Worst in the World: The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules

The 2020 Wrestling Observer Awards are officially out, and as always, a Worst Match of the Year has been voted on. The unlucky winner this year is Bray Wyatt vs Bruan Strowman in the Wyatt Swamp Fight from the oddly named Horror Show at Extreme Rules, a show that also featured a match where you could only win by extracting your opponents' eye. It was a weird show. But back to the match. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, where having fans in the stands was not an option, the cinematic style became a favorite form of match presentation for just about any company that could afford to do it. We got some great ones, like the Stadium Stampede, the Boneyard match, and the Firefly Funhouse match. However, by the end of the year, the concept was clearly starting to overstay its welcome. AEW's own chapter in the Deletion series underwhelmed, Impact seemed to just make matches like Ken Shamrock vs Sami Callihan and Moose vs EC3 cinematic for funsies, and WWE sacrificed one of its most popular gimmick matches in Money in the Bank to make it cinematic, and it's genuinely one of the worst matches of the year. I'd actually argue it might be worse than the Swamp Fight, but considering how WWE stopped doing cinematic matches for a while after the Swamp Fight, it's hard to ignore how bad it was.

The Wyatt Swamp Fight came about as a result of Bray Wyatt's failure to win the Universal Championship from Braun Strowman at Money in the Bank. Wyatt, who had just revived the Fiend character for the second time at WrestleMania 36 with the Firefly Funhouse match, disappeared for a month following the loss, only to return as his previous bayou cult leader gimmick. With Wyatt saying they need to "take a step back before they could move forward" and that he wants to destroy what he created, a non-title match was booked between the two, only instead of an in-ring bout, the two would face off in Wyatt's swamp. Man, between this, the House of Horrors, Sister Abigail's house, and the Wyatt Family Compound, Bray Wyatt owns a lot of real estate. He's clearly been talking to his brother. Is this "match" really the worst of 2020? Let's get into it.

Wyatt sits in a rocking chair at the end of a long road as Strowman pulls up in a truck. As Strowman approached Wyatt, the lights go out...outside.

What. When they come back on, Wyatt is gone. When Strowman looks around and sees a sign that says "ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE", an act that includes an unnecessary amount of cuts & zooms, Strowman chucks the rocking chair at the sign. He hears Wyatt's laugh in the distance and follows. Traveling through the swamp, Strowman is greeted by animals that are definitely there and not unrelated stock footage.

He is then attacked by masked goobers, during which Funhouse Bray cuts in and cheers him on. Strowman easily beats up the masked men before he gets hit in the back by...

...another Braun Strowman? The imposter Strowman knocks the real Strowman out with a shovel and the screen goes black. So yeah, it's pretty clear that they're going for something similar to the Firefly Funhouse match with stuff like this, where Wyatt used elements of both John Cena's own history and the history of WWE to destroy him. But whereas Cena had an established lore spanning nearly 20 years, along with the WWE having almost 40 years of material for Wyatt to work with, Strowman doesn't really have that. He was in the Wyatt Family, he was in a fun mixed-tag team with Alexa Bliss...and that's kind of it. WWE is essentially trying to fill 18 minutes with 2 minutes of material.

Strowman wakes up chained to a chair in a garage, surrounded by leftover props from the House of Horrors. More lame horror movie cliches fill the screen as Wyatt walks up and welcomes Strowman home. Wyatt taunts Strowman, saying that when his 15 minutes are up, then he'll be right back where he belongs. Wyatt rambles on about societies crumbling and governments falling, reminding me that, while he's incredibly charismatic, I definitely don't miss these promos every week. This is more cult-like than anything Wyatt would say when he was actually using this gimmick, but still. Strowman says he's going to send Wyatt to Hell where he belongs, which is about as generic a line as possible. Pretty much all of Strowman's dialogue is terrible in this. We do get a nice little call-back to Wyatt's great first main roster vignette when he asks Strowman if he wants to see something "really scary." I like that. It's little but nice.

That "really scary" thing is a woman in a veil with a giant snake. The snake bites Strowman, sending us into an old Wyatt Family video package before cutting to Braun close to a fire. More masked men attack Strowman, who quickly dispatches them before an unmasked man (?) attacks him with a shovel. Strowman disarms the man before knocking him down with the shovel. He kicks the man, who then immediately catches on fire despite not really being near the fire. This is made even more egregious by the fact that you can actually see someone light the guy on fire on the left side.

