Ever heard of Knuckles the Clown? Neither had we, at least not until New Day member Xavier Woods posted a video of the character on his Instagram feed. It has an uncanny resemblance to a gimmick that is extremely over in WWE right now.
Woods posted a video of a character former NXT wrestler Knuckles Madsen was creating that was a lot like Bray Wyatt's Firefly Fun House gimmick. If we're being honest, it might even be better. A deranged clown that just wants to be happy but has something clearly broken and terrorizes little kids, the character never really saw the light of day outside of one NXT match. Madsen was released before he could bring the character to life.
Fast-forward half of a decade and Wyatt has taken a similar idea and run with it.
Woods explained that he helped shoot and edit the video as Madsen was trying to get the character over. He wrote:
I think this was like the 2013/2014 time frame in Fcw/Nxt. Knuckles Madsen was a dude who could do so many different and creative gimmicks it was insane. This is my favorite one of his that I got to shoot, direct and edit.
You can see the video below:
Comments like "This dude was Firefly Funhouse before The Fiend" and "The new Wyatt Family for sure." flooded the comments section of Woods' post. Frankly, how this character was never brought to life is a shame.
Years ago, Madsen spoke to False Finish Wrestling Radio (via PWMania) and said the gimmick was an ode to Matt Borne, (Doink The Clown), but with his own twist. He said:
“I had worked with Matt Borne two years ago. We were a tag team kind of deal. After Matt died, it was on my mind for awhile and I wanted to show some other things that I could do. I didn’t want to be Doink, I wanted to be a creepy guy outside your window with the makeup on.”
Could Both Characters Exist In WWE Today?
While Wyatt does seem to occupy the space of the creepy Fun House gimmick in WWE, there's probably room for a character like this on Raw or in NXT. And, there's no reason WWE can't eventually have the two forces meet, team up, or cross paths down the line.
The question becomes who can pull it off? Since the wrestler who was set to play this character has since been released, WWE would need to find a new creepy clown.