WWE Wrestler Bray Wyatt Dead at 36 — Cause of Death Revealed
Windham Rotunda, who wrestled in WWE as Bray Wyatt, has died. He was 36 years old.
WWE’s Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque (known as Triple H) confirmed Rotunda’s sudden passing Thursday on X, the app formerly known as Twitter.
“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 announced. “Our thoughts are with his family and we ask that everyone respect their privacy at this time.”
Update: Fightful.com managing editor Sean Ross Sapp posted to X that he was “given permission” to share that Rotunda “got COVID that exacerbated a heart issues.”
“There was a lot of positive progress towards a return and his recovery,” Sapp added. “Unfortunately today he suffered a heart attack and passed away.”
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 and 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.
TV Stars We Lost in 2023
Rotunda is a former WWE Champion, Universal Champion (2x), Raw Tag Team Champion and SmackDown Tag Team Champion.
He is survived by his fiancé Joseann Offerman (former WWE ring announcer JoJo), their two children, his children with ex-wife Samantha Rotunda, parents Mike and Stephanie Rotunda, brother Taylor Rotunda (known as WWE’s Bo Dallas) and sister Mika Rotunda.
