The world of professional wrestling was left reeling last week when Triple H shared the news that Bray Wyatt had died, aged just 36. It's still hard to believe it happened, and Windham Rotunda's death has left a huge void in WWE.
Wyatt was pulled from television shortly before this year's WrestleMania, reportedly due to COVID (which ultimately weakened his heart and caused a cardiac arrest). In the months that followed, we heard conflicting reports about his WWE status, though the prevailing theory was that he'd gearing up to return in the coming months.
Prior to his disappearance from television, WWE appeared to be setting the stage for the introduction of a new Wyatt Family. Uncle Howdy had already been introduced, with the prevailing theory being that it was Bray's real-life brother, Bo Dallas, beneath the mask.
We may never know what the endgame was for this storyline - it was apparent Alexa Bliss would eventually reunite with Bray - but Dave Meltzer revealed new details about plans for Uncle Howdy in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
"At first the idea was for Wyatt to build to a match with Howdy at WrestleMania, but that plan ended up changing and Howdy was not being pushed at that level, and the character dropped."
This was evident from the fact Wyatt and Howdy quickly went from enemies to allies, with their final appearance on SmackDown showing both men teaming up to take out both members of Hit Row.
It's currently unclear whether WWE has any plans to bring the Uncle Howdy character back and we've understandably yet to hear from Bo about that or his brother's death.
WWE has also released an emotional new tribute with a number of WWE Superstars remembering Wyatt.