Bray Wyatt’s return to WWE was well-received by fans, and has been big business for the company.
Wyatt returned at the WWE Extreme Rules 2022 Premium Live Event, fifteen months after his controversial release in July 2021.
At the time, it was reported that Bray’s high-dollar contract and creative differences with then-CEO Vince McMahon led to the decision.
The White Rabbit
During the recent 2022 Q3 earnings call, WWE Head of Creative and Talent Relations spoke about Wyatt’s return.
The Game explained that ‘The White Rabbit Project’ was an incredibly effective tool in generating hype, as fans tried to decipher the use of the Jefferson Airplane song at Live events.
Triple H added that interest in the White Rabbit only grew with the introduction of QR codes, and said that these drove up the viewership of the 9pm hour of the September 23, 2022, SmackDown by 20%.
That episode was the most-watched episode of SmackDown since March of 2020.
Best for Business
After weeks of teases, the White Rabbit would be revealed to be Wyatt who earned a thunderous response from the live crowd.
Triple H explained how Bray, who he called “one of our biggest Superstars” has been a provable draw, going by their metrics (via NoDQ.com.)
“Bray Wyatt’s return at Extreme Rules resulted in a 30% increase in total viewership and became the most-watched Extreme Rules in history. Monday Night Raw just two nights later also benefitted increasing our audience to nearly 2 million, an increase of 14% week over week.”
An appearance by Wyatt has been announced for this Saturday’s Crown Jewel event.
Merchandise
Wyatt’s return to WWE has come with a ton of merchandise, which has been selling well so far.
On the call, Triple H explained that when Bray returned, his first shirt back became the top-selling item – not just among WWE merchandise – but across Fanatics’ entire network of e-commerce sites.
More merchandise is expected following the debut of the Uncle Howdy character on last week’s SmackDown.
