Details About Bray Wyatt That Came Out After He Died

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On August 24, 2023, the wrestling world was brought to a standstill when news broke that Windham Rotunda, better known by many as former WWE Champion Bray Wyatt, had passed away at the age of 36. Wrestlers passing away far before their time has sadly been nothing out of the ordinary over the years, but Wyatt’s death was one where most fans can vividly remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news as it was so shocking. 

In the near two years since his death, Wyatt’s legacy has lived on in a variety of forms. In WWE, his brother Bo Dallas has fully transformed into the Uncle Howdy character and is now leading the Wyatt Sicks stable, which includes Wyatt’s former stablemate Erick Rowan, and are rumored to be working with someone Wyatt worked very close to, Alexa Bliss, in the near future. In the wider wrestling world, Wyatt’s creative influence has been felt in companies like AEW and TNA, and despite some fans being disillusioned with his style of storytelling during his career, Wyatt has since gone down as someone who had a mind that was way ahead of its time when it comes to the wrestling business.

What’s more, those who knew Wyatt have talked about him on a regular basis in various interviews and podcasts, keeping his name and legacy alive in the process, and many of those stars have ended up revealing new pieces of information that might never have been shared had Wyatt not died. That’s what we’re here to talk about here today. From never before heard backstage stories, to tales of how warm, generous, and kind he was, here are some of the details that have come to light about Bray Wyatt since his death in 2023.

How Did Bray Wyatt Die?

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Bray Wyatt was taken off television in early 2023, causing a scheduled match with Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania 39 to be postponed until he was healthy. Throughout most of the year, there was a lot of speculation as to when Wyatt would return to TV, to the point where less than two weeks before his death, it was reported that the former WWE Champion was edging ever closer to an in-ring comeback, but sadly, that never came to be as he would pass away on August 24.

Almost immediately, the cause of death was revealed to be a heart attack, but more details were revealed in the following weeks about the day he died. According to police records that were obtained by TMZ less than a week after Wyatt’s death, he had experienced heart complications in the weeks and months leading to his passing, with family members stating he had contracted COVID-19 around the time he was taken off WWE TV that only further exacerbated some underlying heart problems that already existed.

COVID-19 had reportedly made the lower part of his heart a lot weaker than most people, and was even hospitalized one week before he died due to his heart problems. To combat this, doctors had given Wyatt a specialized vest that he needed to wear at all times as it had an external heart defibrillator, and Wyatt had been wearing it since leaving the hospital, even wearing it to a doctor’s appointment on the morning of August 24. When he got home, Wyatt had left his vest in the car and told his fiancée, former WWE ring announcer JoJo Offerman, that he was going to take a nap. Unfortunately, he never woke up, and was pronounced dead upon arriving at the hospital.

His Last Text Message To Aleister Black

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Given how accessible most wrestlers are in the age of social media, it’s become more and more challenging for horror or gothic inspired gimmicks to succeed as the days of people being scared by someone like The Undertaker are long gone now that everyone knows he isn’t an actual dead man. However, both Bray Wyatt and Aleister Black are exceptions to that rule as they have both been successful portraying characters that enjoy surrounding themselves with darkness and destruction.

When Black was moved up to WWE’s main roster, people were excited that he and Wyatt might one day cross paths, and despite some brief interactions, a full-blown alliance or feud never came to pass, and both men were ultimately let go from WWE in the summer of 2021, with Black opting to join AEW while Wyatt was re-hired in 2022. Even though they were in different companies, they did keep in touch, and upon returning to WWE in the spring of 2025, Black opened up about going through his old text messages and finding the final things Wyatt had sent to him.

«One of the last things he said to me was, ‘Don’t let them tell you who you are. Stand for what you stand for,'» Black said, explaining that he was at a very low place mentally when Wyatt helped him pick between two different character ideas, and that Wyatt wanted Black to stay true to himself and not do anything he wasn’t comfortable with. While the two men never shared a ring, Black was part of a tribute to Wyatt three days after his death at AEW All In London 2023, where Wembley Stadium was lit up with fireflies during the House of Black’s entrance, who entered with Wyatt’s trademark lantern.

LA Knight On Being Bray Wyatt’s Final Opponent

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Former WWE United States Champion LA Knight has the distinction of being Bray Wyatt’s final opponent before his death, with their final match taking place at a WWE live event in Rockford, Illinois on February 26, 2023. Of course, that wasn’t Wyatt’s final televised match as that would be the now infamous «Mountain Dew Pitch Black» match against Knight at the 2023 Royal Rumble Premium Live Event, a match that many people try to look back on fondly given it was Wyatt’s last match in front of cameras, but can’t get past the fact that the match is, well, not that good.

