Bray Wyatt (The Fiend)

Windham Lawrence Rotunda is an American professional wrestler who is best known for his work with WWE as Bray Wyatt and The Fiend. Rotunda is a former WWE and Universal Champion.

He was taken out of WWE programming in February 2023 due to contracting COVID-19, which exacerbated his heart issues. Unfortunately, he shockingly passed away in August 2023 due to a heart attack.

Early Life

Bray Wyatt was born on May 23, 1987, in Brooksville, Florida. He did his schooling at Hernando High School and also won the State Wrestling Champion during his time there. Wyatt had been interested in sports since a young age and also participated in American football besides wrestling. He was pretty good in defensive tackling in football and also earned a football scholarship at Troy University. However, he left Troy University on the verge of earning a bachelor's degree because he had decided to pursue a career in professional wrestling.

Professional Wrestling Career

WWE

Early Years and The Nexus (2009-2012)

Rotunda signed a developmental deal with WWE. He was sent to FCW and began training with his brother. The duo won the FCW Tag Team Championship. In November, the brothers lost the title to Dude Busters.

Rotunda joined NXT as a rookie under Cody Rhodes. He lasted a few weeks before getting eliminated from the show. He returned to FCW, where he wrestled for a few months before returning to the main roster.

At Hell in a Cell, he and Michael McGillicutty appeared and attacked John Cena, which led to Cena joining the group. He became part of the group and faced Cena and Orton. They took him off television after Orton punted him.

The Wyatt Family (2013-2017)

Rotunda was sent to NXT and was repackaged as Bray Wyatt. He formed a stable called the Wyatt Family. The stable comprises Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Eric Rowan. Harper and Rowan captured the NXT Tag Team Championship from Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey. On NXT, they lost the titles to Neville and Graves.

The stable made their main roster debut and attacked Kane. At SummerSlam, Rotunda faced Kane in a Ring of Fire match, which he won. At TLC, The Wyatt Family defeated Daniel Bryan, which led to Bryan joining the stable. A few weeks later, Bryan turned on the stable. At Royal Rumble, Bray Wyatt defeated Daniel Bryan. At the same night, Wyatt attacked Cena and cost him the title.

The Wyatt Family's biggest obstacle came as The Shield. The trios battled each other at the Elimination Chamber event, where The Wyatt Family emerged victorious. At the same event, Wyatt furthered his feud with Cena. At WrestleMania XXX, John Cena defeated Bray Wyatt. The rivalry ended with a Last Man Standing match, where Cena won.

Rotunda and the stable spent the year facing Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. Rotunda was victorious over Ambrose but lost to Reigns. At Royal Rumble, Rotunda entered the match but lost. At Fastlane, he challenged the Undertaker to a match. At WrestleMania 31, he faced the Undertaker and lost.

After losing to the Undertaker, Wyatt once again targeted Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. Wyatt added a new member to the family, Braun Strowman. The stable went on defeating the likes of Chris Jericho, Ryback, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns. After losing to Roman Reigns at Hell in a Cell, Wyatt returned and attacked the Undertaker. At Survivor Series, The Wyatt Family lost to the Brothers of Destruction.

At Royal Rumble, The Wyatt Family attacked Brock Lesnar and eliminated him. It set up a feud between Wyatt and Lesnar but it never happened. At WrestleMania 32, John Cena and The Rock took out The Wyatt Family.

On RAW, the stable began feuding with The New Day. At Battleground, The Wyatt Family defeated The New Day. After being drafted to SmackDown, Wyatt began his feud with Randy Orton. After exchanging victories over each other, Randy Orton joined The Wyatt Family. After winning the traditional survivor series match with Orton, the duo won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at TLC.

At Royal Rumble, Randy Orton won the match and teased a feud with Wyatt. At Elimination Chamber, Wyatt won the WWE Championship inside Elimination Chamber. On SmackDown, Orton burned the Wyatt Family compound and started their feud. At WrestleMania 33, Randy Orton won the WWE Championship by defeating Wyatt.

Various Feuds and Deleters of The World (2017-2019)

After being drafted to RAW, Wyatt began his feud with Seth Rollins. At Great Balls of Fire, he defeated Seth Rollins. Over the summer, Wyatt began his feud with Finn Balor. At SummerSlam, Demon Balor defeated Bray Wyatt. In November, Wyatt began feuding with Matt Hardy. Wyatt scored several pinfall victories over Hardy, which led to Hardy being broken.

In an Ultimate Deletion match, Hardy defeated Wyatt. At WrestleMania 34, Wyatt reappeared and assisted Hardy to win the battle royal. After Mania, Hardy and Wyatt formed a team called Deleters of the World. At Greatest Royal Rumble, Deleters of the World won the RAW Tag Team Championship. The team lost the title at Extreme Rules to B-Team.

The Fiend (2019-2021)

After a year off, Wyatt returned on RAW with a new character called The Fiend. At SummerSlam, The Fiend defeated Finn Balor. Over the next several weeks, Wyatt, as The Fiend, attacked several WWE legends. At Hell in a Cell, The Fiend challenged Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship. However, the match ended in a no-contest. At Crown Jewel, The Fiend won the Universal Championship.

