Top 10 wrestling moments of 2019

#5 The rise of The Fiend

The Fiend

Going into 2019, it would be easy to forget that at this time five years ago, Bray Wyatt was one of the hottest characters on WWE TV.

Following his brief run as one-half of the RAW Tag Team Champions with Matt Hardy in 2018, Wyatt had faded into the shadows, nowhere to be seen in any creative plans.

He reappeared in the spring sporting a sweater and a smile, and he appeared only on screen in vignettes dubbed The Firefly Fun House. Many WWE fans felt extremely confused, even upset, about this new development.

Bray is known as one of the company's most creative performers, however, so it became clear as the weeks progressed that his fingerprints were all over this character. Dark tendencies would start to appear in his persona, eventually manifesting as the character known as The Fiend.

By the time The Fiend made his first appearance in a WWE ring, it was clear the work Wyatt had been putting into these segments had paid dividends as the crowd respose was extremely positive.

His debut match under this new guise at SummerSlam against Finn Balor was met with universal acclaim. All the aspects of the character, such as the lantern in the visage of the head with Bray's old look, to his in-ring characteristics, were spot on. Higher-ups backstage seemed so happy with Bray's showing that he was quickly slotted into the Universal Championship picture, and now he holds that gold.

In an era in which many characters are quite generic, The Fiend is a refreshing addition to the wrestling scene. AEW have tried to hit this type of character with Brandi Rhodes and The Dark Order to lesser success. Maybe The Fiend just set the bar too high.