WWE Releases Bray Wyatt

Former WWE World and Universal champion Bray Wyatt was released by the organization on Saturday, confirmed by the organization on Twitter.

The tweet reads, "WWE has come to terms on the release of Bray Wyatt. We wish him the best in all his future endeavors."

Wyatt had not appeared for WWE since shortly after WrestleMania 37 in April. In his Fiend persona, Wyatt was defeated by Randy Orton at the event, after ally Alexa Bliss turned against him. The next night on Raw, their dissolution was confirmed, as Wyatt starred alone in a "Firefly Fun House" segment, looking forward to a "fresh start."

Wyatt signed with WWE all the way back in 2009, joining brother Bo in WWE developmental. After teaming with his brother for a time, Wyatt moved to the main roster as Husky Harris in 2010, and was part of the second wave of Nexus members.

After the Harris run ended, he became Bray Wyatt, charismatic cult leader, and head of The Wyatt Family. Introduced on the main roster in the summer of 2013, Wyatt was a mainstay for the next eight years. In 2019, Wyatt introduced his alter ego, The Fiend.

Notable rivals included John Cena, Daniel Bryan, The Undertaker, Randy Orton, and all three Shield members, among others.

Wyatt is a former WWE champion, two time Universal champion, and held both the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team titles.

UPDATE: According to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer, Wyatt was told his release was due to budget cuts. He had been preparing for a return in August, and was even booked for some WWE events.