Strowman laughs at this spontaneous combustion before a women's voice calls his name. The woman in black from before appears on a dock and reveals herself to be Alexa Bliss. She says that she knows Strowman has always wanted to be together and that if he comes home, they can be together forever. This is, arguably, the only good moment of the entire match. I'm not saying it's great, but it's the most "Firefly Funhouse" moment of the match, with Wyatt using one of the only details we have about Strowman (his odd couple, will they-won't they relationship from Mixed Match Challenge with Bliss) to destroy him.

Strowman follows Bliss onto the dock as she disappears into the fog, only for Wyatt to appear and attack Strowman. Wyatt goes for Strowman's eyes before we get our first actual wrestling move of the match, a Uranage into a boat. Not sure if it was dilapidated, but I digress. Strowman stands tall over Wyatt as the boat randomly sails off.

Strowman walks away, only for the boat to return quickly without Wyatt. As Strowman investigates, Wyatt attacks him from behind with a paddle. The two fight in the water, intercut with shots of alligators, as Wyatt seemingly drowns Strowman. Then, all of a sudden, Wyatt disappears and Strowman swims out of the swamp. Strowman lays on the dock, only for Wyatt to walk up and beats him down with the paddle. Strowman, however, gets the upper hand and boots Wyatt through a railing and into the swamp. Strowman stands tall over Wyatt as the end chyron pops up, but this is the moment when the supposedly dead killer comes back to life, for one last scare.

Wyatt's hand reaches up and locks in the Mandible Claw on Strowman, dragging him under the water. The water bubbles and glows red, and The Fiend emerges to really close out the show.

The Verdict

There's a reason this match killed off cinematic matches in WWE for a while. WWE's already tried to make a horror movie wrestling match with the House of Horrors match and failed miserably, and this match actually manages to be worse. At least the House of Horrors match had some actual fighting, even if it was surrounded by terrible horror cliches. The Swamp Fight doesn't even have that. 90% of this match is bad dialogue, cheap horror cliches, and failed attempts at recapturing what the Firefly Funhouse match did. I know Strowman & Wyatt's more traditional matches at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam weren't good either, but at least they were matches. And I know the Firefly Funhouse match didn't have much actual action, but at least Wyatt & Cena were together for the whole thing. Wyatt & Strowman don't even interact for half of the match. There's one positive to this match, the Alexa Bliss stuff, but that's only because it felt like something that would happen in a Strowman-centered Firefly Funhouse match. Avoid this like the plague, because it's definitely a deserving choice of the Worst Match of the Year.

Rankings (Best to Worst)

1. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
2. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
3. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
4. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
5. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
6. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
7. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
8. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
9. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
10. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
11. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
12. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
13. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
14. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
15. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
16. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
17. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
18. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
19. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
20. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
21. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
22. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
23. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
24. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
25. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
26. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
27. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
28. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
29. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
30. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
31. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
32. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
33. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
34. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
35. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
36. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
37. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
38. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
39. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
40. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
41. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
42. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
43. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
44. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
45. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
46. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
47. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
48. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
49. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
50. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
51. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
52. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
53. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
54. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
55. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
56. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
57. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
58. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
59. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
60. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
61. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
62. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
63. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
64. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
65. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
66. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
67. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
68. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
69. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
70. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
71. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
72. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
73. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
74. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
75. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
76. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
77. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
78. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
79. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
80. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
81. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
82. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
83. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
84. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
85. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
86. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
87.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
88. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
89. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
90. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
91. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
92. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
93. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
94. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
95. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
96. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
97. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
98. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
99. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
100. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
101. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
102. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
103. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
104. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
105. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
106. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
107. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
108. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
109. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
110. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
111. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-RAW (7/8/2002)
112. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
113. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
114. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
115. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
116. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
117. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
118. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
119. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
120. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
121. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
122. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
123. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
124. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
125. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
126. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
127. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
128. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
129. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
130. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
131. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
132. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
133. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
134. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
135. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
136. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
137. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
138. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
139. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
140. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
141. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
142. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
143. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
144. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
145. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009

Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoy and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered in the Worst in the World in the comments. Next time, I'm sticking with 2020 and picking a more traditional match, but one that could've easily earned the Worst Match of the Year in its own right. Until then...