"He would punish him and insult him" - Ex-WWE star on Vince McMahon's relationship with former Universal Champion
Former WWE Superstar Matt Hardy has opened up about Vince McMahon's relationship with Bray Wyatt, describing it as almost being parental.
The former Universal Champion was released from the company last year due to budget cuts. During his tenure, he held two world titles, headlined multiple premium live events and shared the ring with countless stars. He had two gimmicks on the main roster, with 'The Fiend' serving as his second one.
Speaking on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, the AEW star revealed that Vince McMahon used to punish and humiliate Bray Wyatt if he didn't like the latter's creative contributions.
“Windham (Bray Wyatt) has always had a very strange relationship with Vince McMahon, very strange, like, I almost felt like Vince looked at him like a son in some ways. When he would do things that he liked, he would love him and he would really give him everything that he could possibly give him. He would bend over backwards to try and accommodate him, but then when he did something he didn’t like, it was like he was going to lock him away for good. It was almost like a really weird, a really strange and different duality that Vince shared with Bray. It was really bad and he would punish him and insult him. To me, it was so strange, it was almost like a parent," said Hardy. (H/T WrestlingNews.Co)
Wyatt and Hardy were part of a tag team known as The Deleters of Worlds. They held the RAW Tag Team Championships together.
Matt Hardy says Vince McMahon never considered Bray Wyatt to be a top guy in WWE
The Eater of Worlds has shared the ring with many top stars such as The Undertaker, John Cena, Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns. His world title runs were fairly short. He lost the WWE Title to Randy Orton at WrestleMania 33 not long after winning it.
Several years later, he dropped the Universal Championship to Goldberg after dethroning Seth Rollins a few months prior. His last match in WWE was against Randy Orton at WrestleMania 37, which he lost.
This doesn't bode well for @VinceMcMahon 😲
THE FIEND IS HERE!
#SmackDown https://t.co/bBCZqcEs7J
Matt Hardy explained during the podcast that Vince McMahon didn't see Wyatt as a top guy compared to guys such as Roman and John Cena. Although he was over with the fans as The Fiend, he fell victim to bad bookings and was released alongside numerous other stars.