“The Fiend” has a new toy.
On Friday’s episode of WWE SmackDown, WWE Universal Champion “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt revealed a new companion piece to his still relatively new blue-strapped belt. That belt was only introduced a few weeks ago itself, on his “Firefly Fun House” segment.
It’s taken me months of being on staff to write about wrestling and horror, save for reviewing Powerbomb, so I’m taking advantage of this opportunity, damn it.
On Halloween night, Bray Wyatt defeated Seth Rollins in a Falls Count Anywhere match at Crown Jewel, notching Wyatt’s second world championship in the company, his first being the WWE Championship back in February 2017. Since he had just been drafted from RAW to SmackDown just weeks prior to the win, the Universal Championship changed shows with Wyatt, and Brock Lesnar, the current WWE Champion, moved to RAW to fill the world title void there.
On the November 8 episode of SmackDown, the Universal title changed from having a red strap, signaling its designation to RAW, to a blue one for SmackDown. No more jam belt, now it’s a blueberry pie belt!
Full disclosure: If you’re not a wrestling fan, this article will make no bloody sense, but I also have to wonder why you clicked to read it, much less why you read this far, after seeing WWE in the headline. But life goes on.
Following Wyatt’s first successful pay-per-view defense against Daniel Bryan at Survivor Series this past Sunday, The Fiend announced that there would be a new face appearing on “Firefly Fun House,” in which we usually see the Dr. Jekyll that is Bray Wyatt, whereas the Mr. Hyde that is “The Fiend” does the dirty work in-ring. Since the character has two sides, as evidenced by the “HURT/HEAL” gloves he wears both in and out of the ring.
Now, Bray, with his ponytail and sweater combo, can “YOWIE WOWIE” with his blue Universal title over his shoulder to his heart’s content, while “The Fiend” will have a custom title belt bearing the visage of his mask as the centerpiece. Adorned with the “HURT/HEAL” dynamic shared by his gloves, the belt looks like it was crafted in a dingy basement or shed, perhaps aided by a certain chainsaw-wielding cannibal of horror yesteryear. In reality, the custom belt was designed by the legendary Tom Savini, who also designed The Fiend’s mask, which debuted alongside the character upon Bray’s repackaging earlier this year.
Bottom line is, the thing is goddamn creepy, regardless of how you feel about wrestling. I admit that, at first glance, I hated the look of this belt, but given the brutish, sadistic nature of the “Fiend” character, it makes sense that he would have something like this around his waist, rather than a shiny gold-and-diamonds title belt as so many typically are.
In any case, it seems like finally, after years of rocky creative behind the once-cult leader, Bray Wyatt is able to shine as a truly terrifying presence. Some could even argue that this character could be this generation’s answer to the one and only Undertaker. And if that comparison bothers you…
Let him in.
A limited run of replicas of the new “Fiend” Universal Championship are available for pre-order at wweshop.com. Each title belt is handcrafted by Tom Savini, and is individually numbered.
See the segment of “Firefly Fun House” with the new “Fiend” Universal Championship, along with images of the belt, below.
