Hello and welcome to the WrestleTalk News.
Last night tragic news broke as Triple H tweeted that Windham Rotunda, better known to wrestling
fans as Bray Wyatt, had suddenly and unexpectedly passed away.
Wyatt had been off WWE TV since March due to health issues but until now it had been
unclear what those health problems were.
Those issues have now been confirmed along with Wyatt’s cause of death.
Last night Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reported “I was given permission to reveal that earlier
this year Windham Rotunda (Bray Wyatt) got COVID that exacerbated a heart issue.
There was a lot of positive progress towards a return and his recovery.
Unfortunately today he suffered a heart attack and passed away.”
The reaction within WWE has understandably been one of complete shock.
BWE on Twitter had reported regarding the reaction that everything in WWE “is on pause
right now” and adds “Everything is scrapped.
All meetings are off until further notice.”
WWE has also added to WWEShop.com that all of the proceeds from Bray Wyatt merchandise
will go to Wyatt’s family.
Added to the description of Bray’s merchandise, WWE has written “In the wake of Bray Wyatt’s
death, WWE will donate all net proceeds to support JoJo Offerman and his children.”
That feeling of shock has extended to the rest of the wrestling world as well with names
upon names of wrestlers and promotions paying tribute to Wyatt on Twitter.
WWE star and former member of the Wyatt Family Braun Strowman wrote “i really don’t even
know how or where to start.
This is just what i can muster up right now.
8 years ago today I joined you as your black sheep.
If I knew only an 8 short years later I would have to say good by I sure as hell wouldn’t
have taken so much for granted.
You were my best friend my mentor my big little brother my brother of destruction.
You were there for all my highs and my lows as I was for yours.
You taught me so many things in the business that we shared and loved and you taught me
so much in life.
You truly made me a better person.
I was so honored the day I found out you were haveing Knash boy and you asked me to be his
Godfather.
Windham you were one of a kind with a great mind and even better soul.
The world lost such and amazing man.
My heart is with the Rotunda family JoJo and all the baby’s know i love you all so much.
I’ll see you down the road my friend.
Slap Brodie on the ass for me when you see him.
I know this isn’t bye forever.
I LOVE YOU HOOT!!!
WWE star Alexa Bliss wrote “I’m just in shock.
Extremely heart broken And at a loss for words.
What I can say is what an amazing human being Windham is.
An Amazing & kind friend.
one of the most creative minds to ever walk this earth.
Windham, you’ve brought so much joy and happiness to everyone around you.
It’s going to take me some time to really process this.
Sending my love to the Rotunda Family, Jojo & their babies.
We love you Windham 🖤” Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson wrote ““I’m
heartbroken over the news of Bray Wyatt’s passing.
Always had tremendous respect and love for him and the Rotunda family.
Loved his presence, promos, in ring work and connection with @wwe universe.
“Very unique, cool and rare character, which is hard to create in our crazy world of pro
wrestling.
Still processing losing the goat, Terry Funk yesterday and now Bray today.
“My love, light, strength & mana to the Rotunda family and Funk family during this
tough, heartbreaking time.
As always, ‘thank you for the house’ #ohana AEW star Matt Hardy who won the Raw Tag Team
Championship with Wyatt in 2018 after a lengthy feud, wrote “Absolutely shattered to learn
that my friend, Windham Rotunda, has passed away.
It’s devastating to think he left us at only 36 years young.
My condolences go out to his family, wife & children.
I’m so sorry, my compeer.
Miss you already.”
WWE’s Vice President of Global Talent Development William Regal wrote “Devastated to hear
of the passing of Windham Rotunda, Bray Wyatt.
My deepest condolences to Mike, Bo, Barry and all his family.
Rest well my friend.x” Former WWE champion Big E wrote “Man…the
first dude that took me under his wing when I got signed in 2009.
We spent so much of our adult lives together.
Praying for Jojo.
Praying for his kids.
I will miss your laugh & your boyish charm, my friend.
Goodbye, Windham.”
AEW star Keith Lee, who also dealt with a life threatening heart issue in 2021, wrote
“The toughest part of this industry… is when you bond with people…. and then that
bond is severed unexpectedly.
