The Wyatt Sicks
| The Wyatt Sicks | |
|---|---|
 The stable's logo | |
| Stable | |
| Leader(s) | Uncle Howdy (Bo Dallas's alter ego) |
| Members | Erick Rowan Dexter Lumis Joe Gacy Nikki Cross |
| Name(s) | The Wyatt Sicks |
| Debut | June 17, 2024 |
| Years active | 2024–present |
The Wyatt Sicks (also stylized as Wyatt Sick6) is a professional wrestling stable performing in WWE, on the Raw brand. The group is composed of leader Uncle Howdy (Bo Dallas's alter ego), and members Erick Rowan, Dexter Lumis, Joe Gacy and Nikki Cross.
The group's origins begin with Bray Wyatt, Dallas' real-life brother who died in August 2023. Wyatt had returned to WWE in October 2022 and aligned himself with Uncle Howdy, who was portrayed by Dallas, during December of that year with plans to eventually form a new stable rumored to include real-life versions of Wyatt's "Firefly Funhouse" puppet characters and to be called the "Wyatt 6". Following Wyatt's death, Howdy remained on hiatus until his return in June 2024, along with Rowan, Lumis, Gacy, and Cross, forming The Wyatt Sicks (a play on words of "Wyatt 6 (six)"), with the other members portraying the puppet characters: Rambling Rabbit, Mercy the Buzzard, Huskus the Pig Boy, and Abby the Witch, respectively.[1] Beginning on the June 24, 2024, episode of Raw, Howdy began appearing as Bo Dallas, this time a kayfabe version of his real-life identity, Taylor Rotunda, similar to his brother's last gimmick during his final run in WWE.
History
[edit]Formation
[edit]After the return of Windham Rotunda to WWE—who worked as Bray Wyatt—at Extreme Rules in October 2022, he was accompanied by a mysterious character who Wyatt identified only as "Uncle Howdy", portrayed by Windham's real-life brother Taylor, who was previously known for performing in WWE as Bo Dallas. Uncle Howdy made numerous appearances, notably in segments involving Wyatt and Alexa Bliss's feud with Bianca Belair in January 2023—Bliss was previously involved in a storyline with Wyatt before Wyatt left WWE in 2021.[2][3] Wyatt and Howdy last appeared together on the February 17, 2023, episode of SmackDown, where Wyatt and Howdy laid out Hit Row, followed by Wyatt challenging the winner of Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley, which took place at that year's Elimination Chamber, to a match at WrestleMania 39.[4] This would also be Wyatt's final physical appearance as he was taken off television shortly afterward due to an undisclosed illness. Uncle Howdy had one further appearance on the following week's episode of SmackDown where he confronted Lashley, who had won at Elimination Chamber, before the storyline was dropped due to Wyatt's indefinite absence. Wyatt died on August 24 at the age of 36, with Uncle Howdy subsequently removed from WWE programming.[5] During the April 2024 documentary Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal, Taylor showed the unfinished ideas Windham had left. He also implied the return of Uncle Howdy, as seen during the ending of the documentary which saw Howdy's silhouette standing behind Wyatt's lantern. Prior to Wyatt's death, there had been online speculation that he and Howdy would be forming a new version of The Wyatt Family called the Wyatt 6 which would include real-life versions of his Firefly Funhouse puppet characters, which had been seen upon his Extreme Rules return and at the 2023 Royal Rumble.[6]
At the beginning of 2024, WWE launched an alternate reality game nicknamed "Nightbird". Over the following months, they aired vignettes at live events and during commercial breaks of televised shows, accompanied by production glitches playing out to a Marti Amado song called "Nightbird". In addition, following WrestleMania XL in April 2024, short screen distortions appeared at various times during WWE programming, with each glitch displaying a QR code leading to websites containing imagery, minigames, and riddles that vaguely referenced the return of Uncle Howdy, in addition to his stable (very similar to how Wyatt returned at Extreme Rules 2022). In some cases, WWE's social media profiles and other avenues were taken over by Howdy. This included instances such as including a QR code for WWE 2K24 that appeared when launching the game.[7]
Debut and first appearances
