Michael Cole: Bray Wyatt is missed ‘every single day’ by everyone in WWE
Nearly three years since his death, Bray Wyatt is still missed “every single day” by those in WWE.
August will mark three years since Wyatt (real name Windham Rotunda) tragically passed away at 36 years old. Commentator Michael Cole shared some memories of Wyatt while appearing on The Sal Licata Show this week. The interview was conducted on the seven-year anniversary of Wyatt debuting his WWE character The Fiend.
“Bray and I did a lot of work together over the years. You know, Bray was awesome. I remember him as Husky Harris back in his NXT days. He was one of the most creative people that we’ve ever had in our company,” Cole said. “Unbelievably nice man as well. But he had so many ideas for obviously the Bray Wyatt character with the lantern and such and also for The Fiend.
“The Fiend was such a phenomenon. It was just so much fun to watch. It was always, ‘How are you going to translate this to the ring?’ And he was able to do that.”
Cole said he and Wyatt were hoping to produce segments that would be similar to the interviews cult leader Charles Manson gave in prison, but they unfortunately weren’t able to make it happen.
“One of the stories, Bray and I had worked for a number of years on trying to do a sit-down interview where it would be like Michael Cole interviewing Charles Manson in prison. And if you’ve ever gone back and watched some of the old videotapes of interviews that had been done with Manson in prison, it was a really intriguing idea by Bray,” Cole said. “We had even mapped it out, and the concept was ready to go. And for some reason, it never happened. But I thought that would have really — especially if it was a multi-part interview series — I think that would have really helped Bray bring out that character even more. And we could see that real sick, sadistic side of that Bray Wyatt character. But everything he touched was gold, guys.
“And just an incredible guy, a guy that is missed every single day by everybody in our company. And man, I still wish he was here.”
Wyatt passed away on August 24, 2023 due to a heart condition that was made worse by a bout with COVID-19. He was a multi-time World Champion during his WWE career and one of the most memorable wrestling characters of his era.
The Wyatt family legacy continued on in WWE even after his passing, with Wyatt’s brother Bo Dallas/Uncle Howdy (Taylor Rotunda) leading a faction named The Wyatt Sicks. It consisted of Dallas, Erick Rowan, Nikki Cross, Dexter Lumis, and Joe Gacy before all five were released by WWE this April.
Wyatt is expected to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame at some point, though a 2024 induction was considered too soon given how fresh his passing was and the stress it could have brought on his family. WWE instead inducted Wyatt’s father Mike Rotunda and uncle Barry Windham together as The US Express.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.