Bray Wyatt Is a man who changed history forever in Wrestling!! Welcome to the new Era of the kids of wrestlers. Windham Rotunda otherwise known as Bray Wyatt is the son of Mike Rotunda aka IRS who was a famous wrestler himself and his grandfather was also famous Blackjack Mulligan and he has 2 uncles who were famous as well.
Bray Wyatt first came to fame as Husky Harris on NXT! 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 a bayou-dwelling cult called The Wyatt Family, he returned to the main roster alongside Wyatt Family members Luke Harper and Erick Rowan in 2013.
He subsequently became a one-time WWE Champion, two-time WWE Universal Champion, one-time SmackDown Tag Team Champion (alongside Harper and brief Wyatt Family member Randy Orton under the Freebird Rule), and one-time Raw Tag Team Champion (with Matt Hardy).
After a hiatus from August 2018 to April 2019, Wyatt returned with a new split personality gimmick that saw him switch between two characters: Bray Wyatt, who was a Mr. Rogers-esque children's TV host, and The Fiend, which was a grotesque monster resembling an evil clown. He was released from WWE in July 2021, but returned at the 2022 Extreme Rules with a new character that claimed to be his "real-life" self while gradually reincorporating his previous personalities in addition to new ones. In what would become his only televised match during his return, he defeated LA Knight at the 2023 Royal Rumble; the following month, he took a medical hiatus due to a COVID-19 diagnosis that exacerbated a pre-existing heart condition, and died of a heart attack on August 24 at the age of 36.
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. Wyatt used a lantern to light the way in the dark arena during entrances; he would invariably be accompanied by fans in attendance lighting the torches on their cell phones, which were affectionally as the fireflies.
Following a hiatus from summer 2018 to spring 2019, Wyatt returned with a change in character. He started hosting the "Firefly Fun House" where he would perform as a friendly-mannered children's television show host, similar to Mr. Rogers. Soon after, he debuted a masked alter-ego called The Fiend, a demon clown who had supernatural characteristics and remembered all the wrongdoings that others had inflicted on Wyatt in the past.
The Fiend was an interesting Chararcter who at first was kinda psycho and mysterious but people ended up loving him eventually. Bray and his messed up family can remind people of the Muppets sometimes because they were puppets themselves.
During The Fiend's entrance, he would carry a severed head resembling Wyatt's old cult leader self with a lantern inside its mouth and used a heavy metal cover of his old theme music by Code Orange. He also adopted the mandible claw as a his finishing move which Mankind made famous in the 90s. During in-ring bouts, The Fiend was presented as having unnatural endurance and strength, being able to withstand multiple finishing moves, weapon attacks and more, before kicking out of pins at a one count. Several of The Fiend's matches were also done under a red lighting. After Wyatt returned in 2022, a new character called Uncle Howdy would appear, based on Richard Kiel's portrayal of Captain Howdy in the 1983 film Hysterical. Uncle Howdy was portrayed by Bo Dallas aka Brays Real life Brother.
Luke Harper passed away in 2020 from Covid and when he passed away he was famous in AEW so that his son got a AEW contract given by the owner of AEW Tony Khan. Bray Wyatt died in 2023 from a heart attack which was a surprise to everyone including his own family.
The August 25 episode of SmackDown honored both Rotunda and Terry Funk, who had died one day before Rotunda; the show opened with a ten-bell salute for the pair. Per WWE tradition, all on-screen talent stood at the top of the entrance ramp during the salute; Wyatt's former tag team partner Erick Rowan, who was not signed to WWE at the time, was also present. Wyatt's iconic rocking chair was placed in front of the ramp while the crowd sang "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands", a song often affiliated with Wyatt throughout his WWE career. Further tributes and behind-the-scenes footage aired during the show, with Wyatt's final opponent LA Knight wrestling in the main event against Finn Bálor, who was the first opponent of Wyatt's Fiend Persona.
WWE also announced that any further proceeds from Rotunda's merchandise sales would be given to his family.A few months later, Rotunda's father revealed that WWE had signed Rotunda to a Legends contract and arranged for all proceeds from the contract to go to his children.
Other wrestling promotions, including All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Impact Wrestling, also paid tribute to Rotunda at their first live shows after his death, which both took place on August 27; at AEW's All In, the House of Black paid tribute to Wyatt in their ring entrance, accompanied by tens of thousands of "fireflies", while Buddy Matthews held Wyatt's lantern. Impact's Emergence also opened with a ten-bell salute to commemorate Rotunda and Funk.
