The wrestling world was stunned by the WWE's unexpected release of superstar Bray Wyatt, and fans made it known at a recent Monday Night Raw in Chicago that they weren't happy. Now, those fans are being admonished by someone who may be a surprising person to join the conversation: Ronda Rousey.
Ronda Rousey had a brief stint in the WWE from 2018 to early 2019 and was the longest reigning women's champion in that short run before the record was broken by Becky Lynch. Though she wasn't a part of the company as long as some wrestlers, Rousey obviously spent enough time in the organization that she now believes that fans were responsible for Bray Wyatt's release. Rousey shared her thoughts in a social media post that defended Wyatt, but also seemingly pointed a finger at fans for what happened:
I’ve seen you same 'fans' chanting #WeWantWyatt last night chanting “We want beach balls” over @WWEBrayWyatt performing. If the @wwe treated him like he was expendable it was because you ungrateful idiots did first.
As WWE fans may expect, Ronda Rousey's comments were not met with acceptance and self-reflection by a good number of people. After all, they wouldn't be chanting for Bray Wyatt's return and stunned by his release if he was unpopular with them, and many have pointed a finger at WWE's poor management of Wyatt's personas time and time again. Essentially, the popular belief is that if fans were ever bored with Bray Wyatt, it was because the WWE never seemed to book him to win when it mattered.
Of course, some will question whether or not fans ever chanted for beach balls during a Bray Wyatt match, but it has been caught on camera. The moment Ronda Rousey is likely referring to occurred at Elimination Chamber 2018. Rousey made an appearance in that pay-per-view to sign her Monday Night Raw contract in the ring, and Wyatt faced off against Woken Matt Hardy in a singles match. Sure enough, there's a video of the event in which crowds chant for beach balls as the two men wrestle.
What's interesting about Ronda Rousey's statement is 2018 was the final year Bray Wyatt would wrestle under the persona he assumed when he formed the "Wyatt Family" stable. In 2019 Wyatt would return with Firefly Fun House in which a reformed Wyatt suppressed all his tortured feelings and was happy. Of course, fans later found out that all his repressed rage and anger manifested in The Fiend persona, which was wildly popular with fans. Is Rousey just voicing her opinion of the situation, or perhaps echoing behind-the-scenes sentiments from others?
We can only speculate and continue to wait and see where and when Bray Wyatt may resurface. He's not the only former WWE talent potentially going to make a debut elsewhere, as Ric Flair may have teased in a recent statement that he's not ready to walk away from wrestling.
