Chris Bray Popular Books

Chris Bray Biography & Facts

Windham Lawrence Rotunda (May 23, 1987 – August 24, 2023) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenure in WWE, under the ring name Bray Wyatt from 2009 until his death in 2023. Rotunda was a third-generation wrestler, following in the footsteps of his grandfather Blackjack Mulligan, his father Mike Rotunda, and his uncles Barry and Kendall Windham. His younger brother Taylor is also a wrestler under the ring name Bo Dallas. Alongside his brother, he held the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship twice while in WWE's then-developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He wrestled under various ring names between 2008 and 2012 in FCW, and wrestled on WWE's main roster from 2010 to 2011 as a member of The Nexus under the ring name Husky Harris. After returning to WWE's developmental territory, which had been rebranded as NXT, Rotunda was repackaged as Bray Wyatt. Portrayed as the villainous leader of a bayou-dwelling cult called The Wyatt Family, he returned to the main roster alongside Wyatt Family members Luke Harper and Erick Rowan in 2013. He subsequently became a one-time WWE Champion, two-time WWE Universal Champion, one-time SmackDown Tag Team Champion (alongside Harper and brief Wyatt Family member Randy Orton under the Freebird Rule), and one-time Raw Tag Team Champion (with Matt Hardy). After a hiatus from August 2018 to April 2019, Wyatt returned with a new split personality gimmick that saw him switch between two characters: Bray Wyatt, who was a Mr. Rogers-esque children's TV host, and The Fiend, which was a grotesque monster resembling an evil clown. He was released from WWE in July 2021, but returned at the 2022 Extreme Rules with a new character that claimed to be his "real-life" self while gradually reincorporating his previous personalities in addition to new ones. In what would become his only televised match during his return, he defeated LA Knight at the 2023 Royal Rumble; the following month, he took a medical hiatus due to a COVID-19 diagnosis that exacerbated a pre-existing heart condition, and died of a heart attack on August 24 at the age of 36. Early life Windham Lawrence Rotunda was born at the Medical Center in Brooksville, Florida, on May 23, 1987. His younger brother, Taylor, is also a wrestler and is best known for performing under ring name Bo Dallas in WWE. He attended Hernando High School, where he won a state wrestling championship at 275 pounds (125 kg) in 2005, the year of his graduation. He also played football as a defensive tackle and guard. Rotunda played at the College of the Sequoias for two seasons, earning second-team All-American honors as a sophomore offensive guard at the California junior college. He earned a football scholarship to Troy University, where he played college football for two years. He left Troy 27 credit hours short of earning a bachelor's degree after deciding to become a professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2009–2021 2022–2023) Developmental territories (2009–2010) Making his debut in dark match on the February 5, 2009, episode of Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), he would work under the names Alex Rotundo and Duke Rotundo. In June 2009, he began teaming with his brother Bo Rotundo, winning the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship.On June 2, 2010, he joined NXT, a WWE show where a develomental wrestler, named Rookie was paired with a WWE wrestler, called Pro, under the name Husky Harris, with Cody Rhodes as his Pro. He was eliminated from the competition on August 17. Harris reappeared in the season finale of NXT with the other eliminated rookies and joined in on the attack on the NXT winner, Kaval.While on NXT, Rotunda continued wrestling in FCW while retaining the Husky Harris ring name. In September 2010 following his elimination from NXT, Harris began a feud in FCW with Percy Watson when he attacked Watson while teaming with him in a tag team match, which led to Watson being pinned for the loss. When Harris and Watson faced off in a match, they were both counted out as they brawled out of the arena, which led to a no disqualification match that Harris lost. The feud ended in October, with Harris defeating Watson in a lumberjack match. The Nexus (2010–2011) At the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on October 4, a disguised Harris and Michael McGillicutty interfered in a match between John Cena and Wade Barrett, and helped Barrett win, forcing Cena to join Barrett's faction The Nexus per the pre-match stipulation, becoming members of The Nexus weeks later. He worked as member of The Nexus, including when CM Punk became the new leader of the stable until the January 31 episode of Raw, when Harris was written off television after Randy Orton punted him in the head. Return to FCW (2011–2012) Following the punt by Orton on Raw, Rotunda returned to FCW and in March 2011 adopted the gimmick of the hockey mask-wearing Axl Mulligan, but the character never made it to FCW TV, and Rotunda continued to play the Husky Harris character on FCW TV. In August 2011, Harris became embroiled in his brother Bo's (then FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion) feud with Lucky Cannon and Damien Sandow. The two brothers later teamed up to defeat Cannon and Sandow. Later, Harris voiced his displeasure of Bo's relationship with Aksana, and when Bo suffered a legit injury his title was vacated and a tournament set up to determine the new champion, during which Harris defeated Big E Langston to make it to the final, a fatal four-way match against Dean Ambrose, Leo Kruger and Damien Sandow, which he lost after Richie Steamboat (who was at ringside to aim for Ambrose) performed a superkick on Harris instead. Despite Aksana managing to get Steamboat to attack Harris again, he still won a triple threat match against Ambrose and Sandow to earn a match for the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship against Kruger, which Harris lost when he was distracted with Steamboat's interference once again. As a result, Harris and Steamboat began feuding, with their first match ending in a no contest. Kruger later defeated the pair in a triple threat match to retain the title. However, Harris defeated Steamboat in a No Holds Barred match. After the pair continued to frequently attack each other, they were suspended for 30 days. Upon their return, Harris defeated Steamboat in a bullrope match to end their feud. On February 2, 2012, Harris and Bo Rotundo defeated Brad Maddox and Eli Cottonwood to win the vacant FCW Florida Tag Team Championship for the second time. They successfully defended the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship against Antonio Cesaro and Alexander Rusev, but lost the championship to Corey Graves and Jake Carter on March 15. The Wyatt Family (2012–2014) In April 2012, Rotunda was repackaged as Bray Wyatt, who initially associated himself with Eli Cottonwood in FCW. When WWE rebranded FCW into NXT, Bray Wyatt debuted on the July 11, 2012, episode of t.... Discover the Chris Bray popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Chris Bray books.