Bray Wyatt Windham Lawrence Rotunda ( May 23 , 1987 ) is an American professional wrestler , signed to WWE , where he performs on the " SmackDown " brand under the ring name Bray Wyatt . He is a former WWE Champion and a former SmackDown Tag Team Champion as the leader of the Wyatt Family . He previously wrestled for WWE as Husky Harris , most notably as a member of The Nexus . His younger brother Taylor Rotunda also performs in WWE , under the ring name Bo Dallas . Alongside his brother , he has held the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship twice . He is a third generation professional wrestler , following in the footsteps of his grandfather ( the late Blackjack Mulligan ) , his father ( Mike Rotunda ) , and two of his uncles ( Barry Windham and Kendall Windham ) . World Wrestling Entertainment ( 2009 – present ) . He debuted in FCW in April 2009 with a victory , using the name " Alex Rotundo " . He later changed his name to " Duke Rotundo " . On June 23 , 2009 , Rotundo teamed up with his younger brother Bo , and they defeated Justin Angel and Kris Logan to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship . At the November 19 FCW television tapings they lost the championship to the Dudebusters ( Curt Hawkins and Caylen Croft ) . " NXT " and The Nexus ( 2010 - 2011 ) . On June 1 , 2010 , Rotunda was announced as a competitor in the second season of " WWE NXT " under the name " Husky Harris " , with Cody Rhodes as his mentor . Harris made his debut on the June 8 episode of " NXT " , competing in a tag team match with Rhodes against Montel Vontavious Porter and Percy Watson , which they lost . After a rocky start with his pro Cody Rhodes , Harris turned heel on the June 22 edition of " NXT " by attacking announcer Matt Striker , just as his pro did the previous week . The following week , Harris lost to Porter in a singles match , and was ranked seventh out of the eight rookies in the first poll . In the second poll , Harris moved up to sixth place , narrowly avoiding elimination . On August 9 the rookies appeared in a six - man tag team match on " Raw " , which Harris ' team won when he pinned Kaval , but his team lost a rematch the following night on " NXT " . In the poll later that night , Harris climbed to fourth place out of the six rookies . Harris was one of two rookies eliminated from " NXT " on August 17 . Following his elimination , Harris and Rhodes attacked Kaval , resulting in a brawl also involving Porter and Kofi Kingston . Harris reappeared in the season finale of NXT with the other eliminated rookies and joined in on the attack on the NXT winner , Kaval . At the Hell in a Cell pay - per - view in October , 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 . Harris ' and McGillicutty ' s identities were revealed on the following day ' s episode of " Raw " , though Barrett claimed he had not asked for their help and refused to make them full - time members of The Nexus . The following week , Harris and McGillicutty cost Cena a match against The Miz , prompting Barrett to give them the opportunity to win membership in the Nexus . On the October 18 episode of " Raw " , Harris and McGillicutty failed to earn a place in the Nexus when they lost to Cena and Randy Orton in a tag team match . Despite of their loss , Harris and McGillicutty were inducted into the Nexus on " Raw " the following week . In January 2011 , CM Punk took over the Nexus and had each of its members put through an initiation . Harris passed his initiation , a lashing from the rest of the group , and was allowed to remain a member of the New Nexus , alongside Punk , McGillicutty and David Otunga . Three weeks later , on the January 31 episode of " Raw " , Harris and McGillicutty unsuccessfully challenged Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov for the WWE Tag Team Championship . After the match , Orton attacked them as revenge for costing him the WWE Championship , and punted Harris in the head , which was used to write Harris off television " indefinitely " . Return to FCW ( 2011 – 2012 ) . Following the punt by Orton on " Raw " , Rotunda returned to FCW and debuted a new character in March 2011 , that of the hockey mask - wearing Axel 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 ( the FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion ) feud with Lucky Cannon and Damien Sandow ; the brothers later teamed up to defeat Cannon and Sandow in a tag match . Later , Harris voiced his displeasure of Bo ' s relationship with Aksana , and when Bo suffered an injury , his title was vacated and a tournament set up to determine the new champion ; Harris defeated Big E Langston to make it to the final , a fatal four - way match against Dean Ambrose , Leo Kruger and Damien Sandow . During the match , won by Kruger , Harris was superkicked by Richie Steamboat at ringside who was aiming for Ambrose . The next week , a scheming Aksana managed to get Steamboat to attack Harris again ; Harris also won a triple threat match against Ambrose and Sandow to earn a match for the championship against Kruger , which Harris lost when he was distracted with Steamboat ' s interference . 