Bo Dallas didn’t know if he could do it.
He and his brother Windham Rotunda – known professionally as Bray Wyatt – had spent so much time brainstorming ideas for their WWE return. The brothers were like kids again. They were excited, constantly planning, to the point Wyatt would text his sibling at 3 a.m. just to tell him something he thought of.
It all changed when, in August 2023, Wyatt died at the age of 36. The family was devastated, and Dallas thought everything he and his brother had been building for was gone.
Even as he dealt with the sudden loss of a WWE icon, Dallas knew he had to come back to WWE. It had been a while since he last appeared for the company, but he wanted to at least give it a shot. He wanted to continue his brother’s legacy, but he was worried and doubted not only how it was going to be perceived, but if it was going to work.
Then the music hit, the crowd reacted, and all those fears went away. Dallas was back as Uncle Howdy – the character he and his brother created in his final stint in WWE – and he brought along a new group to form the Wyatt Sicks, a group destined to continue the work of Wyatt.
‘I didn’t know if I wanted to continue without my brother, but as this has gone forward, I realize he’s with me more than ever,’ Dallas told USA TODAY Sports. ‘I always loved wrestling, but I thought maybe the passing of my brother might have taken that away from me, but it’s been the exact opposite.
‘I thrive off that moment where the music hits and I step out and I can feel Windham still with me.’
As Dallas works to push his brother’s legacy forward, Wyatt’s ideas continue to come to fruition. Earlier this week, WWE 2K24 released the ‘Bray Wyatt Edition’ of their game, which includes the new version of ‘The Fiend’ – the menacing character Wyatt portrayed – that was supposed to be reinvented when Wyatt was to come back to WWE programming before his death.
Dallas said ‘it’s unbelievable’ to see his brother’s creations still come to life after his death.
‘The world gets the chance to see that even though he’s gone, his ideas and legacy are still going through,’ he said.
It’s not just in the video game world where the influence stays. Wyatt’s fingerprints are still well into the fabric of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks.
‘Everything that’s going on up to this date and then going forward, if it’s not Windham’s idea, it has a piece of Windham’s idea in it,’ Dallas said.
Who the members are of the Wyatt Sicks are also thanks to Wyatt. Based on characters from Wyatt’s Firefly Fun House, the group features Erick Rowan, Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy and Dexter Lumis. Dallas said all the people were personally picked by Wyatt to be part of the stable.
‘He wanted to work with them,’ Dallas said. ‘He hand picked them for reasons almost unknown to me. Like he just saw something and felt something in them.’
The group has been a success since its electric debut in June. The moment the lights start to go off and that singular note from the song ‘Shatter’ – which was also Wyatt’s entrance music – hits, the crowd erupts knowing something mythical is about to take place.
The support from fans has been a heartwarming moment for Dallas. There are some interactions he gets where people will hug him and others will simply say ‘I love you.’
It’s the affection that helps Dallas continue his mission. He’s giving all of his heart and attention into his craft, and he’ll continue to do it as long as he continues to feel what he experiences from the WWE Universe. The Wyatt Sicks appear to have finished their feud with American Alpha, but as for what’s next?
Just like his brother, Dallas has plenty of plans in store.
‘You’re just gonna have to wait and see,’ he said. ‘The Wyatt Sicks is just getting started. We got a lot of work to do.’
Wyatt surely has to be proud to see what his brother is doing for him, but Dallas has gained support from those closest to him that also work to keep the Wyatt legacy alive. He comes from a storied wrestling family, and he describes the past year as the hardest one in their lives.
But as they’ve dealt with tragedy, they’ve become closer, and ‘they’ve been right there along’ the journey to continue the story. Dallas said his family is proud of him because they all know ‘this is what Windham would want.’
One of more mysterious characters in WWE, Wyatt appeared to be larger than life. He didn’t just seem that way to fans, his brother saw him in the same light. Dallas felt like his brother could see into the future, and he recalled before his death that – looking back at it now – it almost seems as if Wyatt knew his brother would be the one to carry the torch.
‘When we were talking and going through all these ideas, a lot of times, he would just say, ‘you just be ready, man, you be ready,” Dallas said. ‘Maybe it was a foresight that he was given, I don’t know. But it just solidifies this is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing for him, because I know this is what he wants.’
It’s a big responsibility to carry a legacy, but Dallas knows he can do it because he isn’t alone. He loves his brother, and so does all of WWE, and they’re all in it together.
‘I feel the love from everybody watching this and that is a part of this, because it’s not just me, it’s everybody,’ he said. ‘Everybody’s in on this for Bray.’
