WWE: Bray Wyatt dies @ 36
By Daniel Mfoniso
The three-times WWE world champion, Windham Lawrence Rotunda popularly known “Bray Wyatt” has passed away on Thursday, August 24, at age 36 following an undisclosed illness which kept him away from the ring since February 2023.
Confirming his demise, Paul Levesque (Triple H), who is the chief content officer and head of creative for WWE, said he had been informed of Rotunda’s death by his father.
“Just received a call from WWE Hall of Famer Mike Rotunda who informed us of the tragic news that our WWE family member for life Windham Rotunda – also known as Bray Wyatt – unexpectedly passed earlier today,” he wrote.
“Our thoughts are with his family and we ask that everyone respect their privacy at this time.”
Wyatt was born in Brooksville, Florida on 23 May, 1987, to a family of wrestlers, including his grandfather Blackjack Mulligan, his father Mike Rotunda, his younger brother Bo Dallas and his uncles – Barry and Kendall Windham are all familiar names to the WWE universe.
Bray stated his career as a state wrestling champion in high school, which earned him a football scholarship to Troy University.
Though, he left his course before graduating to become a professional wrestler. Rotunda was a famous wrestling legend in his own right, known as IRS due to his gimmick as a tax collector from Washington DC who harassed wrestlers and fans as “tax cheats”.
Making his professional debut in 2008, He was famous with several stage names like Husky Harris, Alex Rotunda, Duke Rotundo and The Fiend.
Also, As Bray Wyatt, he portrayed the villainous leader of a cult faction named “The Wyatt family” with Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman, and the late Luke Harper (aka Brodie Lee).
Professionally, Wyatt became a three-time world champion in WWE, holding the WWE Championship once and the Universal Championship twice. He also held the SmackDown Tag Team Championship (with Luke Harper and Randy Orton under the Freebirds Rule) and the Raw Tag Team Championship (with Matt Hardy) once each.
After being released from WWE in 2021, he made a long-awaited comeback at the pay-per-view Extreme Rules, on October 2022, where he debuted a new version of his character. He appeared in 2023 Royal Rumble where he defeated L.A knight in a “pitch black match”.
Last year, Wyatt broke character to discuss his mental health struggles, commenting: “I lost a lot of things. I lost my career, I lost two people who were very, very close to me, and I lost my way”.
“I got to a point where I thought that everything that Id’ ever done here otherwise I thought was all meaningless.”
Bray, recently missed several months. it was reported to be battling with a life-threatening illness since February, and was closed on returning to the WWE before his death, according to Wrestling News.
However, Wrestling reporter Sean Ross Sapp later said that the 36-year-old had died of a heart attack, after a brush with COVID that exacerbated existing heart conditions.
“There was a lot of positive progress towards a return and his recovery,” he said. “Unfortunately, today he suffered a heart attack and passed away.”
Wyatt is survived by his fiancée and former WWE ring announcer Joseann Offerman, their two children, Wyatt’s two children from a previous marriage, brother Bo Dallas (Taylor Rotunda), and sister Mika.