[edit]At the end of the June 17, 2024, episode of Raw, the arena lights went out and a door appeared on stage, similar to how Wyatt returned at Extreme Rules 2022. The door opened to reveal Nikki Cross crawling from the door towards Wyatt's lantern, before standing up and directing the cameraman to go backstage where it was shown that numerous unnamed WWE backstage staff, several security personnel, and Chad Gable, had been brutally attacked.[8] Erick Rowan, Dexter Lumis, and Joe Gacy were seen standing over the carnage at various points, before finally revealing Uncle Howdy, who led the group out onto the stage to Cross before grabbing the lantern and proclaiming "we're here" and blowing it out, similar to Wyatt. It was then revealed that the group was called the Wyatt Sicks (a play on words of "Wyatt 6 (six)"), with Cross, Rowan, Lumis, and Gacy portraying the respective Firefly Funhouse characters Abby the Witch, Ramblin' Rabbit, Mercy the Buzzard, and Huskus the Pig Boy.[9][10][11] On the June 24 episode of Raw, Bo Dallas appeared and "being interviewed" by his alter ego Uncle Howdy, Dallas lamenting his brother Bray Wyatt's death. Over the following weeks, further vignettes would be played, detailing the general mental states of the respective Wyatt Sicks members.[12]
The group would have their first match on the August 5 episode of Raw, where Lumis, Gacy and Rowan would team up to face the newly formed team "American Made" (Chad Gable and the Creed Brothers), where the Wyatt Sicks would win after Lumis pinned Gable.[13] On the August 26 episode of Raw, Howdy would take on Gable in a singles match, in which Howdy won after interference from both American Made and the Wyatt Sicks, before performing the Sister Abigail.[14]
On the October 21 episode of Raw, The Wyatt Sicks attacked The Miz and The Final Testament, following Karrion Kross's attempts to sow discord in various tag teams - earlier in the year with The New Day, and more recently with Awesome Truth, which led to Miz's heel turn. After Rowan, Lumis, Gacy, and Cross drove away all members of The Final Testament sans Paul Ellering and Miz, Howdy emerged and attempted to perform Sister Abigail on Miz, but Ellering shoved him out of the way and took the hit.[15]
Members
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| L | Leader |
|---|---|
| M | Manager |
| * | Founding member(s) |
| Members | Joined | |
|---|---|---|
| *L | Bo Dallas (Uncle Howdy) |
June 17, 2024 |
| * | Erick Rowan (Rambling Rabbit) | |
| * | Dexter Lumis (Mercy the Buzzard) | |
| * | Joe Gacy (Huskus the Pig) | |
| * | Nikki Cross (Abby the Witch) | |
References
[edit]- ^ Gados, Ryan (18 June 2024). "Wyatt Sicks make terrifying WWE debut after weeks of teases: 'We're here!'". Fox News.com. Fox News. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
- ^ Shubham, Roy (November 5, 2022). "Twitter reacts to Uncle Howdy warning Bray Wyatt at Crown Jewel 2022". Sportskeeda. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
- ^ McGeorge, Alistair (January 10, 2023). "Uncle Howdy makes WWE Raw debut and confronts Alexa Bliss in chilling exchange". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
- ^ Jeremy, Thomas (February 17, 2023). "Bray Wyatt Takes Out Hit Row On Smackdown, Takes Aim At Winner of Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar". 411Mania. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ^ PWMania.com Staff (October 17, 2023). "Update On Bo Dallas' WWE Status And The Uncle Howdy Character". PWMania. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ Lindsey, Philip (June 14, 2024). "3 Best Booking Options for Wyatt 6 Faction Ahead of Reported WWE Raw Debut". Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ^ Rueter, Sean (May 24, 2024). "Uncle Howdy's latest Twitch takeover featured teases for his Family members". Cageside Seats. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
- ^ Johnson, Mike. "WHO WERE THE WYATT SICKS' VICTIMS ON RAW?". PWInsider.com. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
- ^ Ravens, Andrew. "Backstage Notes On Wyatt Sicks Debut, How They'll Interact With Storylines". 411Mania. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
- ^ "WWE's Wyatt Sick6 group debuts in beautifully gory tribute — with final spot in question". New York Post. June 18, 2024.
- ^ Jordan Mendoza (June 18, 2024). "Uncle Howdy makes highly anticipated return to WWE on Raw, continues Bray Wyatt's legacy". USA Today.
- ^ WWE (2024-06-24). Bo Dallas opens up to Uncle Howdy about his brother Bray Wyatt: Raw highlight, June 24, 2024. Retrieved 2024-06-25 – via YouTube.
- ^ Jenkins, H. "Wyatt Sicks Dominate In Debut Match During 8/5 WWE RAW". Ringsidenews.com. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
- ^ "Uncle Howdy Wins In-Ring Debut On 8/26 WWE Raw | Fightful News". www.fightful.com. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
- ^ Powell, Jason (2024-10-21). "WWE Raw results (10/21): Powell's live review of Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker for the Intercontinental Title, New Day vs. AOP and The Creeds vs. Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee in tourney matches for a shot at the WWE Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 2024-10-27.