Bray Wyatt facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bray Wyatt |
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Wyatt in 2017
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| Birth name | Windham Lawrence Rotunda |
| Born | May 23, 1987 Brooksville, Florida, U.S. |
| Died | August 24, 2023 (aged 36) |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Spouse(s) |
Samantha Rotunda
(m. 2012; div. 2017) |
| Partner | JoJo (2017–2023; his death) |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent(s) | Mike Rotunda (father) |
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| Professional wrestling career | |
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| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) |
| Billed weight | 285 lb (129 kg) |
| Billed from |
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| Trained by |
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| Debut | February 5, 2009 |
Windham Lawrence Rotunda (born May 23, 1987 – died August 24, 2023) was an American professional wrestler. He was famous for his time in WWE from 2010 to 2021, and again from 2022 until his death in 2023. In WWE, he was best known by his ring name Bray Wyatt.
Windham Rotunda came from a family of wrestlers. His grandfather Blackjack Mulligan, his father Mike Rotunda, and his uncles Barry Windham and Kendall Windham were all professional wrestlers. His younger brother, Taylor Rotunda, is also a wrestler known as Bo Dallas. Windham and his brother won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship twice. This was when they were in WWE's training area called Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He used different ring names there from 2008 to 2012. For a short time, from 2010 to 2011, he wrestled on WWE's main shows as Husky Harris. He was part of a group called The Nexus.
After returning to WWE's training area, which was now called NXT, Rotunda got a new character: Bray Wyatt. He played a villainous leader of a swamp-dwelling group called The Wyatt Family. He came back to the main WWE shows in 2013 with Wyatt Family members Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. He later became a three-time world champion in WWE. He held the WWE Championship once and the Universal Championship twice. He also won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship and the Raw Tag Team Championship once.
After taking a break, Wyatt returned in 2019 with a new character. He played two different personalities: his "good side" was Bray Wyatt, a friendly children's TV host, and his "bad side" was The Fiend, a scary monster clown. He left WWE in July 2021 but came back at Extreme Rules in October 2022. His new character was supposed to be his "real-life" self, but it slowly brought back his different personalities. His second return was cut short. He took time off in February 2023 because he got COVID-19. Sadly, he died unexpectedly from a heart attack in August of that year. During his second return, he only had one televised match, which was at the 2023 Royal Rumble.
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Early Life and Education
Windham Lawrence Rotunda was born in Brooksville, Florida, on May 23, 1987. He had a younger brother named Taylor, who is also a wrestler known as Bo Dallas.
Windham went to Hernando High School. In 2005, the year he graduated, he won a state wrestling championship. He also played football as a defensive player. Rotunda played football at the College of the Sequoias for two years. He then earned a scholarship to Troy University, where he played college football for two more years. He left college to become a professional wrestler.
Video Game Appearances
Windham Rotunda first appeared in a video game as Husky Harris in WWE '12. Later, as Bray Wyatt, he was in WWE 2K15, WWE 2K16, WWE 2K17, WWE 2K18, and WWE 2K19. His scary character, The Fiend, was a special bonus for WWE 2K20. His most recent character was added to WWE 2K23 as extra content.
Personal Life
Windham Rotunda had two daughters with his first wife, Samantha. Later, he had a son and a daughter with WWE announcer JoJo. Their son's godfather is the wrestler Braun Strowman. Windham and JoJo got engaged in 2022.
Death and Tributes
Windham Rotunda died on August 24, 2023, at 36 years old. His death was caused by a heart attack. Before he passed away, Rotunda had been dealing with an illness since February. It was later shared that he had COVID-19, which made a heart problem he already had much worse.
After his death, many wrestlers and wrestling companies shared their sadness and paid tribute to him. WWE announced that all money made from his merchandise sales would go to his family. The August 25, 2023, episode of SmackDown honored Rotunda and another wrestler, Terry Funk, who had died the day before.
Wrestling Achievements
Windham Rotunda achieved many things in his wrestling career:
- Florida Championship Wrestling
- FCW Florida Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Bo Rotundo
- WWE
- WWE Championship (1 time)
- WWE Universal Championship (2 times)
- WWE Raw Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Matt Hardy
- WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Randy Orton and Luke Harper
- Tag Team Eliminator (2018) – with Matt Hardy
- WWE Year-End Award for Male Wrestler of the Year (2019)
Images for kids
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Rotunda as Husky Harris during his time with The Nexus in November 2010
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Harris (left) with David Otunga (center) and Heath Slater (right) as part of The Nexus in December 2010
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Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper at an NXT event in October 2012
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The Wyatt Family at WrestleMania XXX, with Wyatt (center) sitting on the top turnbuckle
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Wyatt facing off against John Cena at WrestleMania XXX in April 2014
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Wyatt's entrance at WrestleMania 31
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The Wyatt Family confronts The Rock at WrestleMania 32.
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The "New" Wyatt Family as SmackDown Tag Team Champions: (from left to right) Luke Harper, Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton
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Wyatt and Matt Hardy at WrestleMania 34
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Wyatt setting up his "Sister Abigail" finishing move on Big E
See also
In Spanish: Bray Wyatt para niños
- List of premature professional wrestling deaths
