LA Knight Reflects On Working With Bray Wyatt

WWE

The wrestling world is still in shock over the passing of former WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt back on August 24.

Wyatt’s last televised match took place back at the Royal Rumble, when he defeated LA Knight in the Mountain Dew Pitch Black match.

Wyatt’s final opponent Knight paid tribute to Bray on the August 25 episode of SmackDown in the form of a promo, before defeating Finn Balor in the main event.

Speaking to 98.5 The Sports Hub, Knight reflected on working with Bray, discussing the match at the Rumble.

He said (transcription via Fightful):

“That was the last televised match. We did a series of matches for three weeks to a month after that. That’s essentially where I cut my teeth on SmackDown, in that whole feud. It goes back to what I said on SmackDown, sometimes your biggest foes can be your biggest helpers. In a lot of ways, that whole interaction and whole story helped get me visibility and get me to where I am now.

“It’s tough to take pride in the fact that I was his last match because I wish I wasn’t. I don’t know how to think about that one, other than the fact that I can look at it in a way that I made the most of that opportunity, I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to make that work, and it’s one of the big reasons why I’m doing what I’m doing right now.”

Wyatt, real name Windham Rotunda, passed away aged 36 on Thursday, August 24.

WWE recently released a 35-minute video of several stars talking about the death of Wyatt and the impact that the real-life Windham Rotunda had upon them. You can watch that video below this article.

The Friday, August 25 episode of SmackDown featured multiple tributes to Wyatt, and after the show, several WWE stars got matching tattoos of Wyatt’s logo.

The Monday, August 28 Raw followed suit, as the video package that was played on SmackDown was shown on Raw too, with Wyatt’s entrance music being played in the arena and a spotlight being shone on a rocking chair on the stage.

Seth Rollins, who emotionally paid tribute to Wyatt at a house show over the weekend, also went the extra mile on Raw.

He started his in-ring promo by saying Yowie-Wowie, a catchphrase of Wyatt during The Fiend era, and there was another reference as well.

Rollins’ WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt was modified to have a Rollins logo on one sideplate, and a Fiend mask logo on the other.

As the show went off the air, Lynch held up her “Bray” armband and broke down in tears, and after the show she shared a heartwarming story about Wyatt with the audience.

The aforementioned video package was also played during the following night’s NXT, with commentators Vic Joseph and Booker T noticeably joining in with the crowd in holding up their “fireflies” in Wyatt’s memory.

WWE has added the following note to the item descriptions for Wyatt merch on the WWE Shop website:

In the wake of Bray Wyatt’s death, WWE will donate all net proceeds to support JoJo Offerman and his children.

You can find said merch at this link.

On Thursday, August 24, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reported:

I was given permission to reveal that earlier this year Windham Rotunda (Bray Wyatt) got COVID that exacerbated a heart issues.

There was a lot of positive progress towards a return and his recovery. Unfortunately today he suffered a heart attack and passed away.

Our thoughts and condolences continue to be with the family, friends, and everyone affected by the passing of Windham Rotunda.

• LA Knight
• Bray Wyatt
• wwe

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