Three-time WWE world champion Bray Wyatt died at 36. He came from a long-standing wrestling family.
The wrestler had been dealing with an undisclosed health issue that had kept him out of the ring since February. His death was characterized as sudden by his family.
The news was made public by WWE content officer Triple H, who posted on social media that Wyatt, real name Windham Rotunda, had “unexpectedly passed.”
Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, was among those paying tribute to the star.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Johnson said he was “heartbroken” and had “always had tremendous respect and love” for the wrestler.
Wyatt came from a family of wrestlers, including his grandfather, Blackjack Mulligan, his father, Mike Rotunda, and his younger brother, Bo Dallas.
Rotunda was a famous wrestling legend in his own right known as IRS for his gimmick as a tax collector from Washington, D.C., where he harassed wrestlers and fans as “tax cheats.”
Born in Brooksville, Florida, on 23 May 1987, Wyatt was a state wrestling champion in high school and earned a football scholarship to Troy University.
However, he left his course before graduating to become a professional wrestler, making his professional debut in 2009.
Reports suggested the star had died from a heart attack.
Sean Ross, a wrestling writer, said Wyatt might have died due to complications from COVID.
I was given permission to reveal that earlier this year Windham Rotunda (Bray Wyatt) got COVID that exacerbated a heart issues.
There was a lot of positive progress towards a return and his recovery. Unfortunately today he suffered a heart attack and passed away.
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) August 25, 2023
Rotunda made his wrestling debut in 2009 for Florida Championship Wrestling, where he defeated Brian Jossie in a singles match.
The following year, he wrestled under the name Husky Harris for NXT, with Cody Rhodes serving as his pro.
In 2012, he returned to NXT as Bray Wyatt and formed the Wyatt Family stable with Luke Harper (the late Brodie Lee) and Erick Rowan.
After the Wyatt family broke up, Rotunda feuded with “Broken” Matt Hardy, and they eventually formed a brief tag team.
Rotunda rebranded as “The Fiend” in 2019, his most popular gimmick to date.
“The Fiend” struck a nerve with fans because of his satirical children’s program “Firefly Fun House,” a series of vignettes with eerie puppets that grew more sinister each week.
As “The Fiend,” Rotunda competed in unique matches such as the Wyatt Swamp Fight against Braun Strowman at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules and the Firefly Fun House match against John Cena at WrestleMania 36.
Rotunda is a former WWE Champion, Universal Champion (2x), Raw Tag Team Champion, and SmackDown Tag Team Champion.
He fought under several names, including Husky Harris, Alex Rotunda, Duke Rotundo, and The Fiend.
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).
After being released from WWE in 2021, he made a long-awaited comeback at the pay-per-view Extreme Rules event last October, where he debuted a new version.
He had recently missed several months due to illness. He was close to returning to the WWE before his death, according to the Wrestling News.
Last year, Wyatt broke character to discuss how he overcame his mental health struggles, commenting: “I lost my career. I lost my self-confidence. I lost two people who were very, very close to me. I lost my way.
“And I got to a point where I thought that everything that I’ve ever done here or otherwise, it was all meaningless. Nothing I’ve ever done has ever mattered to anyone. And I was wrong.”
He continued: “Once I was done feeling sorry for myself, I decided to go out in the world again and see… people everywhere that would say, ‘Thank you, Bray, man. When are you coming back home?’
“And then every once in a while, there would be someone I would meet that would be truly remarkable.”
Triple H, real name Paul Levesque, was informed of Rotunda’s death by his father.
Wrestling reporter Sean Ross Sapp later said 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.
