Joe Gacy still doesn’t know exactly why WWE pulled the plug on the Wyatt Sicks. But after months of thinking about it after his WWE release, he has a theory.
Speaking on the FiveMarks podcast, the former WWE star admitted he believes the faction’s fate may have been decided much earlier than anyone realized, saying it sometimes feels like the company already knew exactly how the story was going to end before it ever had the chance to fully develop.
“I wish I had more time there. I wish the group went a little differently. I wish there were different decisions made. I don’t know this to be true, but part of me feels like the decision that was made with the group was made early on.”
Gacy made it clear he’s not claiming to know what happened behind closed doors. Those conversations weren’t his to hear. But looking back, he can’t help wondering if the group was always working toward an ending that had already been mapped out.
“I think they knew what they were going to do. I think they knew they were going to have us do this. Then I think they knew they were going to kind of get what they could out of it. And then after that… I don’t know if they ever planned for all of us to stick around or not, which is sad to say, but I don’t know. Those are those conversations that are behind closed doors that I don’t really know about.”
Despite those lingering questions, Gacy has no regrets about being part of the Wyatt Sicks. In fact, he says the friendships he built inside the group meant more than anything that happened on television.
“I wouldn’t trade my time with them, specifically the group, for anything else in the world.”
According to Gacy, the family fans saw on WWE programming wasn’t just a gimmick. It was real.
“As we portrayed a family on TV, it honestly was that kind of dynamic backstage also. We all kind of looked out for each other as much as we could.”
He even broke down the role every member played behind the scenes. Eric Rowan was the older brother who constantly looked out for him while still giving him a hard time.
“Rowan treated me like a little brother… messed with me but also gave me advice when I needed it.”
Dexter Lumis became one of his closest friends: “Dexter… he’s like my brother and I still feel that way about him.” Then came the rest of the family dynamic.
“Rowan’s like my big brother. Nikki’s my older little sister. Bo’s always the uncle. He’s the guy.”
Eventually, the conversation turned to the day every WWE Superstar hopes never comes. The release call. Gacy admitted that whenever a Stamford number pops up on your phone, your mind immediately starts racing because everyone in the company knows what it could mean.
“I’ll say this. I think whenever you’re with the company, there’s always that thought in the back of your head that like, ‘Am I going to get released anytime?’ And something somebody said to me early on is, ‘At some point we all get released. Whether it’s now, whether it’s later, years from now, we all leave and we all get released.'”
Ironically, he didn’t answer the call. Not because he was avoiding it. Because he was about to take a shower. When he got out, he didn’t call WWE back. Instead, he checked in with the Wyatt Sicks group chat.
“The day that it happened was kind of crazy because I got a call and, like, you always see a Stamford number calling you and you have that thought. I got the call. I didn’t answer because I was about to get a shower. I got out of the shower and I looked at our group chat… and I just sent to the group, ‘Hey, did anyone else get a phone call?'”
Dexter Lumis answered almost immediately: “Yep.” Gacy fired back with one more question: “‘Is it what I think it is?'” The answer didn’t leave much room for hope: “Yep.”At that point, Gacy already knew.
“So then I called the number back fully knowing exactly what was about to happen. It was a nice conversation. The guy that made the calls was very nice about it.”
The reason he handled it so calmly was simple. He’d been mentally preparing for that phone call ever since the day WWE hired him.
“Ever since I got hired, I always had that thought and tried to always have a plan in the back of my head for the day that the call comes.”
So instead of sitting around during his 90-day non-compete, Gacy immediately shifted into planning his future.
“The call finally came. So I think right away I tried to… what I was allowed to do in my 90 days… I started doing everything I could.”
Now back on the independent scene, Gacy is focused on what’s next. But looking back, one question still lingers in his mind: was the Wyatt Sicks ever supposed to have a long future, or was the ending already written from the very beginning?
Do you think WWE gave the Wyatt Sicks enough of a chance, or did the faction deserve a much longer run? Let us know in the comments below.
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