Bray Wyatt has brought intrigue to his WWE return with the introduction of a new character in Uncle Howdy.
The former WWE Champion returned to the company at Extreme Rules on Oct. 8 after a month of “White Rabbit” teases. Uncle Howdy made his debut on the following SmackDown on Oct. 14 and has played a key fixture in Wyatt’s feud with LA Knight.
The two are scheduled for a “Pitch Black” match at Royal Rumble on Jan. 28. There are no details on the match as of Thursday, but what is on everyone’s mind is the identity of Uncle Howdy.
Initially, fans believed the character to be another persona of Wyatt, similar to The Fiend and his other Firefly Fun House characters. But Uncle Howdy was revealed to be a separate persona on Dec. 16, and he attacked Wyatt on SmackDown last Friday.
If Uncle Howdy is a separate person, then who is the individual trying to set Wyatt on the right path? Here are three theories. For this exercise, we will be ignoring the height and body shape we have seen on television so far since WWE can and perhaps has been changing who has been under the get-up prior to a full reveal.
Bo Dallas
This is the popular choice. Fans have clamored for Wyatt to partner with his real-life brother. Dallas, whose real name is Taylor Rotunda, was released on April 15, 2021, a year after suffering a neck injury after 13 years in the company. Dallas spent the majority of his career as an enhancement talent in WWE and reportedly is focused on life outside of wrestling with his partner and former SmackDown Women’s Champion Liv Morgan — the couple live on a farm together and have started a family real estate business.
But perhaps his brother could convince him to get back in the squared circle for one last run. Prior to his injury, Dallas was in a popular comedic act with Curtis Axel as part of The B-Team, who defeated Wyatt and Matt Hardy to win the Raw Tag Team Championships. A partnership with Wyatt could be beneficial for Dallas to focus more on the character aspects of pro wrestling.
Cameron Grimes
The former NXT North American Champion has been absent from WWE television since he lost to Joe Gacy on the Nov. 11 episode of NXT. There reportedly were plans for Grimes to be integrated into either Raw or SmackDown but these have transpired. But what if Grimes has been Uncle Howdy all this time? The 29-year-old was known in NXT for playing eccentric characters with his “Richest Man In NXT” connecting with fans during the GameStop boom in the stock market.
Grimes is a young star who would benefit from being in a high-profile program with Wyatt. WWE only can go so far with the light shows and the gimmicks before the angle has to lead to legitimate in-ring action, and Grimes can deliver in the ring and help keep interest in the angle alive.
Vincent
The focus on who Uncle Howdy is largely has been internal, but WWE could utilize a wrestler outside of the company. Vincent, aka Vinny Marseglia, completed his run in Impact Wrestling and left the company on Oct. 8 as part of the Honor No More faction with Mike Bennett, Maria Kanellis and Matt Taven. There doesn’t appear to be interest from Tony Khan to bring Vincent back to Ring of Honor, which makes the Rhode Island native a free agent, where he has wrestled on the U.S. independent scene and Mexico.
Vincent, who went with the moniker of “The Horror King” in ROH, has the look that would fit in well next to Wyatt, and he had done a lot of creative things in ROH that would bounce off well mixed with WWE’s high-level production. He even teased he was Uncle Howdy during the SmackDown segment last Friday.
“Sane? Well that’s relative … dig what I’m saying?” Vincent tweeted.
It’s unknown whether or not Vincent has any interest in signing with WWE. But his potential arrival to the company would showcase a bold new direction by bringing in more talent from outside of WWE.
