Windham Lawrence Rotunda (May 23, 1987 – August 24, 2023) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Bray Wyatt.

Rotunda was a third-generation professional wrestler, following in the footsteps of his grandfather Blackjack Mulligan, his father Mike Rotunda, and two of his uncles – Barry and Kendall Windham. His younger brother Taylor Rotunda is also a professional wrestler, best known as Bo Dallas. Alongside his brother, he held the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship twice while in WWE's then-developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where he wrestled under various ring names between 2008 and 2012. He briefly wrestled on WWE's main roster from 2010 to 2011 under the ring name Husky Harris, most notably as a member of The Nexus.

After returning to WWE's developmental territory, which had been rebranded as NXT, Rotunda was repackaged as Bray Wyatt. Portrayed as the villainous leader of The Wyatt Family, a bayou-dwelling cult, he returned to the main roster alongside Wyatt Family members Luke Harper and Erick Rowan in 2013. He subsequently became a three-time world champion in WWE, holding the WWE Championship once and the Universal Championship twice. He also held the SmackDown Tag Team Championship (with Luke Harper and Randy Orton under the Freebird Rule) and the Raw Tag Team Championship (with Matt Hardy) once each.

Early life

Windham Lawrence Rotunda was born in Brooksville, Florida, on May 23, 1987. He attended Hernando High School, where he won a state wrestling championship at 275 pounds (125 kg) in 2005, the year of his graduation. He also played football as a defensive tackle and guard. Rotunda played at the College of the Sequoias for two seasons, earning second-team All-American honors as a sophomore offensive guard. He earned a football scholarship to Troy University, where he played collegiate football for two years. He left Troy 27 credit hours short of earning a bachelor's degree after deciding to become a professional wrestler.

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE

He made his in-ring debut in dark match on the February 5, 2009 episode of Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), defeating Brian Jossie. Rotunda made his television debut in April 2009, using the name Alex Rotundo. He later changed his name to Duke Rotundo. In June 2009, he began teaming with his brother Bo. At the FCW television tapings on July 23, The Rotundo Brothers defeated The Dude Busters (Caylen Croft and Trent Barretta) to become the #1 contenders to the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. That same night, they defeated Justin Angel and Kris Logan for the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. They went on to retain the championship against Dylan Klein and Vance Archer and the team of Curt Hawkins and Heath Slater. At the FCW television tapings on November 19, The Rotundo Brothers lost the championship to The Dude Busters.

The Wyatt Family (2012–2014)
 

In April 2012, Rotunda was repackaged as Bray Wyatt, who initially associated himself with Eli Cottonwood in FCW. When WWE rebranded FCW into NXT Wrestling, Bray Wyatt debuted on the July 11, 2012 episode of the rebooted NXT taped at Full Sail University, where he defeated Aiden English. In July, Wyatt suffered a torn pectoral muscle and required surgery. Despite the injury, Wyatt continued to appear on NXT, founding a faction known as The Wyatt Family in November, with Luke Harper as his first "son" and Erick Rowan as his second. Wyatt had his first match back from injury on the February 21, 2013 episode of NXT, where he defeated Yoshi Tatsu. Wyatt suffered his first loss on the March 13 episode of NXT to Bo Dallas. On the May 2 episode of NXT, Wyatt lost to Chris Jericho. On the May 8 episode of NXT, Harper and Rowan defeated Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey to win the NXT Tag Team Championship. On the July 17 episode of NXT (which was taped on June 20), Harper and Rowan lost the NXT Tag Team Championship to Neville and Corey Graves.

The New Face of Fear (2014–2015)

Beginning on September 29, vignettes were shown of Wyatt "setting Harper and Rowan free". Wyatt returned alone at Hell in a Cell on October 26 during the main event match between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, costing Ambrose the match. In the following weeks, Wyatt taunted Ambrose while offering to "fix" him like he had done with Harper and Rowan. On November 23 at Survivor Series, Wyatt defeated Ambrose by disqualification after Ambrose used a steel chair to attack Wyatt. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 14, Wyatt defeated Ambrose in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. Wyatt once again defeated Ambrose on the December 22 episode of Raw in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight. The feud culminated in an ambulance match on the January 5, 2015 episode of Raw, which Wyatt won to effectively end their feud.

Return of The Wyatt Family (2015–2017)

At Money in the Bank on June 14, Wyatt interfered in the Money in the Bank ladder match and attacked Roman Reigns (who had defeated him in a qualification match on Raw) as Reigns was close to retrieving the briefcase. At Battleground on July 19, Wyatt defeated Reigns with the help of former Wyatt Family member Luke Harper, reforming the team (without the injured Erick Rowan who soon returned). At SummerSlam on August 23, Wyatt and Harper lost to Reigns and Ambrose. The following night on Raw, Wyatt introduced a new Wyatt Family member named Braun Strowman, who attacked Ambrose and Reigns. At Night of Champions on September 20, The Wyatt Family defeated Reigns, Ambrose and Jericho. At Hell in a Cell on October 25, Wyatt lost to Reigns in a Hell in a Cell match to end their feud; later that night The Wyatt Family attacked The Undertaker and carried him backstage, reigniting their feud. The next night on Raw, Wyatt was confronted by former rival Kane, who was attacked by the Wyatts and also carried backstage. On the November 9 episode of Raw, The Brothers of Destruction returned and attacked The Wyatt Family. At Survivor Series on November 22, Wyatt and Harper lost to The Brothers of Destruction.

Professional wrestling style, persona, and reception

Character and persona

Wyatt's character from 2013 to 2018 was a villainous cult leader who believed himself to be the "nagging conscience of an immoral world". As the leader of The Wyatt Family, he had main subordinates in Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, as well as Braun Strowman for a brief time. He used a lantern to light the way in the dark arena during entrances, with entrance music by Mark Crozer. He would finish off most of his promos telling opponents and audiences to "follow the buzzards", his signature catchphrase. The character drew comparisons to Robert De Niro's portrayal of the character Max Cady from the 1991 film Cape Fear and fellow wrestler Waylon Mercy. He would use a swinging reverse STO as a finishing move that would be referred to as Sister Abigail.

Other media

Rotunda made his video game debut in WWE '12 (as Husky Harris) and later returned, as Bray Wyatt, in WWE 2K15, WWE 2K16, WWE 2K17, WWE 2K18, and WWE 2K19. His alternate persona The Fiend was a pre-order bonus for WWE 2K20. The current persona of Wyatt has been released as downloadable content in WWE 2K23.

Personal life

Rotunda and his ex-wife, Samantha, married in 2012 and had two daughters together before she filed for divorce in 2017. Rotunda and WWE announcer JoJo were revealed to be together during this time. They later had a son (born May 2019), whose godfather is wrestler Braun Strowman, and a daughter (born May 2020). They became engaged in 2022.

Death and legacy

Rotunda died at age 36 on August 24, 2023, of a heart attack. His death was announced by WWE chief content creator and former wrestler Triple H on Twitter. Prior to his death, Rotunda had been dealing with an undisclosed illness since February, which was reportedly life-threatening. According to reports just days before his death, he had been making positive progress towards recovery, and had been medically cleared for a WWE return just two weeks prior to his death. Shortly after his death, it was revealed that the illness was COVID-19, which had exacerbated an existing heart issue.

Fellow wrestling legends, including The Rock, Mick Foley, Ric Flair, and John Cena, paid tribute on social media.