t help but think of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse for the childhood innocence version and TV Funhouse on SNL for the “we’re clearly winking at the adult audience” side. Bray Wyatt is dressed casually, telling the audience that he’s missed everyone, but knew they would be back together again and welcomes us to the Firefly Fun House. YOWIE-WOWIE, his little fireflies can feel safe here, and cannot wait to show everyone what he has learned in the time he has been away. He ducks out of view and reemerges with gloved hands covering his face, with “HURT/HEAL” on the fingers. He also wants to introduce us to some friends he made, including Mercy the Buzzard and Abby the Witch! Bray admits he used to be a “very bad man” (canned boos), but he’s been barbarically punished for his wrongdoings. He keeps a reminder, that in his weakest moments, he won’t turn into that “pathetic slob loser again”, pointing out a cardboard cutout of himself before cutting it in half with an electric saw. He’ll always light the way as long as we let him in.

On the following episode of Raw, we get to have more personal time with the new and improved Bray Wyatt. Did you know that BRAY LOVES TO PAINT! He says it’s a way for him to express his suppressed feelings, and as long as you’re expressing yourself, NO ONE CAN HURT YOU. Next, we’re introduced to RAMBLIN’ RABBIT, who wants a look at the painting; a burning house with a woman looking through the window. Suddenly, Abby the Witch (all characters are voiced by Bray) yells out that this is no time for games, with Bray suggesting that Ramblin’ Rabbit take his leave. Abby says Bray hasn’t learned his lesson and that he’s a VERY BAD BOY. Bray apologizes to Abby and asks the audience for forgiveness as well (“YAAAAY!”). Bray quietly walks away and warns us that Abby is a “Sociopath”, and sociopath happens to be the WORD OF THE DAY! That’s all for today, but remember, he will light the way if you let him in (with a bit more sinister delivery this time).

The dark side of the Firefly Fun House continues to trick through; on the May 6th episode of Raw, Bray’s greeting is quickly interrupted as he notices an unusual noise coming from the box that houses Mercy the Buzzard. Mercy has a mouthful of cotton and isn’t interested in sharing the contents of the box, so Bray reaches down and YOWIE-WOWIE, RAMBLIN’ RABBIT HAS BEEN TORN APART! Mercy blames it on Ramblin’ for trying to push his bohemian worldview and ideologies, “you know what I mean.” Bray says it’s OK to express yourself however you feel, whether it’s painting, flying a kite, or ripping Ramblin’ Rabbit to shreds. You can be forgiven, no matter what. In fact, Mercy should be REWARDED WITH A PICNIC. Suddenly, there’s a group of children sitting on the floor of the room, all with vacant expressions on their faces.

Fear not for the fate of Ramblin’ Rabbit, as he’s fine (well, fine enough) and put back together the next week. Bray is in a playful mood, hiding behind the table, and BRAY HAS A SECRET that he wants everybody to know (Abby: “You woke me up for THIS?!”) but he’s going to need the help of all of his fireflies (“YAAAY!). The reaction warms his soul, but there’s still darkness inside him. He’s learned how to harness and control it… “so what do you say? Do you want to see my secret?” The lights flicker and we get rapid cuts of distorted images (including a toy room) and return to a warped version of the Funhouse, with Bray having ditched the friendly sweater for a demonic mask, leather jacket and striped tights. The following week, we get an extended cut of the world famous Firefly Fun House intro, but eventually the video becomes distorted again and showing more children who don’t look very happy before finally cutting back to the masked version of Bray Wyatt.

On May 27th, Bray Wyatt opens up about who The Fiend is; everyone shouldn’t be afraid, because THE FIEND IS HERE TO PROTECT US. Bray’s playful mood today includes having the look of the mask worn drawn onto a paper plate that he uses to cover his face. Sometimes it’s hard to find confidence and be brave, especially when he’s alone, but when he’s the Fiend, he can be anything he wants to be. Abby says Bray just wants people not to see how much of a sicko he is, leading to Bray cosplaying as a doctor. Dr. Bray tells Abby she’s a bully, and Abby doesn’t want to be stuck in this limbo anymore. Bray’s thinking of a different kind of limbo, however, and has two children holding a limbo bar for him as he does his signature spider walk underneath it before telling us to let him in.

The Firefly Fun House Family continues to grow in this VERY SPECIAL EPISODE from June 3, 2019; Bray is hanging out in a workout tank, fanny pack and headband and let’s us know it’s time to exercise! You need to look good and feel good when you do the MUSCLE MAN DANCE! Here’s HUSKUS THE PIG BOY, and he doesn’t take good care of himself. No one is going to tell you this, but all the excessiveness and gluttony will bite you in the tail, but you can be great; people will tell you that you’re a genius and you have the whole world in your hands (WINK WINK).

