WWE announced the release of multi-time World Champion Bray Wyatt on Saturday (July 31) after 12 years with the company.

"WWE has come to terms on the release of Bray Wyatt. We wish him the best in all his future endeavors," the company wrote on its official website.

Wyatt hasn't appeared on WWE television since been defeated by Randy Orton at WrestleMania 37 in April.

During the match, Wyatt's "Fiend" character was distracted by former ally Alexa Bliss, which led to Orton hitting an RKO and earning the pinfall victory.

Many fans questioned Wyatt's absence and a lack of explanation for the storyline's turnout in the months since.

Earlier this week, a recent photo of Wyatt surfaced online, with many fans optimistic of a return due to the former champion appearing to be in the best shape of his career.

Wyatt, whose real name is Windham Rotunda, signed a developmental contract with WWE in 2009, initially debuting as Husky Harris during the then-reality show competition version of NXT and later joining the group Nexus on the main roster.

Rotunda was repackaged under the name Bray Wyatt in the then-developmental brand Florida Championship Wrestling and later the current incarnation of NXT as a charismatic cult leader of "The Wyatt Family," working alongside Erick Rowan and the late Brodie Lee, then under the name "Luke Harper."

The trio debuted on WWE's main roster in 2013 and quickly emerged as a top faction, eventually adding future World Champion Braun Strowman and later Orton during the group's relaunch in 2016.

Wyatt's most recent run as 'The Fiend' began in April 2019, with ominous vignettes that eventually turned into a surreal children's program known as Firefly Fun House, showing an uncharacteristically cheery Wyatt as the host.

The vignettes eventually led to the debut of the 'Fiend' alter ego, a sinister, supernatural version of Wyatt wearing a mask.

Wyatt, a third-generation professional wrestler, is a two-time Universal Champion, one-time WWE champion, one-time RAW Tag-Team Champion with Matt Hardy and one-time SmackDown Tag-Team Champion with both Orton and Harper.

Doug Pike

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