“WWE icon Bray Wyatt, renowned for his boundless creativity within the realm of professional wrestling, tragically left us on Thursday, succumbing at the age of 36 to a health condition that had been undisclosed.”. The announcement was made by WWE’s Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque on social media.
Wyatt, whose real name was Windham Rotunda, had been inactive in WWE for the past several months while dealing with an undisclosed health problem. He had been with WWE since 2009, except for a year in 2021 and 2022 when he was unexpectedly released. Rotunda returned to WWE with much fanfare and a mysterious storyline in September of last year, including enigmatic vignettes that helped boost television ratings.
“Just learned of Windham Rotunda’s passing, known to the world as Bray Wyatt, with a heavy heart,” Levesque posted on Twitter. WWE offers its sympathies to Rotunda’s loved ones, friends, and supporters. Rotunda comes from a wrestling family; his father Mike gained notoriety in the WWE as Irwin R. Schyster as well as under a number of other personas, including his real name Michael Wallstreet. One of the most renowned wrestlers of the 1980s and 1990s and a significant member of the illustrious Four Horsemen stable was Rotunda’s uncle Barry Windham. Taylor, Rotunda’s brother, is a WWE wrestler who previously went under the ring name Bo Dallas.
Former WWE ring announcer JoJo Offerman entered marital bliss with Windham Rotunda matrimony.. He had two children and from his previous marriage, two other children. He was a two-time former WWE Universal Champion and WWE Champion.
After starting off in WWE’s developmental program as the character Husky Harris and then transitioning to the cult leader Bray Wyatt, Rotunda gained popularity alongside his Wyatt Family stable (Erick Rowan and the late Luke Harper, whose real name was Jonathan Huber) in WWE’s developmental brand, NXT, before making a major impact on the WWE main roster in 2014. Rotunda was known as one of the most talented performers on the roster, especially when it came to storytelling on the microphone. He introduced catchphrases like “Follow the buzzards” and the lyrics “He’s got the whole world in his hands” into his promos. As he entered the arena, fans would light up their cellphone flashlights in response to his eerie entrance, with his haunting theme music playing
In 2019, Rotunda reinvented himself as the eerie character “The Fiend,” wearing a terrifying mask, which was a supernatural representation of a joker. Bray Wyatt continued to have a presence in family-friendly segments, like the Firefly Fun House, but The Fiend, a dark and enigmatic persona, took over in-ring competition. These intricate and imaginative concepts were mostly Rotunda’s own creations. The Fiend was portrayed as an indestructible force in the ring, but it was a transformative leap in character, and at the time, it was one of the most captivating elements on WWE television.
Rotunda returned to WWE in 2021 after being released as the previous Bray Wyatt, portraying a wholesome character who was seemingly possessed by old monsters like The Fiend and Uncle Houdini. The story was still evolving when Rotunda disappeared from television due to health issues in February.”