Even Knight himself has admitted that the «Pitch Black» match was far from the greatest night of his career, stating that he could hardly see anything which made wrestling Wyatt very difficult, and outside of the visual of a few things glowing in the dark, it was simply not a great match.

However, the fact that he was Wyatt’s last opponent before he died is something that he has found strange to live with, stating in a 2024 interview that it’s not something he celebrates, and that he actually wishes he wasn’t Wyatt’s final opponent given how weird that feeling is. With that said, Knight is extremely grateful for the opportunity to be the man tasked with Wyatt’s first feud back in WWE following his return at Extreme Rules 2022, revealing in 2025 that Wyatt was a «kick-ass dude» who allowed him the freedom to do and say basically whatever he wanted, even if it meant poking fun at Wyatt’s use of puppets, and mind games. He rounded off by admitting that, while it did feel strange at first, he is incredibly honored to be Bray Wyatt’s final opponent.

The Undertaker Saw Bray Wyatt Grow Up

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We’ve already mentioned him, but it bares repeating that the comparisons between Bray Wyatt and The Undertaker had been going on from the moment Wyatt debuted his twisted character back in the final days of FCW and the formative years of «WWE NXT» as a third brand, to the point where Taker even narrated a documentary about Wyatt following his death.

However, «The Deadman» had known Wyatt long before he ever broke into the wrestling business, revealing in an interview with Chris Van Vliet in 2024 that The Undertaker likely met Windham Rotunda when he was just six-years old, and his younger brother, Taylor «Bo Dallas» Rotunda when he was four thanks to their dad, WWE Hall of Famer Mike «IRS» Rotunda bringing them to various events. The Undertaker revealed that it was special seeing Bray grow up to be the phenomenon that he became, but kept what he told Wyatt on the «Raw Is XXX» edition of «WWE Raw» in January 2023 a secret. With that said, «The Deadman» did admit that Wyatt routinely went to him for advice due to their similarities in characters, and that Wyatt picked up everything Taker gave him like a sponge. 

The two men even got to share a ring together in 2015, most notably when Wyatt attempted to capitalize on the fact that «The Deadman’s» WrestleMania streak had been broken one year earlier by beating him at WrestleMania 31. However, it was The Undertaker who picked up the victory that day, a decision Taker wasn’t too thrilled about as he believes Wyatt should have been the one to break his streak as it would have done more for his career than Brock Lesnar or Roman Reigns, the only two men to beat him at WrestleMania.

Matt Hardy’s Partnership With Bray Wyatt

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If there was one person who could match the weird and wonderful antics of Bray Wyatt in WWE, it was «Broken» Matt Hardy. What started as something that many fans thought was a load of nonsense, turned into the most popular act in all of wrestling that ultimately led to both Matt and Jeff Hardy returning to WWE at WrestleMania 33. Once The Hardy Boyz returned to WWE, it was only a matter of time before the «Broken Universe» fully manifested itself on «WWE Raw.» 

When Hardy was allowed to bring the gimmick that rejuvenated his career to WWE, Wyatt was the natural opponent for him, leading to the Ultimate Deletion match in March 2018, but it was the filming of that match that Hardy actually remembers more. The day after Wyatt’s death, Hardy took to social media to reveal that throughout the day of filming the match, Wyatt spent his spare time playing with Matt’s oldest son Maxel, and once shooting had wrapped, Wyatt had left his signature lantern at the Hardy Compound as a gift for young Maxel, a gift he still treasures to this day.

The bond between Wyatt and Hardy’s oldest son continued after WrestleMania 34 when Wyatt returned for the first time since the Ultimate Deletion to help Hardy win the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and later became WWE Raw Tag Team Champions together. Hardy explained that at a WWE live event, Wyatt gave the gloves he had just wrestled in to Maxel, with Hardy’s oldest son even making a vlog about Wyatt. The Hardys have since paid homage to Wyatt through their in-ring attire, and were even slated to be in a faction with him had Matt not left WWE in 2020.

Otis Being Welcomed Backstage By Bray Wyatt

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Making the move from «WWE NXT» to the main roster can be an intimidating one for some people, and not everyone lasts once they make the jump from the WWE Performance Center to travelling around the world as a major WWE star. For Otis, it was Bray Wyatt who made him feel welcome.

A week after Wyatt’s death, a number of WWE Superstars were given the chance to share their memories of the late star in a YouTube video, with Otis being one of the people to talk at length about how much of an inspiration Wyatt was. He explained that when he and his former tag team partner in Heavy Machinery, Tucker, were brought to the main roster, Wyatt saw them in the hallway and brought them in for a big hug by simply saying «American apple pie, who doesn’t love American apple pie? Bring it in boys, welcome.» From there, Wyatt would always go out of his way to make Otis feel welcome, regularly giving him hugs, talking about horror movies, and even trying to convince him to start getting tattoos despite how much body hair Otis has.

