WWE Royal Rumble 2023: How did Bray Wyatt tease The Fiend's return?

WWE Royal Rumble 2023 opened with the 30-man Rumble match and was followed by the first-ever Pitch Black match between Bray Wyatt and LA Knight. After their match, the action didn't stop there.

After weeks of face-offs on SmackDown, whether inside or outside the ring, Wyatt and Knight finally clashed at tonight's WWE Royal Rumble 2023 event. The two stars battled it out and the end of the match saw Bray take the victory. Moments later, the victor continued to showcase his dominance.

LA Knight tried to run away from Wyatt after the match, but the latter managed to catch up. The two took the fight outside the ring and when Bray managed to take Knight on stage, Uncle Howdy appeared from the top and jumped on Knight. Bray Wyatt then continued to tease his past persona, The Fiend, as the puppets from The Firefly Funhouse emerged from the back.

Bray Wyatt wasn't the only one who teased a return of his past persona. During Bianca Belair and Alexa Bliss' RAW Women's Championship match, the latter's previous dark persona alongside The Fiend was also teased.

Bray Wyatt spoke about the Uncle Howdy character ahead of WWE Royal Rumble 2023

There has been a lot of conspiracy about Uncle Howdy's character and his importance to Bray Wyatt. However, it looks like the SmackDown star has another take on the mysterious character.

While speaking with Ryan Satin on Out of Character, Bray stated that Uncle Howdy's character is complex and finds the parts he doesn't understand beautiful. Wyatt added that once Howdy's story is told and its connection to his childhood, people will understand its deeper meaning.

"Uncle Howdy is, there’s so much more to it than you think. It’s not just so cut and dry, the spooky man in the background. There’s more to it. There’s complexities that you haven’t got to see yet. There’s things I don’t understand about it. And that’s the beauty of it, is it’s going to grow organically. But the story of it, I don’t think, has been told yet, and once you understand what it really is and where it came from – in my childhood and who Howdy really is – it’s much deeper than you think it is, then you would perceive it to be.”

For now, it remains to be seen where else Uncle Howdy and Bray Wyatt's story will continue after the events of the WWE Royal Rumble 2023.