Bray Wyatt was bearing his soul when a sinister force took over (Picture: WWE)
Bray Wyatt stunned WWE fans as he brought SmackDown to a close with an emotional speech and one huge horror movie style twist.
The former world champion – who made his epic return at Extreme Rules last weekend – spoke out of character as Windham Rotunda for the first time and offered a heartbreaking insight into the ‘past year of his life’, hinting at Brodie Lee’s tragic death and getting released by the company in the summer of 2021.
After making a haunting entrance with an incredible new theme song, Bray took the mic and said: ‘I am incredibly grateful and I’m really, really nervous to be here. I never thought this would happen. This right here, this is just me OK? This is a version of me that I’ve never got to introduce to you guys before.’
What following was an emotional rollercoaster as he admitted he lost his ‘self confidence’, his career and thought everything he’d ever done in WWE was ‘meaningless’.
‘I was wrong,’ he added, fighting back tears and opening up about fans coming up to him to thank him for saving their lives, leading to a huge ‘Thank you Bray’ chant.
He continued: ‘The thing about that is… is that I can sit here right now today and I look all of you in the eyes, and I can say that you were there when I was weak, when I was vulnerable, when I was down. I can say, thank you. You all saved my life.’
He noted that every time he ‘tried to run away and hide’, fans were there behind him, but his emotional moment was halted as the creepy mask he wore at Extreme Rules appeared on screen.
‘Come with me. Your life is done. Forget the future. Life is over,’ a sinister voice said. ‘You’ve got no idea who you’re dealing with, do you? Ooh but you will! You will!’
What a way to end the show.
Rey Mysterio tries to quit but earns huge Intercontinental Championship match in main event
The night got off to a chaotic start with Karrion Kross hurt in a car crash before Drew McIntyre jumped on the attack.
After some Bloodline tension backstage – including a phone call from Roman Reigns – Jey Uso accompanied Sami Zayn to the ring for his brilliant opening match against Kofi Kingston.
The New Day man had Xavier Woods at ringside, but Jey laid him outside with a superkick late in the bout before helping the Honorary Uce to victory.
Triple H make a deal with Rey Mysterio (Picture: WWE)
In an emotional moment, Rey Mysterio found Triple H backstage and told the boss he was getting too overwhelmed by his ongoing family drama with son Dominik, and so he decided to quit.
Triple H invited the masked legend into his office to try and ‘come up with another solution’, in a fantastic bit of development for Rey and Dom’s story.
Braun Strowman made light work of two local talents as Omos came through the stands with MVP, who took issue with Braun calling himself the Monster of All Monsters and issued a word of warning.
Max Dupri is no more and LA Knight has arrived (Picture: WWE)
After separating himself from Maximum Male Models and reverting back to his LA Knight persona, the charismatic star picked up a simple but entertaining victory over mån.sôör.
He got on the mic after the bell and rinsed the live crowd, positioning himself as a villain and putting the locker room on notice.
In a six-woman tag set up backstage, Damage CTRL found themselves facing the team of Shotzi, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez as Bayley stole the win for her trio.
At just 20 years old, Roxanne already looks so smooth in the ring and fit in perfectly on her main roster debut, while Bayley, Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai getting the win was absolutely the right call.
Legado Del Fantasma made quick work of Hit Row as the group kicked off their main roster in-ring run in serious style, while Hit Row sadly look to already be faltering.
Sonya Deville talked some trash about Liv Morgan backstage but the former SmackDown Women’s Champion interrupted with a wild attack, showing some newfound aggression and sending her through a table.
Rey Mysterio ended up replacing Karrion Kross in the main event against Sheamus, Solo Sikoa and Ricochet and picked up the win to set up a huge match with GUNTHER for the Intercontinental Title.’
WWE SmackDown airs Friday nights at 1am on BT Sport 1.
WWE SmackDown results and grades – October 14, 2022
Braun Strowman destroyed two local talents (C)
LA Knight beat mån.sôör (C+)
Damage CTRL defeated Roxanne Perez, Raquel Rodriguez and Shotzi (B+)
Legado Del Fantasma decimated Hit Row (C+)
Number One Contender for IC Title: Rey Mysterio beat Ricochet, Solo Sikoa and Sheamus (A-)
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What a night!