WWE head of creative Paul “Triple H” Levesque revealed some of the insight and planning that led into Bray Wyatt’s return at Extreme Rules.
Speaking to The Wrap on Monday to trumpet the social media interactions the campaign got, Levesque said they discussed how to bring Wyatt back “in the most engaging way possible.”
“…We created ‘The White Rabbit Project,’ intended to lead our audience down this literal rabbit hole of content to help build anticipation for Wyatt’s return at Extreme Rules on Peacock,” he said.
“It started with flickering lights in arenas and continued with the release of other easter eggs, like hidden QR codes within episodes of SmackDown and Raw that led viewers to more clues that kept them guessing, and tuning in, each week. It culminated in what we believe was a massive pay-off for our fans – and for WWE,” he continued.
He didn’t say how much Wyatt was involved in the planning.
Via The Wrap, it was learned that the QR codes were interacted with by more than one million users (uniques vs. total was unspecified).
After returning at the conclusion of Extreme Rules, Wyatt made his return to SmackDown this past Friday, closing the show with a promo that didn’t explain much but closed with a video clip that seems to indicate he will continue with some kind of split personality character in his latest iteration.
Friday’s ‘White Rabbit’ clues on SmackDown point to tomorrow’s Extreme Rules event.
Triple H opened up Friday’s show, welcoming everyone to the season premiere. During his segment, A QR code appeared on his microphone. The QR code led viewers to a new video, showing images of a cartoon pig, with a voice repeatedly saying “let me in”, which is the catchphrase of Wyatt. The video also flashed an image of Huskus the pig, a puppet character frequently seen in Wyatt’s Firefly Funhouse segments.
Later on SmackDown, a vignette aired of the white rabbit falling down a purple ‘X’. The vignette ended with the date “10.8.22”, as well as the phrase “feed your head” in multiple languages.
A QR code shown on Monday’s Raw featured latitude and longitude coordinates that led to Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center, which will be the home to this year’s Extreme Rules.
The ‘White Rabbit’ viral campaign started last month, with the song ‘White Rabbit’ by Jefferson Airplane playing between commercials for Raw and SmackDown shows, as well as house show events.
WWE’s latest White Rabbit QR code points to an Extreme Rules debut for the character.
A QR code aired in multiple segments on Monday’s Raw show, leading to a WWE.com link. A coded message at the link included a line similar to one used in past Bray Wyatt Firefly Funhouse segments, “All hope abandon, ye who enter here.”
A link in the first photo points to a second photo, which includes the latitude and longitude coordinates for Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center, the site of Saturday’s Extreme Rules premium live event, and the date of the show, 10/8/22.
The QR code numbers behind the picture are 399012n751720w. Those are the latitude and longitude coordinates of Wells Fargo Center. #ExtremeRules is being held at Wells Fargo Center this Saturday #WWERAW#WhiteRabbitpic.twitter.com/XgH148MvfR
“Gacy” is also hidden in the source code of one of the links, perhaps indicating that the next QR code will air during a Joe Gacy segment on Tuesday’s WWE NXT episode. A code hidden in a link from Friday’s SmackDown pointed to “BELAIR,” and the QR code aired during multiple Bianca Belair segments on Monday’s Raw episode.
WWE’s latest White Rabbit QR code tease aired during Friday’s SmackDown episode, with the strongest hints yet of an imminent Bray Wyatt return.
As Karrion Kross cut a promo, a QR code flashed on the screen during Friday’s show. The QR code leads to a link at WWE.com/1911 and a video that includes Morse code, and purportedly a hidden audio message from Wyatt.
At the 1911 link, a video plays with shots of early Porky Pig cartoons, a cartoon wolf, a slaughterhouse, and the Little Red Riding Hood wolf image seen above.
When hovering over the White Rabbit icon on the bottom of the screen at the WWE.com link, “TS_S10E6” appears, a reference to Season 10, Episode 6 of The Simpsons where the Jefferson Airplane song “White Rabbit” plays.
The 1911 link itself could be a reference to a hat that Bray Wyatt wore in a WWE skit when portraying the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland with a 19/11 card in the hat’s brim.
