The Wyatt Sicks made one of the most dramatic debuts in WWE history. Uncle Howdy and friends soaked in crowd adoration after a backstage bloodbath. It was eerie and cinematic, and did the late Bray Wyatt proud.
Their brutal decimation of Chad Gable and WWE personnel suggested a nightmarish takeover would follow. But the Wyatt Sicks' presence on Raw has been more a recurring dream than an endless nightmare. The Wyatt Sicks had auxiliary storylines with Gable's American Made and Karrion Kross' Final Testament factions. Bo Dallas -- the real-life brother of deceased former WWE champion Wyatt -- promises much more will come.
"It'll get back to there," Dallas told CBS Sports while detailing the "Bray Wyatt" Edition of WWE 2K24, which is available now. "There are going to be ups and downs. We'll come back more explosive than ever and keep the vibe and feeling that everyone has seen. It'll take turns no one saw coming. I think the future is very exciting and looks very, very bright for the Wyatt Sicks."
The approach to presenting supernatural-adjacent gimmicks like the Wyatt Sicks requires special care. These characters often function differently from typical professional wrestling archetypes who wrestle for money and championships. The Wyatt Sicks have more fictional touches and different agendas. A delicate hand is required to balance their wrestling and character work. You want the Wyatt Sicks to wrestle enough to keep them relevant but not so much as to ruin their mystique.
"Whenever they need to take someone out," Dallas said when asked how often the Wyatt Sicks should wrestle. "Whenever the Wyatt Sicks deems it necessary. We can get it done every day of the week if necessary."
Wyatt is the heart and soul of the Wyatt Sicks. It's important long term that Wyatt Sicks is not overshadowed by its namesake. You cannot and should not strip Wyatt from the Sicks, but the group must stand on its own.
"It'll all be explained in time," Dallas said. "You'll see Bray in everything we do, for sure, because it's the source of the ideas. But as it progresses, more ideas and my emotions and the Wyatt Sicks' emotions in everything they've gone through, will all be put out there.
"The Wyatt Sicks, I have no fear or problem saying we have no worries about standing on our own. This beginning part is the main tribute to Bray, and it will all come around. Everybody in the Wyatt Sicks is in the Wyatt Sicks for a reason."
Taylor Rotunda -- the man portraying Bo Dallas and alter ego Uncle Howdy -- compares Wyatt Sicks' trajectory to his personal grief. Mourning is not linear, nor is the roadmap for his new on-camera family.
"I'm drawing off real emotions and what has happened in my life. What I was going through and what I am going through," Dallas said. "Keeping my brother's legacy alive, there will be lots of ups and downs. I'm being very cathartic with this character. It's releasing a lot for me. I can almost not live without it anymore. There are directions I know I want it to go, where we all want it to go, and where it probably will go...
"When I put on the Uncle Howdy mask, I had plenty of worries about coming back and doing this. 'Can I do this? Will I be able to do this without my brother?' As soon as the music hits and I hear the crowd, it's unlike anything else. I've been wrestling for 16 years, this is a completely different feeling. I am Uncle Howdy when I have that mask on. You won't be able to talk to me, you can't call me Taylor or Bo. I'm Uncle Howdy and I believe it."
Multi-time world champion Wyatt, 36, died of a heart attack triggered by a COVID-19 infection on Aug. 24, 2023, according to pro wrestling journalist Sean Ross Sapp. He fell ill in January after defeating LA Knight at the Royal Rumble in his final appearance.
Wyatt returned to the WWE in September 2022 after being released by the promotion. Dallas, who was also released, joined him under the alter-ego of Uncle Howdy. It was the brothers' first time performing on the WWE main roster together. A dream realized for Dallas and Wyatt, lifelong horror fanatics who grew up in the lauded Rotunda-Windham wrestling dynasty.
"We'd been waiting our entire careers to throw these ideas together, so we were getting excited like little kids who had never done it before," Dallas said. "We'd call each other at three in the morning with new ideas. We had so many ideas in those short months we were working together. I thought I lost that chance when he passed away. I thought that went away and was taken from me."
Check out the full interview with Bo Dallas below.
The Wyatt Sicks allows Dallas and Wyatt's dream to endure. Wyatt's unrestrained imagination extends beyond his days on Earth and can't be contained to Monday Night Raw. WWE 2K24's "Bray Wyatt" bundle includes a new design of Wyatt's "The Fiend" mask that didn't make it to television. The mask, first showcased in the "Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal" documentary, can be used by players in the game.
"For it to come into 2K, for people to be able to see what Windham's idea was and to see it come to life, it's my full source of drive," Dallas said. "It's unbelievable. It means everything to me and I know it means everything to him.
"He's up there watching and loving this. I'm so appreciative to WWE for giving me the opportunity and platform to keep my brother's legacy alive. It's unbelievable."