A former WWE writer has spoken about how plans were pitched to WWE for the late Bray Wyatt to meet cult leader Charles Manson.
Former WWE writer Nick Manfredini was a guest on a recent episode of Freddie Prinze Jr.’s wrestling podcast, ‘Wrestling with Freddie‘, and discussed how he worked closely with the late Bray Wyatt, who passed away tragically at the age of 36 on August 24, 2023, of a heart attack in his sleep.
Manfredini spoke about how Wyatt’s character was heavily inspired by the cult leader Charles Manson, who died in prison in 2017 after being convicted of first-degree murder in 1971, and that Manson saw Wyatt’s promos after one of his former college football teammates, who was working as a prison guard in the facility where Manson was being held, showed him videos of the promos.
Apparently, Manson was so intrigued by Wyatt’s promos that he requested to meet with him, and Wyatt’s father, WWE producer Mike Rotunda, mentioned the idea of Wyatt meeting Manson to the company’s leadership. The idea was promptly rejected.
Manfredini said that he and Wyatt briefly floated the idea between them of secretly meeting Manson without the knowledge of the WWE, but they came to their senses and realised that if they were caught, it could have serious implications for both their jobs with the company.
Bray Wyatt’s Legacy In Wrestling
Despite having passed away so young, Bray Wyatt was with the WWE for 14 years, starting his career with them in 2009, debuting in the developmental territory FCW before joining NXT in 2010 under the ring name Husky Harris. Wyatt joined the main roster that same year debuting at Hell in a Cell as a member of The Nexus, but he was written off of TV in early 2011 to return to FCW, and in 2012 he took on the persona that would make him a multi-time WWE Champion, forming The Wyatt Family with Luke Harper and Erick Rowan after FCW was rebranded to NXT.
Wyatt’s cult leader persona made him a star in the WWE, and he would go on to have feuds with names such as John Cena, Randy Orton, and The Undertaker, before his untimely passing. WWE released a documentary about the life and career of Wyatt in 2024, titled ‘Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal’.
