Bray Wyatt Beats LA Knight in WWE's 1st-Ever Pitch Black Match at 2023 Royal Rumble

Bray Wyatt defeated LA Knight at the 2023 Royal Rumble pay-per-view on Saturday in WWE's first-ever Pitch Black match.

It was a short hardcore contest that Wyatt won when he hit the Sister Abigail on his opponent.

Amid speculation about what a Pitch Black match actually was, it wasn't actually pitch black in the arena. It was a black light that illuminated the neon ring ropes, LA Knight's trunks and Wyatt's face paint.

Wyatt continued the pursuit of his rival into the backstage area after the conclusion of the match, and Uncle Howdy leapt from scaffolding to send Knight through the floor.

After more than a year away following his release, Wyatt returned to the company at Extreme Rules in October, and it didn't take long for Knight to get on the former WWE champion's bad side.

The two men had a couple of verbal confrontations, and Knight even slapped Wyatt inside the squared circle. That led to Knight getting laid out backstage on numerous occasions, and he blamed his rival for his injuries.

Despite the optics of the situation, Wyatt insisted he wasn't responsible, but Knight wasn't buying it, which led to their match being made official for the Royal Rumble.

While the match was an advertising tie-in for Mountain Dew Pitch Black, there wasn't much else known about the specifics of the bout prior to the premium live event.

One wrinkle that was added to the equation, though, was the introduction of Uncle Howdy to the live audience and the questions about what role he could play.

Uncle Howdy initially only appeared on the big screen in response to a Wyatt promo, and there was some thought that he was merely a figment of Bray's imagination, but theory was ultimately proved incorrect.

On December 16, Uncle Howdy made his debut in front of a live audience, and the next time he showed up, he attacked Wyatt while Knight looked on from inside the ring.

Uncle Howdy's looming presence created some belief Knight could pull off an upset win, especially if the mysterious figure decided to target Wyatt again.

Even so, Wyatt prevailed in his first televised WWE match since returning to WWE, and he is now building momentum ahead of WrestleMania 39.

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