Former WWE champion Bray Wyatt has died at the age of 36, Chief Content Officer Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque announced on social media. Wyatt, whose real name was Windham Rotunda, has been missing from action for several months due to what is believed to be a life-threatening illness. Before his tragic passing, recent reports claimed he was getting closer to his in-ring return.
“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,” Levesque wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Our thoughts are with his family and we ask that everyone respect their privacy at this time.”
Wyatt signed on with the company in 2009 and made it to the roster in 2010 as part of the stable known as The Nexus under the ring name ‘Husky Harris’. However, it wasn’t until 2014 that Wyatt’s career really took off as he debuted The Wyatt Family with Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. He would carry the ‘Bray Wyatt’ character by adding more layers to it, while also introducing a dark alter-ego persona known as ‘The Fiend’ before being released from the company in 2021. During this time, he became a two-time WWE champion and even faced The Undertaker at Wrestlemania.
Wyatt was reinstated in 2022 to much fanfare from the public and emotionally addressed the WWE crown in his second appearance on return. He had a couple of matches as the angle saw him being haunted by ‘Uncle Howdy’, a mysterious character himself. The storyline however came to an abrupt end when Wyatt disappeared. Reports of him being diagnosed with a serious illness also started to do the rounds around the same time. He was inactive for the past six months before the tragic news emerged.
Wyatt belongs to a wrestling family. His father Mike was a prominent wrestling figure in the 1990s as Irwin R Shyster, and his brother Taylor Michael Rotunda, aka Bo Dallas. Rotunda is survived by his wife and former WWE ring announced Jojo, who he has 2 kids with. He also has 2 children from his previous marriage to Samantha from 2012 to 2017.
