Mike Rotunda, known to WWE fans as IRS, remembers his late son Bray Wyatt.
On August 24th, the wrestling world was shocked to learn that Bray Wyatt, real name Windham Rotunda, had passed away at the young age of 36. It was later reported that he’d suffered a heart attack.
Speaking in a new interview with Wrasslin Talk, Bray Wyatt’s father Mike Rotunda spoke emotionally about the passing of his son, saying they miss him every day and making note of the date that Wyatt was supposed to marry his fiancée Jojo Offerman.
“It’s been really hard. We miss him every day. [Gets choked up]. Growing up in the business, you always book stuff during the week because you’re going to be wrestling on the weekends and TV. Windham and Jojo were supposed to get married yesterday.
“We miss Windham horribly, every day. Windham was the first one and we would bring him on the road at six months old. They would come with me and stay on the road, wherever I was wrestling, and it’s so hard to wake up out of this nightmare and he’s still not there.”
Continuing, the longtime veteran praised WWE for their support during this difficult time, detailing the company’s effort to help Bray’s family and keep his memory alive.
“I have to give WWE credit. They’ve done awesome helping our family out with a lot of different stuff. They put Windham on a legends contract and all the proceeds go to…Windham has four children. Luckily, we have them.
“He was a jolly fellow. He loved to laugh, he was loud. He was always laughing and he lit up a room. He lit up the wrestling business. People come up to me and have a story with Windham, they say he took the time to sit there and bullshit with me for ten or fifteen minutes when he’s supposed to be signing autographs. So many people come up and support him by wearing his stuff, and they have a story about him. He was that kind of person. We miss him badly.”
“He Made People Feel Good About Themselves” – Mike Rotunda On Bray Wyatt
Mike Rotunda continued, explaining that this year has been especially hard for their family as he lost his mother shortly before his son Bray Wyatt’s passing.
“He made people feel good about themselves, which is a gift. It’s hard. I don’t think we’re ever going to get over this. It’s very hard. The worst part about it, I can’t wait until this year finishes.
“My mom had a stroke and I spent three years going to a nursing home every day and my sister and myself watched her take her last breath. Windham and Taylor [Bo Dallas] came up and visited my mom for a few days, and my daughter wasn’t able to come because she just had a baby and wasn’t able to travel. We lost my mom and two weeks later, we lost Windham. This year…we’re going to celebrate the new year.”
Rotunda once again praised WWE for releasing a Bray Wyatt memorial collection of merchandise with proceeds going to support Bray’s children. Wyatt had two children with fiancée Jojo Offerman and two children from a previous marriage.
“They’ve come out with a collection of memorabilia and shirts. I think they have more in the works. You can go on WWE Shop and get all his stuff. Windham was one of the top merchandise selling guys they had for quite a while. This is really going to help because fans buy stuff and I’m sure they have more stuff planned down the road.
“They put out a huge line of shirts. I’m not sure of all of what they’ve come out with and are doing, but people can search his name, and that would really help the kids because they’re not going to have their dad anymore. We’re trying to set trusts up for them and have them taken care of. It’s greatly appreciated by us and WWE has been more than gracious in the stuff they’ve tried to help with. It’s appreciated by our family.”
Bray Wyatt’s legacy merchandise can be found at this link.
h/t Fightful