A Twitter user pointed out that if you translate Morse code that appears in the video, “Azazel Reborn” is the message, and goes on to explain the Azazel meaning.
Hurricane Ian in Florida, which has led to mass evacuations, is the major story in wrestling this week, as it is in the country because so much of the major league talent in wrestling lives in the state.
Tony Khan had sent both a corporate email and a Twitter post to alert everyone from the area that coming to the 9/28 tapings in Philadelphia was voluntary.
“For everyone in AEW, in case you missed our email, anyone worried about Hurricane Ian affecting your travel or home or your family, it’s voluntary to come to TV this week. Anyone affected by the hurricane can take care of business at home and we hope to see you all next week.”
The 9/28 Dynamite show and Rampage tapings had to be rewritten due to talent not being there although every advertised segment took place. Less was advertised ahead of time than usual because Khan was aware of the potential problems for several days ahead of time. The only names that appeared obviously missing were Jake Hager and Swerve Strickland, both of whom were confirmed as two of the people not there due to the hurricane hitting where they live badly and them needing to stay home. Strickland wasn’t with Keith Lee in a confrontation with The Acclaimed to build a tag team title rematch, and Hager wasn’t with the Jericho Appreciation Society. On a trivia note, it was Hager who came up with the idea of the JAS coming out in all purple suits in the celebration. There were several others not there including Samoa Joe, and the plans to start a Joe & Wardlow vs. Lee & Strickland program had to be put on hold.
Wrestling Observer Live with Mike Sempervive and I is back with tons to talk about including Monday’s WWE Raw recap, the continued White Rabbit teases, AEW deciding to not release anyone for now, SmackDown’s sky-high ratings and why they did them, and more.
The video clip included archival footage of ECW and WWE wrestlers saying “Who killed the world? You did,” and “Feed your head.”
The video also included the numbers 40701, which happens to be the postal code for Corbin, Kentucky.
Online speculation pointed to the inclusion of the ECW footage as a clue that the White Rabbit will debut at Extreme Rules in Philadelphia on October 8.
The White Rabbit teases began during the September 16 SmackDown episode, with the Jefferson Airplane song “White Rabbit” being played for the live crowd during commercial breaks. The song has continued to be used during breaks in WWE house shows since. Another tease aired during the September 19 Raw, and another during the September 23 SmackDown.
AEW Grand Slam report, the business, the future angles coming out of the show, ideas for the show for next year, angles, Saraya, Great Muta, business notes, highest TV gates in U.S history including inflation adjusted and warning signs. Behind the Roman Reigns vs. Logan Paul idea and why it’s reasons for happening are very different than a traditional PPV main event CMLL’s 89th anniversary show. A report on the major show this year with the hottest crowd and some of the best action and booking. Updates on Extreme Rules The U.S. team wins the men’s world team championship and places second with women, how the team members did and an 18-year old capturing a world championship Jose Aldo, the featherweight great, his career and how he helped get featherweights into the UFC WWE & AEW business over the past two months. What categories are up and down and by how much. Also comparisons to May & June numbers and the most unique note about attendance increases and decrease Complete coverage of last week’s UFC show Kento Miyahara, All Japan returns to Budokan Hall for its 50th anniversary, and first time since 2004 Dangerous Gate 2002 from Dragon Gate TV ratings including how each segment on the major shows did Former WWE wrestler talks about going to CMLL and wants to be in next year’s Anniversary main event Legend from TV boom returns to Arena Mexico Notes on next week’s CMLL Night of Champions fan voting show Stardom Five Star Grand Prix update Last match of the Great Muta Fantastica Mania may be back Former WWE announcers television show canceled Former WCW announcer now a network radio news anchor Former WWE star open movie company Kurt Angle talks about a return after double knee replacement but notes it probably won’t happen MLW TV taping news Things is another promotion affect world title Next questions about WBD long-term MJF talks his return and future AEW Revolution 2023 Streaming numbers International TV ratings The second biggest PPV match of all-time may be rematched in 2023 White Rabbit NXT changes Hulu and WWE update Young Rock update
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Monday News Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw and the latest news tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio. You can also send questions to the show to [email protected]
Raw is tonight in Edmonton. A sellout crowd of about 12,500 is expected for the show, the first time Raw has been in the city since 2011. I think this crows shows that Raw should be in that city again. The lineup has Bianca Belair vs. Iyo Sky in a non-title match, Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins, Johnny Gargano & Kevin Owens vs. Chad Gable & Otis, Matt Riddle & Damian Priest and Sami Zayn vs. AJ Styles. Solo Sikoa will be in Zayn’s corner.
