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- With the very unfortunate passing of Windham Rotunda just recently, let's take a look at one of the characters that was a massive inspiration for the first concept of Bray Wyatt. Waylon Mercy was a character much like Bray Wyatt in FCW, NXT, and even his first bit on the main roster. The two men actually met and worked on Wyatt's character and continued to work together a bit afterward with characters like The Fiend. So out of respect for both men and the work they did in the ring and the work they did on creating fascinating characters that are remembered fondly, let's deep dive into the character of Waylon Mercy and the man behind the gimmick, Dan Spivey.
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WWE's New Generation Era paved the way for many exciting superstars to break out as legendary performers in the business. However, this generation from the early to mid-1990s was also known for the many over-the-top cartoony characters that got brought up on WWE TV.
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While many of these characters were universally panned by fans and critics alike, some felt that certain gimmicks had a chance to achieve a certain level of success. One of those gimmicks was Waylon Mercy, portrayed by wrestling veteran Dan Spivey, who eventually became the influential figure for Bray Wyatt's character many years later.
UPDATE: 2023/09/23 16:30 EST BY ETHAN SCHLABAUGH
With the very unfortunate passing of Windham Rotunda just recently, let's take a look at one of the characters that was a massive inspiration for the first concept of Bray Wyatt. Waylon Mercy was a character much like Bray Wyatt in FCW, NXT, and even his first bit on the main roster. The two men actually met and worked on Wyatt's character and continued to work together a bit afterward with characters like The Fiend. So out of respect for both men and the work they did in the ring and the work they did on creating fascinating characters that are remembered fondly, let's deep dive into the character of Waylon Mercy and the man behind the gimmick, Dan Spivey.
The Cartoony Gimmicks Of WWE's New Generation Era
During the early to mid-1990s, WWE unleashed the New Generation Era, where the company featured a new crop of featured talent on WWE TV. Because of moments like Shawn Michaels winning his first WWE Championship at WrestleMania 12, the New Generation Era is mainly looked upon with great fondness after all these years.
However, the New Generation Era also paved the way for many ridiculous gimmicks that fans and critics still remember, although not in a good way. When it comes to the goofy characters of the 1990s, characters were outlandish and stood out with their colorful personas and attires to appeal to the much younger audience that the WWE was trying to cater to. Gimmicks like Mantaur, Phantasio, and Bastion Booger, were just a few examples of wacky characters that had little to no chance of succeeding in the long run. As fans of the 1990s were moving past cartoony gimmicks for edgier programming, which explains the launch of the Attitude Era in 1997, ridiculous characters with little appeal didn't work with an evolving fanbase.
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Dan Spivey Wrestled As Waylon Mercy In 1995
With the countless gimmicks that were being introduced and thrown away during the New Generation Era, one name that deserved a lot more time and focus was that of Waylon Mercy. For those who don't know, the "Waylon Mercy" character was portrayed by Dan Spivey, who'd been in the wrestling business since making his debut in 1983. He wrestled for numerous promotions like Jim Crockett Promotions/WCW, where he was known for teaming with Sid Vicious and "Mean" Mark Callous (later known as The Undertaker) as The Skyscraper and even WWE during the 1980s, where he was known for teaming with Mike Rotunda as The American Express. In these promotions, he didn't find much title success but a stint in All Japan Pro Wrestling did seem him capture the World Tag Team Championship alongside legend Stan Hansen. Spivey also received acclaimed for his talent with the Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranking him as No. 43 in the top 500 singles wrestlers in 1992.
In June 1995, Dan Spivey returned to WWE for a second run with the newly adopted Waylon Mercy character, based on Robert De Niro's "Max Cady" portrayal in the 1991 film Cape Fear. Waylon Mercy would wear a Hawaiian shirt when making his entrance while sporting a creepy mini-sword tattoo on his forehead.
Before his in-ring debut, he had many vignettes where he spoke sinisterly despite appearing calm, almost like he was leading some sort of cult. In his last vignette before wrestling his first match, Mercy said, "Lives are gonna be in Waylon Mercy's hands," sending a bone-chilling message to the WWE roster. The vignettes were eerie and really presented Mercy as not so much a tough-as-nails wrestler who shouldn't be messed with but instead a scary haunting man that most people wouldn't think twice about standing in front of.
Although Waylon Mercy was a heel, he had babyface qualities that he used to replicate the feeling of an actual cult leader, doing things like donning a massive smile when he made his entrance and shaking the hands of referees to give off that amazing first impression; one would think Mercy was actually a good person. However, Mercy showed a different demeanor when it was time to wrestle, becoming more aggressive toward his opponents. He'd apply a sleeper hold finisher, showcasing a deranged cock-eyed look while putting his opponents to sleep.
Although Waylon Mercy got pushed to defeat many opponents, including a count-out victory over WWE Champion Diesel in his final TV match, Mercy didn't last long in the promotion as injuries finally caught up to him and forced Spivey to retire in 1995. Despite retirement getting him out of the ring, Spivey still tried to have some foot in the wrestling world with one appearance in 2015 where he got back in the ring for Dory Funk Jr.'s !BANG! promotion where he and Dory worked a 10-man Japanese Banzai match.
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Dan Spivey Becoming An Influence On Bray Wyatt's Career
Dan Spivey's portrayal of the "Waylon Mercy" character is fascinating because even though the gimmick didn't amount to much in WWE, considering Dan Spivey had a short second run in the company, Waylon Mercy's said to be an influence for the much more recent Bray Wyatt character, who's one of the biggest stars in modern wrestling. When Bray Wyatt first arrived on the scene, he used much of the same characteristics Waylon Mercy used in 1995, including the Hawaiian shirt.
It's also worth noting that Waylon Mercy was at the WWE Performance Center advising Bray Wyatt on his characteristics, going out of his way to help the next generation of talent. Considering Bray Wyatt's a former multi-time world champion and was a massive star for the promotion during his tenure, it can be argued that Dan Spivey maybe deserves a bit more credit for his work as well. The two men even got to work together on-screen in some ways when Wyatt introduced his "Firefly Funhouse" segments and introduced the puppet Mercy the Buzzard. The voice behind the character was that of Dan Spivey himself.
In 2016, Raj Giri of WrestlingInc interviewed Spivey and the former wrestler gave Wyatt advice on his character:
"He was living in a little country town about 40 minutes outside of Tampa. So I told him to see how they act. When you can take from people in your life and take things from how they act and utilize them and make characters out of them. That's what worked for me, and that's what he's doing and he's doing a great job. I'm proud of him,"