RIP brudda.
I was rooting for you just like you did for me.
I already missed you… but this… it’s painful.
Safe journey my man.”
AEW star Dustin Rhodes wrote “Horrible.
So sad hearing the news of Bray.
Fucking terrible.
I am praying for you Mike, Stephanie, Mika and Taylor.
Love you guys.
So sad.”
before adding “Just no fucking words.
I love you Bray.
I was like an uncle to them boys.
I hate fucking death.”
WWE star Baron Corbin wrote “I’m trying to process this and can’t.
Windham was a friend.
I feel for his wife, his beautiful children, his parents, his brother, his sister and everyone
else who knew what a incredible person he was.”
LA Knight, Wyatt’s final opponent having wrestled at this year’s Royal Rumble, tweeted
this photo of the two of them together during their feud.
All Elite Wrestling shared their statement on Windham Rotunda’s passing as well, with
their statement reading “AEW joins the entire wrestling world in mourning the loss of Windham
Rotunda, aka Bray Wyatt.
A third-generation wrestler, Windham proudly carried on his family’s legacy by forging
his own incredible path to superstardom.
“Windham’s unique style and persona showcased his passion for the industry and desire for
innovation.
“AEW sends its deepest condolences to Windham’s family, friends and fans.
We are forever grateful for all his incredible contributions to the industry.”
There are many many more tributes shared from across the wrestling world that we won’t
have time to share but from the bottom of our hearts here at WrestleTalk we send our
thoughts, love and condolences to the entire Rotunda family, all of his friends and everyone
who he has touched throughout his life and career.
Rest in peace Windham.
We will miss you very very much.
While all other news seems just obsolete at this time and pales in significance to Wyatt’s
tragic passing, we’re going to attempt to move on here to the other stories in the world
of wrestling.
Yesterday our top story was in regards to WWE Hall of Famer Edge and his seemingly impending
move to AEW.
This shock development was a result of a report from PWTorch’s Wade Keller who said that
WWE had rejected Edge’s terms for a contract extension and as a result a move to AEW seemed
on the cards.
The Rated R Superstar’s move to AEW was even reportedly expected by WWE themselves.
And there we were ready to EDGE TO AEW CONFIRMED… when the man himself would take to Twitter
to quell the flames and provide some clarification on the sitch.
Edge said that he had woken up to voicemails and messages from friends and family regarding
the news of his AEW move, however, according to Edge all that attention was for naught.
Edge denied reports of him coming to WWE with a massive contract proposal or that WWE rejecting
extending his deal, instead revealing that he actually has a contract extension on the
table right now, saying:
“I have a contract extension sitting in my inbox.
I just don’t know what to do.
The first time I had to retire, it was forced, and this time, the choice is on my lap, and
it’s a lot harder.
Edge revealed that the difficulty in the decision is partly due to the special ‘final’ night
he had in Toronto at last week’s SmackDown, calling it “the best night” of his career
and that he’s not sure if it can be topped.
So, according to Edge the decision lies totally in his hands, however, the Wrestling Observer’s
Dave Meltzer claims that there is “something to the stories” on Wrestling Observer Radio.
Meltzer claims that WWE and Edge are “negotiating a deal” but have not yet agreed terms contrary
to what Edge suggested in his statement.
Stay tuned to WrestleTalk.com for more updates on the situation.
Moving across to AEW now and we are obviously just two days away from seeing the biggest
event in wrestling history take place at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Yes, despite a slow start Tony Khan went a bit booking mad the past few weeks and now
we have what many expect to be the complete card following this week.
Or that’s what we thought.
Well, yesterday, TK announced on the AEW Unrestricted Podcast that yet another match was added to
the All In Zero Hour, as Jack Perry defends his FTW Title against Hook.
Perry was originally scheduled to have a segment on Dynamite where he was going to ‘retire’
said championship, but that got moved to Collision.
So yeah, spoiler alert that obviously didn’t happen.
Another match that was rumored to be happening at All In was Jeff Jarrett vs Scottish cult
favorite Grado.
