Bray Wyatt dies at 36; SmackDown, WWE Universe honor the late Superstar
WWE Head of Creative Paul "Triple H" Levesque announced Thursday on X that former Superstar Bray Wyatt — whose real name was Windham Rotunda — had died. He was 36.
Levesque said that he received the news from Rotunda's father and WWE Hall of Famer Mike Rotunda.
Rotunda's cause of death has yet to be officially confirmed.
Rotunda — a former WWE Universal Champion and WWE Champion — wrestled in WWE for over a decade, using several different monikers, including Husky Harris, Bray Wyatt and Wyatt's alter-ego, The Fiend.
On Friday's edition of SmackDown, WWE honored the late Rotunda.
Windham Rotunda tribute — Friday Night SmackDown
World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins released a video tribute on Friday as well.
"Truth is, I still don't really know what to say. Windham was a unique cat. He was a simple yet deeply complex individual, and I loved him. I loved him. I loved working with him, but mostly I just loved being around him. He was always joyful. These eyes that drew you in, and a smile and a laugh and a presence that just made you happy. And we're all gonna miss that."
Rotunda's last televised match in the WWE came at Royal Rumble 2023, when Bray Wyatt defeated LA Knight via pinfall in a pitch black match. Prior to that, Wyatt hadn't wrestled in the WWE since WrestleMania 37 in April 2021. He was shockingly released by the company in July of that same year.
Prior to returning to the ring at Royal Rumble 2023 on Jan. 28, he sat down with FOX Sports' Ryan Satin in what would become one of his final interviews, discussing his time away and how he felt before his return to the ring.
"There's a certain reluctance to me, where there hasn't been in the past. It's part of any athlete, when you're away from something so long, there's something in the back of your head that's like, ‘Am I still 'it'? Am I still what I should be?' … As the weeks have progressed, I've really started to kind of come into my own again and start to remember why I do this and how much it means to me to be out there and perform.
" … During my time away, I had opportunities to do really cool things, and I just wouldn't because I felt broken. There was something that was just shut off and I didn't understand why. It was literally people telling me, and just keeping me alive and dragging me back, telling me, ‘You should still do this. We miss you.’ I didn't feel that way at first. I felt damaged, and it was that that kinda gave me the strength to build back out and explode."
Tributes from the WWE Universe continued to flood in on X after Levesque revealed the news:
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