Wyatt was drafted to SmackDown. After the draft, Wyatt had several matches with The Miz and Daniel Bryan and defended his championship successfully. At Super Showdown, Goldberg ended The Fiend's title reign. At WrestleMania 36, The Fiend defeated John Cena in a Firefly Fun House match.

After WrestleMania, The Fiend began a rivalry with his former stablemate, Braun Strowman. The rivalry concluded at SummerSlam where The Fiend won the Universal Championship. After the match, Roman Reigns attacked both the competitors. A week later at Payback, Roman Reigns won the Universal Championship from The Fiend.

At Draft, they drafted The Fiend and Alexa Bliss to RAW. On RAW, The Fiend began his rivalry with Randy Orton, which went on till WrestleMania 37. At TLC, Randy Orton burned The Fiend alive in a match. After months of absence, The Fiend returned at Fastlane to help Alexa Bliss. At WrestleMania 37, The Fiend lost to Randy Orton after Alexa Bliss turned on him. In July, Rotunda was released and ended a 12-year tenure with the company.

Return to WWE in 2022

Bray Wyatt made his return to the company at the 2022 Extreme Rules. After months of teasing and speculations, Wyatt was finally revealed as the White Rabbit at the end of the Premium Live Event. On the recent SmackDown, Wyatt delivered an emotional promo, followed by a White Rabbit segment.

During the promo on the 21st October edition of SmackDown, Bray Wyatt said that he confessed that he will not regret his action and that Wyatt's a servant and will go wherever the circle takes him. On the next SmackDown, Bray Wyatt was cutting a promo and suddenly lights went off. Then, on the big screen, Uncle Howdy made his appearance and warned Bray that he cannot run far away and that he is a liar.

At the Crown Jewel PLE, Wyatt made his way to the ring and delivered an emotional speech. Bray said that in order to become one of the best, he became a monster and felt unsatisfactory. He continued by saying that he will rewrite the ending of the story. Once again, Uncle Howdy interrupted and said that Wyatt was a liar and told that he should never remove his mask.

He then went on to feud with LA Knight and Pitch Black match at Royal Rumble was announced on December 20 SmackDown. The same SmackDown saw Uncle Howdy attack Wyatt and give him Sister Abigail. At the Royal Rumble, Wyatt emerged victorious. Following the victory, Wyatt announced that he will target whoever wins from the Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley matchup. Lashley won that match via disqualification and a feud between the two began to brew before Wyatt was quietly taken out of programming due to a real life illness.

How did Bray Wyatt die?

Bray Wyatt's return to WWE was cut-short in February 2023 due to undiclosed illness. Wyatt died on August 24, 2023 at just 36. His death was announced by WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H.

It was later revealed that Wyatt had contracted COVID-19 and the disease worsened an existing heart issue. Two weeks before his unfortunate demise, reports had suggested that Wyatt was making positive progress and could make his return at any time. However, in an unfortunate turn of events, the former WWE and Universal Champion died due to a heart attack.

Bray Wyatt's Championships and Accomplishments

Bray Wyatt's Wife

Bray Wyatt is engaged to fellow WWE worker JoJo. JoJo's real name is Joseann Alexie Offerman and she is an American ring announcer and professional wrestler signed to WWE. Born on March 10, 1994, Offerman had previously worked on Total Divas as well.

Wyatt and JoJo have been in a relationship since around 2017. The two had a son in May 2019 and a daughter in May 2020. It is known that former WWE Superstar and a member of the Wyatt Family, Braun Strowman is the godfather of their son. JoJo and Wyatt engaged in 2022.

Bray Wyatt's Net Worth

As per various online sources, WWE Superstar Bray Wyatt has a net worth of at least USD 2 Million as of 2023.

Bray Wyatt's Family

Mike Rotunda - Father

Lawrence Michael Rotunda, popularly known as Mike Rotunda, is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his work in WWE and WCW under the names Mike Rotunda and I.R.S. Rotunda was born in 1958 and made his way to the McMahon's promotion in 1986. Before WWE, Rotunda had also been wrestling during his college days and then went on to make a name for himself on the independent circuit.

During his WWE career, Rotunda won the WWF World Tag Team Championship five times - twice with Barry Windham and thrice with the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase. He is married to Stephanie Rotunda, who is the daughter of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan. The couple have three children including Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas.

Bo Dallas - Brother

Bray has a younger brother Taylor Michael Rotunda. Taylor is better known by his screen name Bo Dallas, is also a pro wrestler in WWE. Before being called up to the main roster, Dallas had proved himself in WWE's developmental territories Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) and NXT winning the FCW World Championship thrice and the NXT Championship on one occasion.

He also attended Hernando High School like his brother and played American football as a defensive tackle. Following his various stints and gimmicks in WWE, Dallas was released by the promotion in April 2021 and has been away from pro-wrestling since then.