When looking at the world of professional wrestling, there are many notable families within the business that have multiple generations of individuals who have all achieved success in the industry. Amongst the most famous wrestling families include the McMahon family, the Anoa’i family, and the Hart family. For most casual WWE fans, they may not know that both Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas were not only brothers, but their family is rich with wrestling blood, although the company didn’t ever acknowledge their heritage, or even their relation, despite each being within the promotion for the better part of a decade.
WWE Usually Acknowledges Relations Between Wrestlers
WWE has a long history of having siblings not only team together, but feud too. Those aforementioned families were forever intertwined during their time in the company, in addition to the likes of the Hardy Boyz, Cody Rhodes & Goldust, and several more over the years too. Not acknowledging the relation of certain individuals has happened before, such as Jerry Lawler and The Honky Tonk Man, and several more, although more often than not, relations are brought to light, and at times, some relations are even made up, including Kane and The Undertaker.
In the case of Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas, being real-life brothers in wrestling is something that is usually focussed on, even if it is to prompt a feud and to make things more personal. During their time in FCW, they would team together under the names of Bo and Duke Rotundo, even winning the FCW Tag Team Championship belts. However, their team didn’t last for long, and it wasn’t long until they continued separately and under different names when developmental became NXT, as they became Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt.
Bray Wyatt And Bo Dallas Have Deep Roots In Wrestling
When looking at Bray Wyatt’s gimmick, which was of a cult leader, it is perhaps understandable as to why WWE opted to not go into his heritage. Having a creepy, swamp-dwelling cultist being acknowledged as the son of Irwin R. Schyster, a heel taxman character during the 90s, would perhaps not have fit the character at all, and instead it could have detracted from his aura. That being said, it would have added a unique element and perhaps some nuance to his gimmick if his family was explored.
Wyatt and Dallas are not only related to IRS, but also to Barry and Kendall Windham, and to Blackjack Mulligan, all of which are legends of the business in their own rights. To give some stars a kickstart on their pursuits to stardom, such as Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes making reference to their fathers and grandfathers, added some immediate notoriety to their names, and doing so for Wyatt and Dallas could have been useful, particularly in the case of Dallas.
Acknowledging Their Relation Would Have Benefited Bray Wyatt And Bo Dallas In WWE
Whilst Wyatt usually did pretty well on his own, with him becoming one of the most popular names in WWE despite being a heel for most of the time, Dallas would have undoubtedly benefited from being aligned to his older brother. Dallas showcased great potential whilst in NXT, becoming a very entertaining heel as NXT Champion, but his run on the main roster was full of missed opportunity, poor booking, and gimmicks that had a ceiling.
At many points during his run, Dallas was at a dead end, and he would’ve been a perfect addition to the Wyatt Family. It is baffling that WWE never made that a reality, especially when Dallas grew out his beard to match the others in the group. When looking at the pair side to side, they have identical smiles and look very similar, so it wasn’t exactly a huge secret that they had some form of relation, although it was never properly brought up at any point during their main roster career, even though at times it could have benefited both men, especially when Dallas was directionless. Wyatt could have done with some more followers, as his ‘cult’ only had five members overall, including himself, with one of those only pretending to be a member.
It was a missed opportunity to not make reference to their relation, as an alliance would have been great, and a reign as Tag Team Champions or even with Dallas as Wyatt’s lackey, could have produced some strong content. Wyatt and Dallas are still not old either, with them being 35 and 32, and an alliance could have led to a feud, which could have brought some star power to Dallas. Unfortunately, the pair would be released by the WWE during their pandemic budget cuts, ending their runs with the company with their brotherhood never spoken about, nor their legendary family history either.