Bray Wyatt officially returned to WWE at WWE Extreme Rules after being released by the company in July 2021.
Wyatt's return to built up by "The White Rabbit Project," which was a series of QR codes, social media clues, and hidden messages as fans looked to uncover the clues. The White Rabbit references began during WWE live events in mid-September when Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" would play during breaks.
Speaking to The Wrap, WWE’s Chief Content Officer Triple H discussed how WWE used social media to build up Bray's return.
“We asked ourselves how we could bring back Bray Wyatt in the most engaging way possible. So we created ‘The White Rabbit Project,’ intended to lead our audience down this literal rabbit hole of content to help build anticipation for Wyatt’s return at ‘Extreme Rules’ on Peacock,” he said. "It started with flickering lights in arenas and continued with the release of other easter eggs, like hidden QR codes within episodes of ‘SmackDown’ and ‘Raw’ that led viewers to more clues that kept them guessing, and tuning in, each week. It culminated in what we believe was a massive pay-off for our fans – and for WWE. This is a great example of how WWE is uniquely positioned as a sports and entertainment property to harness the power of our shows and our social following to develop multimedia, long-term storytelling that can help produce meaningful aggregated audiences."
Wyatt's return at WWE Extreme Rules has nearly three million views on YouTube. He returned to WWE SmackDown on Friday's episode, cutting a promo as himself before he was interrupted by a video of his mask.
If you missed anything from Friday's WWE SmackDown, check out Fightful's full report on the show by clicking here.
