Windham Rotunda was a professional wrestler better known by his ring name, Bray Wyatt, whose creativity in the ring and in promos made him a WWE star.
- Died: August 24, 2023 (Who else died on August 24?)
- Details of death: Died of a heart attack after battling COVID-19 at the age of 36.
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Windham Rotunda’s legacy
Rotunda came from a wrestling family, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Blackjack Mulligan; his father, Mike Rotunda; and his uncles, Barry and Kendall Windham. He joined WWE in 2009, initially wrestling under such names as Alex Rotundo and Husky Harris. But it was as Bray Wyatt that he became a WWE legend.
Bray Wyatt debuted in 2012, with a chilling backstory as the leader of a wrestling stable portrayed as a backwoods cult, the Wyatt Family. Rotunda would enter the ring in darkness, lit by the audience’s phones and carrying a lantern through swirling smoke. He was widely praised for the creativity of his character, both in the ring and in promos. In 2017, wrestling as Wyatt, Rotunda won the WWE Championship.
In 2019, Rotunda transformed into two new characters: one the host of a children’s program he called “Firefly Fun House,” the other called the Fiend, wearing a monstrous clown mask. They were presented as two sides of the same person, eventually resolving into a single character, the Fiend.
Rotunda continued wrestling as the Fiend until he was surprisingly released by WWE in 2021. He returned in 2022, wrestling for only a few months before he had to step away due to his illness.
Notable quote
“Follow the buzzards” —one of Rotunda’s catchphrases
Tributes to Windham Rotunda
Full obituary: ESPN
