The Chambers Corner – The Life Of Windham
Windham Rotunda started in the WWE as Husky Harris, an oxymoronic name kind of, because even though he was husky, he was very athletic and had a captivating presence about him. On the mic and in the ring, he was electric and very talented. Although this character, ended up faltering, it showed his potential of what was to come.
The introduction of the cult classic as in Cape Fear and Waylon Mercy vibed Bray Wyatt was just the beginning of the genius that he was and began to show. Speaking as if he had his own native tongue, speaking in parables and parallels, he created a buzz. This made me happy, because I saw a lot of potential in him before, but this captivated me immediately and I was hooked. He then brought in a few to become his family. The monstrous additions of Luke Harper and Erick Rowan were a breath of fresh air in the WWE at the time. With an unmatched charismatic aura about them, they began to wreak havoc and created a following. Brutes and intelligent systematic prowess of taking down their opponents, they became a popular group and had memorable feuds with The Shield and The New Day. During this time, WWE as a whole was teeter tottering on quality stuff, but the Wyatt Family, it was pure quality.
Fast forward a bit and Bray Wyatt, reinvented himself, while staying true to himself. He became Bray Wyatt, The Eater Of Worlds and he went solo for a while. It was during this time period that he truly started coming into his own. His creative mind and his mystique really shined. Known for his spider crawl and feuds with John Cena and Undertaker, during this time for him, he really excelled. He then went on to become WWE champion during this period and he deserved it and earned it.
After losing it, it seemed as if he lost his way a bit and burnt out. During that lull period and the time away, it became known that he battled a lot of issues with mental health and it took its toll on him. And this is when his relatability was felt. Because during this time, I had dealt with some battles myself. After my brother passed away and then my dad passed away two years after, seeing Bray deal with it and fight hard and become an inspiration, I became a Windham Rotunda fan for life. The person behind the mystique of Bray.
Bray Wyatt then came back as the Firefly Fun House, an updated Mr. Rogers, and also had a flip side, a dark side that was even more relatable to and that was The Fiend. During this timeframe, Bray Wyatt was exuding confidence and was lighting it up for everyone. He showed up and showed out, whilst captivating a new audience, while giving his current, at the time, fans more meat and potatoes in his storytelling. These were amazing moments and amazing glimpses of who Windham was.
Unfortunately, due to unfortunate circumstances, it ended abruptly and he was released by McVoldemort. Yeah, that reference is intended. Well, that was a bit of a tailspin for him and it really hurt him and he fell into his depression further. I again, could relate to him, as he did to me, as he did with everyone. His genius stifled and a hole was created, I was not happy at all.
That was until his return at Extreme Rules, as himself. When he came out on SmackDown as himself, he shared to the world that we saved him, saved his life. I’m grateful that we could do that for him, but truth be told, he did the same for a lot of us. It was during his return, I was privileged to get to meet him twice. Once in a passing by each other moment in time and once, we had a heart to heart conversation, very little about wrestling actually, but more about life and our battles with depression and mental health. I’ll forever cherish that conversation and I will never forget it. The only thing I’ll divulge about that conversation, is this was around the time, not too long after my mom passed away and I was just getting started getting back into this journey in this sport as a referee and he told me, without a doubt your mother is proud of you and I am proud of you. I said thank you Bray and he said, I’m Windham and this is coming from Windham. I had a tear in my eye and he hugged me and that was the last time I got to see him in person. He got me and I got him. He’ll forever have a spot in my heart for that.
As he returned and began a new story arc, it got cut short unfortunately, unbeknownst to everyone, he was dealing with a life threatening illness, that ultimately cost him his life. So the day that he passed away, it was a huge gut punch and it hurt. Did I know him personally? No. However, one conversation and his character and career of being relatable, he meant the world to me and he had the whole world in his hands.
Whether he was Husky Harris or The Cape Fear Cult Leader, to The Eater Of Worlds to The Fiend and ultimately himself, Windham Rotunda, his legacy and his life will forever be remembered and I’ll forever cherish that one conversation.
Rest Easy Windham.
