Bray Wyatt, real name Windham Rotunda, has died at the age of 36; Wyatt was a three-time world champion and two-time tag-team champion in WWE; he had not wrestled since January due to undisclosed medial reasons

WWE wrestler Bray Wyatt has died at the age of 36.

Wyatt, real name Windham Rotunda, had not competed since January due to undisclosed heath reasons.

His death was confirmed by WWE chief content officer Paul Levesque, aka Triple H, on social media.

Levesque wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “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. Our thoughts are with his family and we ask that everyone respect their privacy at this time

Wrestling reporter Sean Ross Sapp later said Wyatt had died of a heart attack and that contracting Covid-19 had exacerbated an existing heart condition

Wyatt joined WWE’s developmental programme in 2009 and remained with the company until his death, except for a one-year period between July 2021 and September 2022.

Wyatt was viewed as one of the most gifted performers on the microphone, with one incarnation of his character a villainous cult leader that led a group called The Wyatt Family.

In the ring he was a three-time world champion and two-time tag-team champion.

He came from a wrestling family, with his grandfather Blackjack Mulligan, father Mike Rotunda and younger brother Bo Dallas all competing

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson was one of those to pay tribute to Wyatt, writing on X: “Always had tremendous respect and love for him and the Rotunda family.

“Loved his presence, promos, in ring work and connection with the WWE universe. Very unique, cool and rare character, which is hard to create in our crazy world of pro wrestling