WWE Champion Bray Wyatt Dead at 36

The wrestling world is in mourning.

Bray Wyatt—whose real name is Windham Rotunda—died "unexpectedly" on Aug. 24, according to WWE chief content officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque. He was 36.

In a message on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Triple H said he was informed of the loss by Bray's father, wrestling icon and WWE Hall of Famer Mike Rotunda. "Our thoughts are with his family," Triple H tweeted, "and we ask that everyone respect their privacy at this time."

A cause of death was not given.

WWE also confirmed Bray's death in a separate statement, saying that the organization is "saddened" his passing and "extends its condolences to Rotunda's family, friends and fans."

Bray came from a family of wrestlers. In addition to his dad, Bray's maternal grandfather was the late Blackjack Mulligan—who was indicted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006—while his uncles Kendall Windham and Barry Windham wrestled for the World Championship Wrestling (WCW). His younger brother Taylor Rotunda is also a professional wrestler, performing under the stage name Bo Dallas.

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Bray kick-started his WWE career in 2009, most notably as a member of The Nexus. Throughout his career with the organization, he took home three world championships, including the WWE Championship and Universal Championship.

His death comes a little over a year after getting engaged to fellow wrestler JoJo (a.k.a. Joseann Offerman), with whom he shares daughters Knash, 4, and Hyrie, 3. In the wake of Bray's death, many from the wrestling community took to social media to pay tribute.

"Im heartbroken over the news of Bray Wyatt's passing. Always had tremendous respect and love for him and the Rotunda family," Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson wrote on X. "Loved his presence, promos, in ring work and connection with @wwe
universe. Very unique, cool and rare character, which is hard to create in our crazy world of pro wrestling."

Meanwhile, Dana Brooke tweeted, "I'm in a loss of words … my heart aches for Windham's family…. RIP Bray!!!"

Added Alexa Bliss, "Just in shock. Really at a loss for words at the moment."