However, the moment that really stood out to Otis was his final interaction with Wyatt before his death. After Wyatt had made his WWE return in late 2022, Otis had just finished reading Stephen King’s «Pet Sematary,» something he was very proud of considering that he has dyslexia. Wyatt asked him about the book and what he thought of it, something that caught Otis off guard as he never recalled mentioning it in any interviews or online. It was this moment that made Otis truly understand how engaged Wyatt was in everyone’s lives backstage, and how he truly wanted everyone he bumped into to succeed.

He Wanted To Buy Natalya A Gift As A Thank You

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Following his WWE release in July 2021, many people wondered where Bray Wyatt would end up. There was talk of potentially joining AEW once his 90-day non-compete clause expired, as well as a number of other companies like TNA and AAA, but after Vince McMahon was forced to retire in July 2022 and Triple H took over the creative direction of WWE, mysterious vignettes began airing that teased Wyatt’s return to the company.

While WWE fans were falling over themselves to try and figure out what all the QR codes and vignettes actually meant, Wyatt was busy getting himself back into ring shape so he could look and feel as good as possible upon returning. To do that, he approached TJ «Tyson Kidd» Wilson and Natalya about training at their own version of the Dungeon, the wrestling school made famous by her grandfather Stu Hart.

Natalya revealed in an interview with Chris Van Vliet in October 2023 that Wyatt was very excited to get back into ring shape, with both Natalya and Wilson keeping his training a secret from the world to make sure his return didn’t leak before it was meant to. Once he had finished training, she revealed that he asked her if he could buy Natalya and Wilson a gift for the Dungeon as a thank you for being kind enough to let him train in their house. She turned down his offer as she thought him simply being open enough to give everyone else who was training their advice and tips on how to improve was not only more than enough of a gift to the Dungeon, but that it embodied what she wants the Dungeon to be about; giving back to the next generation.

Nights On The Town With Drew McIntyre

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Despite never having a televised singles match against one another, Bray Wyatt and Drew McIntyre were incredibly close behind the scenes thanks to their shared time in WWE’s developmental system, FCW. Along with the likes of Sheamus, Wade Barrett, and Davey Boy Smith Jr., Wyatt and McIntyre came up through FCW around the same time, creating a bond that would last until the day Wyatt died.

Sharing his favorite stories of Wyatt on WWE’s YouTube channel after his death, McIntyre recalled rushing to promo classes early just so he could get his own promo out of the way in order to watch Wyatt cut promos that could last up to 20 minutes at a time, getting Wyatt to help eliminate people from battle royal matches that were supposed to win, only for Dr. Tom Pritchard to send them back out restart to the match, and the various nights on the town where they all enjoyed many, many drinks.

One of McIntyre’s favorite stories was when he needed to step outside a bar in order to take an important phone call, telling Wyatt and the rest of his party to not do anything crazy as they were getting particularly rowdy. As soon as McIntyre took the phone call, he was told «Windham’s down.» Not knowing what had happened, he rushed back inside to find Wyatt on the floor with a bloody nose, only to be told that Wyatt had been boasting that he couldn’t be choked out, only for someone to test that theory out, and finding out that Wyatt could indeed be choked out. McIntyre rounded off by saying everyone had to make up an excuse for WWE in case they asked why Wyatt had broken his nose in a local bar.

Bo Dallas On Working With His Brother

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Out of everyone in WWE, there’s likely no one who knew Bray Wyatt better than his real-life brother Bo Dallas. He achieved his own level of success in WWE, particularly in «NXT» by winning the NXT Championship, but once he was moved to the main roster, everyone asked the same question; is he ever going to do anything with Bray?

Bray and Bo did briefly work together on WWE TV right before «The Eater of Worlds» was taken off the road in early 2023 due to contracting COVID-19, portraying the Uncle Howdy character that haunted LA Knight and Bobby Lashley on episodes of «WWE SmackDown.» Dallas revealed in a 2024 interview that both brothers were so excited about finally getting the chance to work together after spending over a decade being ships in the night and never being in the same storyline, to the point where they would call each other in the middle of the night to discuss ideas. Dallas went on to reveal that their childhood was spent watching movies like «Beetlejuice» and «Dracula,» which ultimately contributed to Wyatt’s love of dark characters once he got into WWE.

While their time on TV together was brief, Dallas portrays the Uncle Howdy to this day, leading the Wyatt Sicks stable in honor of his late brother, with the first few weeks of the stable being on TV seeing Dallas cut emotional promos about his brother that Dallas himself has described as cathartic. The group has feuded with The Final Testament, led by Karrion Kross, who Wyatt was meant to work with before his death, and have recently returned to TV to continue their goal of honoring the memory of «The Eater of Worlds,» while also terrorizing the WWE roster in the process.