The Bruiserweight is back. After almost two years as Butch, Pete Dunne revived his original persona on WWE SmackDown!
Back in March 2022, former NXT United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne made his main roster debut – albeit under the new name ‘Butch’, a move that baffled many fans at the time and even caused the man himself to suffer a fair amount of anxiety.
Recently, however, the seeds were sown for the long-awaited return of his Bruiserweight persona when, in a vignette on last week’s SmackDown, Tyler Bate encouraged Butch to think about which name he wanted to make an impact under now that The Brawling Brutes are over.
Fast forward to last night’s SmackDown where Bate and Butch were set to team up to once again take on Pretty Deadly. Bate made his standard entrance but stopped early on the stage before the name ‘Pete Dunne’ appeared on the titantron and a remix of Dunne’s ‘Bruiserweight’ entrance theme echoed throughout the arena.
The former Butch made his way onto the stage with his old hairstyle, maroon singlet and even his fur-lined jacket, all trademarks of his beloved Pete Dunne persona. He eventually posed with Bate with his two fists balled under his chin, his signature pose from his time as Dunne.
HE’S PETE DUNNE AGAIN 😭😭#SmackDown
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Pete Dunne Claimed Victory With The Bitter End
Dunne and Bate went on to repeat their performance against Pretty Deadly two weeks ago when Bate made his main roster debut.
Eventually, Dunne picked up the victory for himself and his former British Strong Style stablemate with a pinfall on Elton Prince after hitting the Bitter End.
Following the show, Pete Dunne shared unaired footage where he made the decision to leave Butch behind.