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 his heavyweight title , and the following week , 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 defeated Brad Maddox and Eli Cottonwood to win the ( vacant ) Florida Tag Team Championship for the second time . The brothers successfully defended their titles against Antonio Cesaro and Alexander Rusev , but lost their titles to Corey Graves and Jake Carter on March 15 . The Wyatt Family ( 2012 – 2014 ) . In April 2012 , Rotunda debuted a new character , Bray Wyatt , who initially associated himself with Eli Cottonwood while in FCW . When WWE rebranded FCW into NXT Wrestling , Wyatt debuted on the fourth episode of the rebooted " WWE NXT " , taped at Full Sail University , where he defeated Aiden English in a singles match . Wyatt is portrayed as an evil cult leader who believes himself to be more monster than human . The character drew comparisons to Max Cady of the 1991 film " Cape Fear " and Waylon Mercy . In July , Wyatt suffered a torn pectoral muscle and required surgery . Despite the injury , Wyatt continued to appear on " NXT " by founding a faction known as The Wyatt Family in November , with Luke Harper as his first " son " and Erick Rowan as his second . Wyatt had his first match back from injury on the February 21 , 2013 episode of " NXT " , defeating Yoshi Tatsu . Wyatt suffered his first loss on the March 13 episode of " NXT " , when he was defeated by Bo Dallas . On the May 2 episode of " NXT " , Wyatt was defeated by six - time world champion Chris Jericho . On the May 8 episode of " NXT " , Harper and Rowan defeated Adrian Neville and Bo Dallas to win the NXT Tag Team Championship s . The Wyatt Family went on to feud with Corey Graves and Kassius Ohno , with Wyatt defeating Graves on the May 22 episode of " NXT " . The following week , Wyatt eliminated both Graves and Ohno during an 18 - man battle royal to determine the number one contender to the NXT Championship , although he was later eliminated by Neville . On the June 19 " NXT " , the Wyatt Family defeated the team of Graves , Neville and Ohno . On the July 10 episode of " NXT " , Wyatt pinned William Regal when the Wyatt Family faced Graves , Neville and Regal in a six - man tag match . From the May 27 episode of " Raw " , WWE aired vignettes promoting the upcoming debut of the Wyatt Family . The vignettes showed the Wyatt Family ' s backwoods origins and Rowan wearing a lamb mask . On the July 8 episode of " Raw " , the Wyatt Family made their debut by assaulting Kane . The Wyatt Family continued their attacks on wrestlers like R - Truth , Justin Gabriel and 3MB ( Drew McIntyre , Heath Slater , and Jinder Mahal ) while sending cryptic messages to Kane asking him to " follow the buzzards " . Following another assault , Kane challenged Wyatt to a Ring of Fire match at SummerSlam , which he accepted . On August 18 at the pay - per - view , Wyatt defeated Kane in the Ring of Fire match , following interference from Harper and Rowan . After the match , Harper and Rowan again attacked Kane and ended the segment by carrying him away . Wyatt ' s next target was Kofi Kingston , who he defeated at WWE Battleground . The Wyatt Family ' s next feud began when they attacked Daniel Bryan and CM Punk in late October , leading to Bryan and Punk defeating Harper and Rowan at Survivor Series . The Wyatt Family continued their feud with Bryan as Wyatt attempted to recruit Bryan , and the trio defeated Bryan in a handicap match at . On the final " Raw " of 2013 , Bryan defeated Harper and then Rowan in a gauntlet match so that he could face Wyatt , whereupon Harper and Rowan interfered for a disqualification and beat him down . A frustrated Bryan finally gave up and gave in to join the Wyatt Family . However , after Bryan joined them , they could not find success . This caused Waytt to push Bryan , leading to Bryan attacking all the members of the Wyatt Family on the January 13 episode of Raw to signal him breaking free of the group . At the Royal Rumble , Wyatt defeated Bryan in a singles match , and later at the event , the wyatt Family ' s distraction cost John Cena his WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Randy Orton . The family proceeded to attack Cena and left him lying in the ring . On the January 27 Raw , The Wyatt Family attacked Bryan , Cena and Sheamus during an Elimination Chamber qualifying match against The Shield , thus awarding Bryan ' s team the disqualification