Coming off the largest audience to watch Smackdown of 2022 on Friday due to the White Rabbit curiosity and people thinking Bray Wyatt is coming, they are again teasing something for tonight. It will be interesting because the football game is the New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys which would be expected to do a major number once again, so Raw has gotten no breaks from the NFL this season so far.
We’re looking for reports from Edmonton with dark matches and Main Event matches, as well as from the house shows in Stockton on Saturday night and Fresno last night to [email protected]
The high point of Friday’s Smackdown show and also the high point for Smackdown this year was the Braun Strowman vs. Otis match at 2,767,000 viewers and 0.70 in 18-49. (thanks to Wrestlenomics)
The national news story involving Brett Favre and the welfare fraud case in the state of Mississippi also involves the DiBiase family. This story gives Ted DiBiase Jr.’s version of things. Neither Favre nor Ted DiBiase Sr., are charged with any crimes although prosecutors are trying to seize DiBiase Jr.’s home. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
The Royal Rumble presale takes place on Wednesday for the 1/28 show at the Alamodome in San Antonio. It will be interesting to see how hot the first day is since WWE attendance is way up the last few months. They can put 60,000 in the building. Right now the ticket set up is between 37,000 and 42,000 but they can add more if necessary.
The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in Wichita Falls, TX which has closed down we were told was a wreck. Someone did preserve everything they could and Tim Hornbaker, a historian and book author, rescued everything he could and he and Steve Jonson and working on it and some of Fred Hornby’s history is left. Some of historian J. Michael Kenyon’s stuff is left as well including his ashes and his instructions for their disposal which were not followed. (thanks to Crimson Mask)
We send our deepest sympathies to Teddy Long who noted today that his wife recently passed away.
Drew McIntyre was able to train last night in his home gym. He’s expected to be in San Antonio this week to do Royal Rumble press and on sale. As noted yesterday he had a bad case of food poisoning and missed the weekend shows.
Space in Mexico will be airing the 10/15 TripleMania show live. It will air live in the U.S. on FITE.
UFC
Jailton Almeida vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov was announced for the 10/22 UFC 280 show in Abu Dhabi.
Other Notes
Absolute Intense Wrestling announced today it was leaving IWTV immediately. They said for the first time in years they are looking for new opportunities and partnerships to stream their video library of content dating back to 2005. They are looking for a new live streaming partner for their shows.
Big Damo won the Progress Atlas title in Birmingham, UK from Luke Jacobs and will be defending against Shigehiro Irie tomorrow at the Dome in Tufnell Park. Aussie Open also faces Violence is Forever and the main event has Chris Brookes vs. Kid Lykos.
Vice will be doing a marathon of Dark Side of the Ring episodes a week from Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The debut of the Territories will be at 10 p.m. that night. We’ll have more on that as the week goes on.
LFA announced on 10/21 in Oshkosh, WI on UFC Fight Pass with Bruno Assios (12-6) vs. Jesse Murray (9-4) and Olivia Beekau (1-1) vs. Jena Bishop (3-0) in the top bouts.
Bare Knuckle Boxing on 10/;1 in Monroe, LA at the FAnt Ewing Coliseum with former UFC star Ben Rothwell vs. Bobo Bannon. Light heavyweight champion Lorenzo Hunt has a non-title fight against Quentin Henry.
Glory Pro Wrestling from last night in St. Louis:
Devin & Steven O’Neal b Frodo the Ghost & Marcus Mucherson
Sonny Kiss b Allie Katch
Xavier Walker won four-way over Tootie Lynn, k ATM and Laynie Luck
The clues to the “White Rabbit” on SmackDown lead to another show. These clues need to be more than just promos for the next episode, otherwise WWE risks fans turning on this angle. So far, it’s turned out to be just a carny trick in the digital age. Fans need to be rewarded for their time, not used.
