Photo: Alex Bierens de Haan
WWE superstar Bray Wyatt is reported to have died from a heart attack, according to Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, who said he was "given permission" from the late wrestler's "loved ones [who] wanted some details clarified."
Wyatt, whose real name was Windham Rotunda, was reported to have tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this year, which "exacerbated" heart issues, Sapp reports. Rotunda's death comes days after reports that his lengthy absence from WWE television was due to a was dealing with a life threatening illness but was expected to be nearing a return.
"There was a lot of positive progress towards a return and his recovery. Unfortunately today he suffered a heart attack and passed away," Sapp wrote on his X account Thursday (August 24) night. "I encourage those reading to respect the family's privacy if at all possible, but his loved ones wanted some details clarified."
"Just received a call from WWE Hall of Famer Mike Rotunda who informed us of the tragic news that our WWE family member for life Windham Rotunda - also known as Bray Wyatt - unexpectedly passed earlier today. Our thoughts are with his family and we ask that everyone respect their privacy at this time," Levesque wrote on his X account.
Rotunda is a former WWE champion and two-time Universal champion, having become one of the company's biggest characters of the past decade. The third-generation wrestler initially debuted as Husky Harris on the reality show version of NXT and later as a member of the group Nexus before later becoming a mainstay was Bray Wyatt, a cult leader-esque character flanked by Eric Rowan and the late Luke Harper -- also known as Brodie Lee in All Elite Wrestling and other promotions -- as part of the Wyatt Family.
Rotunda would go through several notable incarnations of the character, which later included repackaging himself as a Mr. Rogers-esque host of 'Firefly Funhouse' vignettes as a split personality to 'The Fiend,' a much darker character than he had played previously.
The 36-year-old was among numerous -- and arguably the most surprising of the -- wrestlers released by the company during the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2021 before making his return in October 2022, having only wrestled one televised match at the 2023 Royal Rumble prior to his death.
Rotunda was a third-generation wrestler through his father and maternal grandfather, the late Blackjack Mulligan.
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