The professional wrestling fraternity was saddened to learn about the demise of the former WWE World Champion Bray Wyatt at the age of 36. He has long been dealing with an undisclosed illness but nobody expected his condition to have deteriorated, this much.
Earlier this month, Fightful Select reported that the illness Wyatt was dealing with was indeed life-threatening. The source also noted how Wyatt contracted COVID-19 earlier this year which exacerbated heart issues for him.
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Bray Wyatt as WWE Champion in 2017 (image courtesy YouTube)
Bray Wyatt as WWE Champion in 2017 (image courtesy YouTube)
Positive progress towards his pro-wrestling return was noted in recent months but he ultimately suffered a heart attack to pass away. As we mourn the death of one of the most entertaining WWE Superstars of the modern era, here are some lesser-known facts about him:
- Real name Windham Rotunda, Bray Wyatt comes from an enriched family with a tremendous history in pro wrestling. He is the son of former WWE wrestler Mike Rotunda who oversaw the company's non-televised house shows for years until the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two of Mike's brothers, Barry Klinton Windham and Kendall Windham were also wrestlers as they followed in the footsteps of their father, Blackjack Mulligan. Even Bray's own brother, Taylor Rotunda was an ex WWE Star best known as Bo Dallas.
- Bray Wyatt returned to WWE last year at Extreme Rules 2022 with an Uncle Howdy character tagged alongside him. This persona was supposed to be played by his brother Bo but WWE never got the opportunity to reveal the identity.
- In real life, both Bray Wyatt and his brother have been attached to either active or former WWE personalities. While Bo is dating active WWE Superstar Liv Morgan, Wyatt has been married to former WWE in-ring announcer JoJo.
Morgan and Bo reportedly run a farm together and they entered a relationship for their love of farming in the first place. As for JoJo, she took a break from the WWE to focus on her personal life with Bray.
- Following his October 2022 return, Bray Wyatt only competed once on WWE TV which was at the Royal Rumble earlier this year, where he defeated LA Knight in a first-time-ever Pitch Black Match presented by Mountain Dew.
WWE arranging a sponsored match for a particular superstar is an example of how Wyatt was over with the WWE Universe. If the WWEShop.com sale is to go by then he was the second-highest merchandise mover.
Being the franchise player of the WWE, Roman Reigns usually covers the top spot while Wyatt overtook him on quite a few occasions with the invention of The Fiend and those puppets from Firefly Funhouse.
The original Wyatt Family gimmick was so popular among the fans that The White/Black Sheep mask sold like hot cake almost a decade ago. Even during his latest return, he moved tons of merch with Uncle Howdy before illness sidelined him.
- Bray Wyatt was one of those very few top WWE Superstars who never had the chance to successfully defend the WWE Championship in a singles capacity. He won the prestigious belt back at Elimination Chamber 2017 PLE.
Just when people thought that WWE was about to give Wyatt his deserved push, Wyatt lost the momentums by dropping the belt to Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 33. Things went worse for him with the follow-up House of Horrors rematch that ended up being a debacle.
Overall, Bray Wyatt is a three-time world champion in the WWE. After 2017, he won the Universal Championship in 2019 as The Fiend only to be victimized by Goldberg. Then in 2020, he regained the title for just seven days before Roman Reigns took it.
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