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- How Did The Firefly Funhouse Match Come Together?
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At WrestleMania 36, perhaps the weirdest and most unique match in professional wrestling history took place, as John Cena took on Bray Wyatt in a Firefly Funhouse Match, which was unlike anything else that has ever happened in WWE. It was a match which caught a lot of eyes, understandably so given how strange it was, but it ended up being rather divisive amongst fans. In fact, it could be up there with the most divisive of all time, although there are several other matches in contention for that spot, including other “cinematic” matches during this period - one of which also came at WrestleMania 36 as well.
UPDATE: 2023/09/16 14:30 EST BY ANDREW KELLY
How Did The Firefly Funhouse Match Come Together?
The Firefly Funhouse match will forever go down as one of the strangest and most bizarre matches in WWE history, and the only reason it ever came into existence anyway was due to the world being thrown into the pandemic, meaning there were no fans in attendance for WrestleMania 36. WWE had to work with what they had, and Cena and Wyatt were able to go forth with the Firefly Funhouse cinematic match. It is interesting to see how this match came about and who helped to influence what was seen on-screen. Whilst Bray Wyatt remained silent, keeping up with kayfabe and not doing too many interviews, John Cena has been very open about the creative process behind this match.
The Pandemic Led To WWE Producing The Firefly Funhouse Match
Heading into WrestleMania 36, the plan originally was for John Cena and “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt to have a match inside the ring. However, with the pandemic hitting the world, WWE’s biggest show of the year was forced to take place in front of zero fans. This led to several creative hats coming out to produce something different, and a match which wouldn’t have been able to take place with a live crowd.
A “Firefly Funhouse Match” was scheduled to take place between Cena and Wyatt, although nobody knew what this meant. During Night One of WrestleMania 36, The Undertaker and AJ Styles fought in a Boneyard Match, which ended up being a cinematically filmed match on location, with the pair battling in a graveyard, which was produced with music, fire, and other unique techniques. For Night Two, fans were expecting something similar for Cena and Wyatt, but there was no way anyone was expecting what they actually got.
John Cena Vs Bray Wyatt At WrestleMania 36 Was A Fever Dream
John Cena made his entrance into the empty WWE Performance Center, only to be transported into the Firefly Funhouse set. He entered through the door, and seemingly fell into some sort of abyss or alternate reality, which many fans have determined to be inside Cena’s inner conscience. Cena would then battle through several elements of his career, like his debut, major feuds, and potential alternate realities such as a heel turn which never ended up taking place.
Bray Wyatt would torment Cena throughout, in addition to his Firefly Funhouse puppets performing roles such as commentary in what ended up being a complete fever dream. It simply wasn’t a wrestling “match”, it was more of a segment or mini movie. It did end up in pinfall, as Bray Wyatt counted for the finish when “The Fiend” hit a move and pinned Cena, but there was no back and forth action to speak of. For fans who went into WrestleMania expecting a match, they most certainly didn’t get that.
Reception For The Firefly Funhouse Match Was Mixed Between WWE Fans
When looking at reviews for the match, for example on cagematch.net, there is a complete mixture in reception for the bout. There are some who have rated it 0/10, stating that it was one of the worst things they’ve ever seen, and closer to a high school level amateur film rather than the product of a multi-million dollar company. On the other hand, there were people who rated it with a full 10/10 due to it being so different and a breath of fresh air from not just the norm of WWE, but from the other in-ring matches which took place at the show.
Overall though, it does seem as though the consensus for the match is more on the positive side - same with the Boneyard Match too. Each had their critics, but the efforts from WWE were applauded, with them each showing a lot of creativity. In the case of Cena and Wyatt, it seemed as though they were allowed to do as they pleased, with WWE clearly being open to ideas. In terms of other divisive matches, Wyatt has been at the forefront of a few of them, with his “Firefly Inferno Match” against Randy Orton being one which split fans too.
This is due to Wyatt being such a unique performer with a lot of magical elements at times. With him being so different to the norm, it is no surprise that he sometimes gets some criticism. However, other matches have been divisive too, with one of the notable examples being the Iron Man main event between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania, which is arguably more divisive than the Firefly Funhouse Match, but for a whole manner of different reasons due to pacing, hindsight, and rewatch value. It is certainly up there though with the most divisive, but it is very hard to say if it is the definitive top of that list.
The Creative Process Behind The Firefly Funhouse Match
The Firefly Funhouse match was not just any normal bout, and for someone like John Cena who has been in the business for decades right at the top, it was something completely new for him. It is commendable for someone so established to experiment to such a wacky extent, but this just goes to show the love that Cena has for the professional wrestling business. He has been open over the years, speaking in a number of interviews about the match. When speaking to Den of Geek, Cena said that no one knew what they were going to do when the match was first pitched.
“ I remember specifically asking what a Firefly Funhouse match was. And the answer was literally, ‘We don’t know.’ And in most performers that would cause panic, but I was just riveted by the open field that we could possibly create something special. And like you said, it took a lot of brave folks and a lot of hard work to make something that hopefully the audience understood.” (H/T Fightful )
Cena went on to explain how those involved in putting it together were willing to go all in and risk it all, with the consensus being that it would either be really good or suck really bad, and in truth it was both based on the wide-ranging opinions of the WWE Universe in regards to the final product. He explained how there were a lot of instances of heads being put together to figure out the creative direction, with both Cena and Wyatt having a hand in it.
Later on in 2023, Cena revealed that the match was in fact ‘his brainchild’ in an interview with Josh Horowitz of 92NY:
"I did a unique piece of programming called the Firefly Funhouse match. Which was a giant exercise in vulnerability. I worked my a** off on that thing, and I thank everyone who was involved because no one does it alone, but it was kind of my brainchild and my creation." (H/T Wrestling Inc )
There is no denying that both men had a hand in the creation of the match, but with Cena finally revealing it was his initial idea makes the whole thing even more fascinating. Cena has been no stranger to split opinion over the course of his professional wrestling career, and this is just another case of that.
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