WWE Superstar Bray Wyatt Passes Away At Age 36

In a stunning turn of events, WWE wrestler Bray Wyatt (real name Windham Rotunda) has passed away at the age of just 36 years old. WWE’s Chief Content Officer Triple H first broke the news on X/Twitter, stating:

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. Our thoughts are with his family and we ask that everyone respect their…

— Triple H (@TripleH) August 24, 2023

Rotunda had reportedly been dealing with complications from COVID-19 for an extended period of time in what was described as a career- and life-threatening situation, but recent reports indicated that he had been steadily improving ahead of hopefully returning to the ring in the coming months. Unfortunately, as reported by Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, Rotunda took a sudden turn for the worse on Thursday:

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

The Bray Wyatt character had not been seen on WWE programming since the Royal Rumble in January, where he faced LA Knight in a Pitch Black match. He was originally rumored to be facing Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania 39, but it is unclear whether his health issues played a role in the cancellation of that match. Wyatt had taken on many personas during his time in WWE, from the cult leader of the Wyatt Family to the Fiend, a mask-wearing alter ego of Wyatt’s “Mr. Rogers”-like host of the Firefly Funhouse. His most recent run had been considered a possible career renaissance as he portrayed a more genuine version of himself who was haunted by the ghosts of his past characters led by the sinister Uncle Howdy. Unfortunately, WWE fans never got to see the full extent of this character reinvention before his untimely passing. It is truly a tragedy that both he and fellow Wyatt Family member Luke Harper, who was also known as Brodie Lee in AEW, have passed away so young. Lee passed away almost three years ago due to complications from a lung issue unrelated to COVID. He was just 41 years old.

Wyatt’s career accomplishments include winning the WWE Championship once and the Universal Championship twice, along with winning the Smackdown tag team titles with Randy Orton and the Raw tag titles with Matt Hardy. Pro Wrestling Illustrated named Wyatt’s match against John Cena at Payback 2014 its best match of the year, and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter awarded him Gimmick of the Year in 2013 for his Wyatt Family persona and in 2019 for his Fiend character.

Windham Rotunda is survived by his father Mike (known as Irwin R Shyster or IRS in WWE) and brother Taylor (who most recently portrayed the character of Uncle Howdy alongside his brother and was previously known as Bo Dallas) as well as his four children, two with his ex-wife Samantha and two with his fiancée JoJo Offerman, a former WWE ring announcer.

We here at FilmIronic have never been shy about expressing our appreciation for Bray Wyatt as a wrestler and performer. His unique ability to connect with the audience and his creativity in reinventing himself to keep the character fresh made him a particular favorite of ours for many years. He was truly a one-of-a-kind performer the likes of which we will never see again. We are deeply saddened by his passing, and our condolences are with his friends, family, and fans.