Bray Wyatt Discusses Stereotypes In Pro Wrestling, His Current WWE Character And More

Chad Dukes of ChadDukesWrestling.com recently interviewed WWE Superstar Bray Wyatt, who was promoting WWE Battleground. Below are some highlights:

Wyatt on his last year on the main WWE roster: "This ride this last year has just been a roller coaster, man. The intensity is off the charts. I measure it a lot by the reception from the people and the fans. So NXT, it took people a while to understand, you know, what exactly you're trying to portray because everyone wants to immediately look at us and they go, "Deliverance" and all these foolish hillbilly… what's the word I'm looking for?"

Wyatt's response when Dukes says "stereotypes": "Stereotypes, exactly, but we're highly intelligent, you know, more like some kind of hillbilly assassins. When we started in NX, we go from that reaction to…I actually was there just last night, and when I walkout there, I just, I see the people ignite. I do the entrance, and I say "NXT, we're home" and they believe it and I believe it, how real it is, and that's sort of how it's been. It starts out, I'm in no mans land not knowing what's going to happen from day to day, how the people are going to receive me, until now, I see in their eyes they understand. They see me for what I want them to see me as, it's truly truly a wonderful feeling, man."

Also read: Bray Wyatt On Interacting With The Fans & Being On The Main Roster

Wyatt on his inspirations for his character: "When we looked at ourselves we never said we wanted to be the next this, we don't want to be the next that. We saw the Shield when they were coming up and we were really angry that the Shield was coming up, because as talented as those guys were, we were already a three-man group. We already existed. We were already battle tested and ready to roll and I think that's why our involvement with them was so special because it was a real affliction.

"As far as inspiration, I'm inspired by everything. I'll watch a homeless man walk down the street with a crazy little limp and the next thing I know I pick it up. And that's the thing though, I don't sit down with a pen and paper, and I don't say, "Hey I'll walk out and say this on Monday Night Raw." I feel it out there, you know man. I start out with a little point that I want to get across and wherever my brain takes me is wherever I go in those promos. It's not something made up, the ideals are not made up, and everything is real to me. Everything I say it's so passionate, it's just real, it's what I really think of the world, what I really think of society and heroes, and all those people that I have a lack of respect for, it's all real images that pop up in my head in sequential order. Boom-boom-boom-boom, and they just flow out of me as if it's not even me talking but something else."

Wyatt on his positive crowd reactions: "I feed off the energy. I don't care what noise that they're making as long as they're making noise. It makes it real; it makes it real to me. If they were sitting down and they were quiet and not making any noise then I'd be worried. But as long as they're loud and they're into what I'm doing it makes me more into what I'm doing."

Chris Jericho Discusses The Bray Wyatt Character, Separating Fozzy From Wrestling, More

The Miami Herald has posted part two of their interview with Chris Jericho, in which he talks about Bray Wyatt's character and music. The two have a match at WWE Battleground tomorrow night. Here are highlights:

On being busy: "The saying is, ‘Whenever you do something you love to do, you never work a day in your life,' and I don't, but everyday is full of activities and lots of things I got to do. I think Chris Jericho is pretty much an industry at this point...It's always what I wanted to do. It's always what I dreamed of doing, and I'll never complain about any of it."

Also read: Chris Jericho Explains Why Bray Wyatt Is Getting Over

On Bray Wyatt: "It's different. It's something nobody's ever seen before. It's a character that he's really dropped into. People believe it's real, and when people believe it's real, they get into it. Same thing as heel Jericho from 2008 and 2009. People wanted to fight me on the streets for real. I was getting in fights with fans. People believed this character was the biggest %$#^& on earth, because that's the way I played it. It's like an Academy Award winning actor. When he wins an award, there's a reason for that, because you believed the character. That's what Bray's doing. He dropped into it. He's embraced it. He created it. It's real. So it's something the people haven't seen before, and that's why it's getting over as good as it is. [The music] really fits the character. It's a swampy type, groovy, New Orleans Cajun type vibe. It's a little bit creepy, and that's basically what the Wyatts are as well. It's very important to have a good ring song that really matches your character to help you get into that character, before you go on stage. That's very, very important."

On keeping Fozzy and wrestling separate:"Whenever I was doing Fozzy, it seemed like I was always a bad guy in wrestling, so it wasn't a good idea to promote the band when I'm also promoting myself as the most hated guy in [wrestling]. That's why you have to keep those separate because people will jump out and go, ‘We're supposed to hate Fozzy, because we're supposed to hate Jericho.' I keep them separate for a reason, because they're two separate things, and they should be, and they are."