While this is and was extremely random it seemed to be a possibility after Jarrett whacked
Grado with a gee-tar on UK sports radio show TalkSport.
But despite that, it does not seem to be taking place with PWMania reporting that the match
was not in AEW’s plans.
This was later also confirmed by Fightful Select.
So yeah… sucks for any Grado fans out there I guess.
While Grado may not be making a late addition to the card, Fightful Select did note that
they had been told that “additional changes” would still be made to All In with some additional
names that weren’t scheduled to be on the show now traveling to London.
So, with more changes to All In potentially afoot, it begs the question what Tony Khan’s
original vision for the historic event really was.
Y’know, before all the injuries and stuff.
Yes, the injury bug, that has struck AEW on numerous times in the past ahead of major
shows most notably perhaps Forbidden Door 1 in 2022, also unwelcomely struck numerous
times ahead of All In.
Shoe-ins for the card such as Bryan Danielson and the British pairing of Jamie Hayter and
PAC were all reportedly factored into All In plans and featured on the original poster
of the event.
Now, for Danielson it was already previously reported that the original plans may have
seen him take on Kenny Omega in a rematch from their 2021 Dynamite Grand Slam classic.
Which would have just been so pleasant to see again but alas.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer original plans would have seen
Jamie Hayter defend her AEW Women’s Championship in the four-way that is still set to go ahead
on Sunday.
However it's unclear who this would have been in replacement of.
As for PAC, Meltzer noted that he would have been involved in the situation involving the
Blackpool Combat Club, Best Friends and Lucha Bros.
According to Meltzer the original Stadium Stampede would have seen a three-way trios
match between the BCC, Best Friends and Orange Cassidy as well as Death Triangle.
However, this of course changed not only due to PAC’s injury but recently Rey Fenix’s
reported travel issues that saw him written off TV this week.
But as seen on this weeks Dynamite, Fenix wasn’t the only one pulled from All In as
AR Fox was not only punted from his scheduled Coffin Tag Match alongside Swerve Strickland
against Darby Allin and Sting, but the Mogul Embassy altogether.
Now this was widely questioned online afterwards, with Fox only just turning heel and joining
up with Swerve’s faction.
However, it came to light that Fox also wouldn’t be able to make the show, however, its unclear
why exactly that is, despite speculation it could be related to travel also.
Nevertheless AEW’s decision to make such a creative u-turn and kick Fox out of Mogul
Embassy seemed a bit drastic to say the least.
However, some new information from F4WOnline’s Bryan Alvarez suggests their may be some potential
heat on Fox, perhaps resulting in the decision to scrap his heel push.
According to Alvarez, AEW only found out that Fox couldn’t make All In at the “very
last minute,” something they were supposedly not too happy with.
While this is by no means confirmation as to why they made the change to Fox’s character,
and WHY Darby Allin and Nick Wayne inexplicably forgave him in an instant, despite him still
wearing the vest with Wayne’s own blood on it… but hey it could be related.
Finishing up our AEW news round-up and there have been more AEW re-signings ahead of the
company’s most exciting weekend in its history.
As confirmed by Fightful Select a currently very much absent star has signed on teh dotted
line for a new AEW deal, despite last wrestling for AEW A YEAR AGO.
Yes, while many would have questioned whether Anthony Ogogo was even still signed to the
company, he has been and now he’s set to stay.
In fact, according to Fightful’s report, Ogogo actually re-signed with AEW on a full-time
two year deal back in late 2022 or early 2023, with his contract set to run until the start
of 2025 at least.
The report also states that the 34-year-old has had no creative plans in place for him,
hence why we haven’t seen him around.
However, the Olympian is reportedly in his native London for All In doing media so perhaps
we could see him return there?
But that’s not all as The Boys, otherwise known as Brandon and Brent Tate have also
agreed new deals with AEW.
The Boys confirmed the news via social media on Wednesday, with Fightful Select confirming
in an update yesterday that negotiations went “back and forth” in recent weeks.
So that’s the news.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and enjoy All In, and once again rest in peace
Bray Wyatt.