Windham Rotunda, higher identified to WWE followers as Bray Wyatt, has died at age 36. WWE chief content material officer Paul Levesque shared the devastating information on social media noting that Rotunda’s passing was surprising.
A 3-time champion in WWE, Wyatt re-signed with the promotion final 12 months, returning to vital fanfare at WWE Excessive Guidelines on Oct. 8, 2022. Wyatt was in the midst of a program involving a mysterious and manipulating pressure referred to as “Uncle Howdy” however was quietly faraway from WWE programming in late February amid damage rumors.
“Simply acquired a name from WWE Corridor of Famer Mike Rotunda who knowledgeable us of the tragic information that our WWE member of the family for all times Windham Rotunda — also referred to as Bray Wyatt — unexpectedly handed earlier at present,” wrote Levesque, higher identified to followers as Corridor of Famer celebrity Triple H. “Our ideas are together with his household and we ask that everybody respect their privateness at the moment.”
No additional info is accessible concerning the character of Rotunda’s demise.
Windham’s father, Mike Rotunda, beforehand wrestled in WWE as Irwin R. Schyster (IRS). He was greatest identified his affiliation with Ted DiBiase. Windham’s youthful brother, Taylor Michael Rotunda, additionally wrestled for WWE as Bo Dallas. It’s believed that Taylor is signed to the promotion and had been working together with his brother below the masks of the “Uncle Howdy” persona.
Windham Rotunda prolonged wrestling household included grandfather Blackjack Mulligan (Robert Windham) and uncles Barry Windham and Kendall Windham, for whom he was named.
Rotunda pushed the boundaries for contemporary character portrayals in not simply WWE however all {of professional} wrestling.
He began with WWE in 2009 as a comparatively generic celebrity named Husky Harris earlier than later being repackaged as Bray Wyatt. His unnerving portrayal because the cult chief of the Wyatt Household captured the creativeness of followers worldwide and made him one of many firm’s hottest superstars.
A later adaptation of his character, The Fiend, was a masked, sinister entity that turned a focus of programming and earned him two reigns as WWE common champion.
Wyatt additionally gained the WWE championship and two tag crew championships. He famously wrestled legendary superstars Randy Orton and John Cena at two of WWE’s largest reveals, dropping the WWE title to Orton at WrestleMania 33 and beating Cena in a one-of-a-kind “Firefly Enjoyable Home” match at WrestleMania 36 in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
His demise comes lower than three years after his greatest buddy Jonathan Huber — former Wyatt Member of the family Luke Harper and AEW wrestler Brodie Lee — died unexpectedly at age 41.