The night WWE took it "a step too far" with The Fiend
December 20, 2020. On this night, The Fiend was set on fire by arch-rival Randy Orton at WWE TLC.
Last year, The Fiend possessed Alexa Bliss on WWE SmackDown, and the duo was later drafted to RAW. Soon after, The Fiend and Bliss targeted WWE veteran Randy Orton on the red brand. The feud led to a Firefly Inferno match at WWE TLC 2020, a presentation that ended with The Fiend getting burned alive.
The 12-minute outing concluded when the former Universal Champion's back caught fire. After the match, Randy Orton hit a devastating RKO on his opponent and then set his unconscious body on fire. Bray Wyatt was burning to a crisp as WWE TLC went off the air.
Someday someone will break you so badly that you’ll become unbreakable.
-The Joker
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The ending to The Fiend vs. Randy Orton received a huge response on social media
Randy Orton setting Bray Wyatt's alter-ego on fire was certainly a moment no one had anticipated, and it took the wrestling world by storm. Fans flocked to social media to react to the same. While many lauded WWE for doing something different, most fans weren't happy with how things turned out.
Fans who were already getting annoyed with WWE for adding supernatural elements to Bray Wyatt's gimmick didn't appreciate the TLC 2020 ending one bit. Former WWE official Jimmy Korderas usually steers clear of bashing WWE, but even he didn't look thrilled with what he saw that night.
“It’s tough because you talk about crossing a line and you talk about the Attitude Era and all the crazy stuff that went on there, I get toning it down. At the same time, I know you want to ramp things up, but for me, setting someone on fire is maybe just taking it a step too far. I don’t think they needed to go there," said Korderas. [H/T The Wrestling Inc. Daily]
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Over the next several weeks, The Fiend remained absent from WWE TV. The road to WrestleMania 37 saw Alexa Bliss vowing to exact revenge on Randy Orton for his heinous actions.
The Fiend met Orton at The Show of Shows, where the feud finally culminated. Bliss turned on Wyatt at the event and helped The Viper defeat him to everyone's surprise.
Months later, WWE let Bray Wyatt go in possibly the biggest release of 2021. There's no concrete news on what's next for Wyatt.
The sinister entity provided the WWE Universe with a long list of memorable moments, and what happened at TLC 2020 is somewhere at the top.