By David Matthews, New York Daily News
Professional wrestler and WWE star Bray Wyatt has died at the age of 36.
The news was announced on social media by Triple H (real name Paul Michael Levesque), the company’s chief content officer.
“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,” Triple H wrote on Thursday evening. “Our thoughts are with his family and we ask that everyone respect their privacy at this time.”
Wyatt’s cause of death was not immediately made known.
Born in Brooksville, Fla. on May 23, 1987, Wyatt was a state wrestling champion in high school. He played two seasons of football at College of the Sequoias, in Visalia, Calif., then accepted a football scholarship to Troy University, in Alabama. He left school before graduating to become a professional wrestler.
The son of wrestler Irwin R. Schyster (Mike Rotunda) and grandson of Blackjack Mulligan (Robert Windham), Wyatt joined WWE briefly in the early 2010s before becoming part of the main roster in 2013, leading the Wyatt Family team. He won multiple championships in the WWE.
During his career, he also wrestled as Alex Rotunda, Axl Mulligan, Duke Rotundo, Husky Harris and The Fiend in a number of different promotions.
Wyatt had recently missed several months with an illness but was close to returning to the WWE, according to Wrestling News.
He is survived by his four children, two with ex-wife Samantha Rotunda and two with his fiancée, WWE announcer JoJo Offerman.
Wyatt’s death comes a day after legendary wrestler Terry Funk passed away at 79.