Mike Bennett was almost part of the Bray Wyatt-verse.
Speaking with Alistair McGeorge of Metro.co.uk, the Ring of Honor star revealed that when Bray Wyatt first unveiled The Fiend in 2019, Vince McMahon was keen on him leading another group. Wyatt had already had success with Luke Harper and Erik Rowan, and apparently, Bennett and Eric Young were pencilled in to bring two of his Firefly Funhouse puppets to life.
"Early on when Bray Wyatt turned into The Fiend, Vince was always high on having Bray lead a group for some reason – he always wanted him to lead a group," Bennett began. "We were about a week away from making it happen where me and Eric Young were gonna be part of Bray Wyatt’s group. We were gonna actually be – they were gonna bring to life the puppets. Each puppet was gonna represent an actual person. I don’t remember, there were talks that I was gonna be Sister Abigail and Eric Young was gonna be a buzzard."
Unfortunately, as it happens, plans changed. Bennett added the following:
"It was one of those things where, ‘You guys will play these characters.’ He’s portraying them as the puppets [in the Firefly Fun House], but then they’ll come to life. I thought it was really cool, I was ready to sink my teeth into it. But then like most stuff there, right before it happens they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, we’re not doing that anymore.’ You’re like, ‘Oh, oh OK cool. That would have been a really cool spot but I guess I’ll go sit in catering.’"
The Fiend has not been seen since WrestleMania 37 when he lost to Randy Orton after being distracted by Alexa Bliss.
Bennett and Young were both released on April 15, 2020, as a result of "budget cuts." While Bennett has since joined ROH, Young returned to IMPACT and currently leads Violent By Design, who hold the promotions World Tag Team Titles.
Mike Bennett is scheduled to challenge Jonathan Gresham for the ROH Pure Championship at Ring of Honor's Best in the World PPV. Fightful will have live coverage of the event on Sunday, July 11, 2021, beginning at 4 p.m. PST.
