Days after the death of WWE star Bray Wyatt on August 24 due to a heart attack, more details are coming out regarding the circumstances. According to TMZ, Wyatt (real name Windham Rotunda) was taking a nap when his girlfriend, WWE’s JoJo or Joseann Alexie Offerman, heard his alarm going off with no response. Offerman then discovered Rotunda in bed, not breathing. Offerman’s mother attempted CPR, but the WWE star was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Citing law enforcement records, TMZ also reported that Rotunda was supposed to wear a heart defibrillator on a doctor’s orders, but was not doing so at the time of his death. Rotunda contracted COVID-19 back in March, and with it came heart complications, with a certain section of the wrestler’s heart becoming very weak. As recently as a week before his death, Rotunda had been in the hospital because of these issues with his heart.
Rotunda leaves behind four children – a son and a daughter with Offerman as well as two daughters from his first marriage. Over the course of his 15-year WWE career, Rotunda became a three-time world champion, a two-time tag team champion, and wrestled five WWE WrestleMania matches. He was best known as the leader of the Wyatt Family, a cult-like faction with a heavy swamp aesthetic. Additionally, Wyatt spent some time as The Fiend – a terrifying masked figure with more overt horror influence than perhaps any other character in the company’s history.
This past Friday on WWE SmackDown, the company memorialized Rotunda, presenting clips from throughout his career over the course of the show. Since his death, Rotunda’s fellow performers have been paid tribute both on TV and online. During yesterday’s AEW All In, the members of The House of Black left a lantern on the ramp during their entrance – an item heavily associated with the Bray Wyatt character. Additionally, WWE’s Seth Rollins spoke to the crowd about Rotunda at a live event over the weekend, becoming understandably emotional while doing what he could to honor the life of his friend and co-worker.