The chaos continues as we jump to the next episode of Raw; Bray is nailing a sign onto the door, and crudely written in crayon: “Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Exit/HERE”. Meanwhile, Mercy is trying to eat Ramblin’ Rabbit, who fights Mercy off with a flyswatter. Bray offers to get the Fiend to settle them down, sending chills down their stuffed spines. Bray kindly gives Rabbit open mic privileges, but in just a few seconds, Bray comes back, throws Rabbit to the floor and repeatedly smashes Rabbit with a giant mallet. Bray scoops up the body, takes a taste of the goo that came out and exclaims DELICIOUS! We segue to a gag about Ramblin’ Rabbit Bohemian Breakfast Spread: Start Every Morning with a Smash.

If we’re all waiting for this to go somewhere outside the walls of the Firefly Fun House set, GOOD NEWS EVERYONE, as we’re finally getting ready to explore beyond this room! Bray is busy watering his garden, comparing it to our minds, and that it needs water, sunshine to make your ideas grow. Some are full of worms, and that’s no good. People will always lie to you, like your parents telling you the earth is round (“have they really gone all the way around it?!”) or teachers tell you dinosaurs are extinct. He knows what it’s like to not belong and be different, and he built this all for us, so we can be together (including Ramblin Rabbit, who is doing well since his destruction last week). DEVIL VINCE DEBUTS and all the characters say “Join Us”. “People worship what they fear; fear is power. Follow the leader.” And we cut from the Muscle Man Dance to more distorted visuals and chaos.

With three months of vignettes and set up, it’s time for The Fiend to finally appear in front of the live wrestling audience. Following Finn Balor’s victory over Samoa Joe on the July 15th episode of Raw, the celebration was cut short as the lights went out (with obnoxious sound effects) and when we get a visual, Bray (in full Fiend gear) has Finn prone and spikes him with Sister Abigail. The lights flicker again and we get a long, fabulous look at the twisted mask. The Fiend’s havoc would target others, including Mick Foley (on July 22nd) and Kurt Angle (August 5th), but Finn is the long-term target. In an interview from the July 23rd episode of Smackdown, Finn opened up, questioning the motives of Bray but really has no explanations for why he’s being targeted. Kayla Braxton suggests that Finn is shaken, but Finn has stared fear in the eyes before; he didn’t back down then and won’t back down now, and CHALLENGES BRAY, OR THE FIEND, OR WHOEVER, TO A MATCH AT SUMMERSLAM. The Firefly Fun House shows up on the big screen, and YOWIE-WOWIE, Bray says Finn’s bravery is inspiring. We’re all fans of him in the Funhouse, except for the Fiend, who officially accepts the challenge. YAAAAAY! While Finn is an extraordinary man, the Fiend is no man; he’s an abomination. The Fiend is power. The Fiend remembers…. “Let me in.”

As the #1 fan of Finn Balor, Ramblin’ Rabbit pops up on the July 30th episode of Smackdown to warn Balor that he’s made a big mistake because now The Fiend has been unleashed (with clips spliced in from the attack on Raw). Rabbit quickly leaves when Bray makes an appearance, laughing maniacally before telling Finn to let him in. Later in the same show, The Fiend made another appearance, showing up long enough to distract Finn Balor and cost him his match against Dolph Ziggler. YOWIE-WOWIE! On the go-home episode of Smackdown, Huskus is gorging on a table loaded with candy and chocolates. Bray appears to let us know that Finn Balor is NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING, and he LOVES that! Just like Huskus likes stuffing his face with sugary snacks to make himself feel good, he’s afraid that Finn’s courage is ignorance in disguise. He invited The Fiend to his doorstep, WILLINGLY. YOWIE-WOWIE. We’ve hurt for so long and now it’s Finn Balor’s time to hurt.

SummerSlam arrives, held on August 11th from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We get the first ring entrance of The Fiend, and if you weren’t giving Finn the last rites earlier, you might as well before The Fiend gets to the ring. He has a new lantern with the head of Bray housing the light and is using an updated version of “Live in Fear”, with new vocals and a more twisted musical arrangement. We cut to the match joined in progress, but don’t worry, it’s not clipped much, as The Fiend stuns Balor long enough to get him in a compromised position and… SNAPS HIS NECK? Is that a pro wrestling move? The Fiend follows up murder with a standing uranage, but Finn still gets a comeback, getting all his shit in. The Fiend pops to his feet to avoid the Coup de Grace and finishes with the Mandible Claw (the full match is ONLY 3:25, so we got all but the opening moments).

After all that, we’ve come back to what has been the issue with Bray Wyatt’s entire run with the company. Despite being one of their strongest promos and a guy with a lot of ideas (some good, some bad, all up for debate), this match, like a lot of big matches with Wyatt, suffered from “and then the bell rings” syndrome; the matches can never live up to the hype ahead of them, but at least in this particular instance, Wyatt WON, so the cycle didn’t end with “LOL Wyatt lost” and then starting back up with vague promos revealing the target. With that said, the Firefly Fun House felt like a segment worth checking out every week, and you could tell there were fingerprints all over it that weren’t 100% belonging to late-stage Vince McMahon and the design and concept of The Fiend was top notch. Unfortunately, making him too overpowered made it difficult for babyfaces to get any shine from him, and often would come out of the program looking worse than they did going into it, but those are stories for another day.