Plus, a monologue from three weeks ago turns out to be prophetic when it comes to the CM Punk controversy, The Great Muta and Bobby Fish make surprise appearances on AEW and IMPACT respectively, the lineup for EXTREME RULES so far, and more. Check it out.
A QR code on Friday’s SmackDown led to another tease regarding the “White Rabbit”.
During Friday’s show, A QR code was seen during a watch party segment with Hit Row. When viewers scanned the code, it led them to WWE’s website for a new teaser. Clicking on the teaser led to a mini-game where players guide a white rabbit to a door. When reaching the door, a new image appears with the word “patricide”, along with coordinates. The coordinates lead to Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, which will host Raw this coming Monday.
Additionally, the song “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane played again during Friday’s show in between commercials.
The “White Rabbit” song first played during last Friday’s SmackDown, continuing throughout the weekend on WWE house shows. On Raw this past Monday, a QR code was seen next to Austin Theory. That QR code led to WWE’s website, with a teaser ending with the date 9.23, the date of Friday’s SmackDown.
On the day that many expect a big return on WWE SmackDown, the company released two different t-shirts on WWEShop.com that feature a white rabbit and a hangman game.
One is a black shirt that simply has a rabbit on it while another has the “Who killed the world? You did.” phrase with the hangman game featured in a video that launched Monday. WWE not so subtly featured a QR code on Raw in the background several times that took viewers to the video.
The video ends with 9.23 which is tonight when SmackDown will emanate from Salt Lake City, Utah.
This follows the company playing the song “White Rabbit” from Jefferson Airplane last Friday during a SmackDown commercial break and then over the weekend.
The speculation is that this is all tied into the return of Bray Wyatt who was released in July 2021. Since then, the 35-year-old has yet to appear in a wrestling ring but has been on social media from time to time.
WWE continued the “White Rabbit” tease on tonight’s Raw, leading viewers to a page on their webiste.
During Monday’s show, Austin Theory was shown backstage near a QR code. When the QR code was scanned, it took viewers to a WWE.com page where a white rabbit was shown playing a game of Hangman. The question brought forth during the game was “who killed the world?”, with the answer being revealed as “you did”. The video ended with “9.23”. Friday’s SmackDown will take place on September 23 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Since last Friday’s SmackDown, the song “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Starship has played during commercial breaks. The song also played during weekend house shows, and once again played during a commercial break during Monday’s Raw.
Speculation regarding who may be behind the “White Rabbit” song has pointed to Bray Wyatt, who was released from WWE back in July of 2021. Dave Meltzer reported earlier this month that there were “definitely talks in that direction” regarding a Wyatt return to the company.
For the second night in a row, the song “White Rabbit” ominously played to a live WWE crowd.
During a commercial break on Friday’s edition of SmackDown, the Jefferson Airplane song played to the fans in the arena but was not shown on television. The house lights were shut off and red lighting lit up the stage as the song came to an end.
So this happened during a commercial break on #Smackdown in the arena Friday night. It was not seen on tv. What this was for we don’t know yet. It was bizarre. They played the song “White Rabbit” while in darkness, then some red lights came on at the end. #wwepic.twitter.com/Tfte2PlRoU
Some have speculated that this could be related to Karrion Kross, as he was known as The White Rabbit in Lucha Underground. Others have commented that it could be teasing Bray Wyatt returning to the company.
Grace Slick wrote “White Rabbit” in the mid-1960s. The song’s lyrics are below:
“One pill makes you larger And one pill makes you small And the ones that mother gives you Don’t do anything at all Go ask Alice When she’s ten feet tall
And if you go chasing rabbits And you know you’re going to fall Tell ’em a hookah-smoking caterpillar Has given you the call Call Alice When she was just small
When the men on the chessboard Get up and tell you where to go And you’ve just had some kind of mushroom And your mind is moving low Go ask Alice I think she’ll know
When logic and proportion Have fallen sloppy dead And the White Knight is talking backwards And the Red Queen’s off with her head Remember what the dormouse said Feed your head Feed your head”