win and costing The Shield a chance to enter the Elimination Chamber match at the eponymous event . Therefore , a six - man tag team matchwas set up between The Shield and the Wyatt Family at the event . The Wayatt ' s won the match at Elimination Chamber , diabling Dean ambrose in the stands and throwing Seth Rollins through the Spanish announce table before finally pinning Roman Reigns . Later , they interfered in the Elimination Chamber match , leading to John Cena ' s elimination . In the weeks following Elimination Chamber , Wyatt continued to torment and antagonize John Cena ( including saying that Cena ' s heroic image was nothing more than a facade ) , to the point of interrupting his request to enter the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal to Hulk Hogan . Cena would then issue a challenge to Wyatt for a match at WrestleMania XXX , which was accepted . With Cena successfully resisting the urge to become a " monster " and overcoming interference from Harper and Rowan to defeat Wyatt at WrestleMania . The feud continued after WrestleMania based on the story that Wyatt was capturing Cena ' s fanbase , which was exemplified by Wyatt leading a children ' s choir to the ring on the April 28 episode of Raw , with the children later putting on sheep masks . At Extreme Rules , Wyatt defeated Cena in a steel cage match , after repeated interference from the rest of the Wyatt Family and a demonic child . Cena ' s feud with Wyatt continued with a Last Man Standing match being set up for Payback . At the pay - per - view , Cena buried Wyatt under multiple equipment cases to win the match and end the feud . On the June 13 episode of " SmackDown " , Wyatt defeated Dean Ambrose to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship , which John Cena won . The following night on " Raw " , the Wyatt Family attacked a returning Chris Jericho which led to matches between Wyatt and Jericho at Battleground , where Jericho won and at SummerSlam , where Wyatt won . On the August 25 episode of Raw , Wyatt was utterly dominated by John Cena in a singles match . Harper and Rowan caused a disqualification , leading to a six - man tag pitting the Wyatt Family against Cena , Show and Henry . Cena submitted Harper to win , then delivered AAs to all three members of the Wyatt Family . On the September 8 Raw , Wyatt defeated Chris Jericho in a steel cage match by escaping the cage . Beginning from September 29 , vignettes were shown of Bray Wyatt " setting Luke Harper and Erick Rowan free " . Singles run and feud with The Undertaker ( 2014 - present ) . Wyatt returned alone at Hell in a Cell in October , during the main event match between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins . Just as Ambrose was about to defeat Rollins , the arena lights cut out and Wyatt ' s lantern appeared in the middle of the ring , spraying out smoke and projecting an image of a ghostly specter while the sound of Wyatt reciting an incantation was heard . Wyatt emerged from the smoke and blindsided Ambrose , who was then pinned by Rollins for the victory . After the match , Wyatt attacked Ambrose . In the following weeks , Wyatt would taunt Ambrose while offering to " fix " him like he had done with Harper and Rowan . Wyatt eventually defeated Ambrose at Survivor Series by means of disqualification after Ambrose used a steel chair to attack Wyatt . The following month at , Wyatt once again defeated Ambrose , this time in a TLC match . After being defeated by Ambrose at Tribute to the Troops in a Boot Camp match , Wyatt would defeat Ambrose on the December 22 episode of Raw in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight . This would lead to an Ambulance match on the January 5 , 2015 episode of Raw , which Wyatt won , effectively ending their feud . At Royal Rumble , Wyatt competed in the Rumble match , entering at # 5 where he lasted for almost 47 minutes , eliminating six other contestants before being eliminated by Big Show and Kane . Over the next few weeks , Wyatt began a series of cryptic promos which led to Fast Lane , where Wyatt challenged The Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania 31 , which Undertaker accepted on the March 9 episode of Raw . On March 29 at WrestleMania XXXI , he was defeated by The Undertaker . Before the event , Wyatt suffered a sprained ankle , causing his match with The Undertaker to be worked with a slow pace . Wyatt would air a series of vignettes in the coming weeks which would eventually turn into a feud with Roman Reigns . Personal life . Rotunda is a third generation professional wrestler ; his grandfather Blackjack Mulligan , father Mike Rotunda and uncles Barry and Kendall Windham were all professional wrestlers . He has a younger brother , Taylor , who is also a professional wrestler , and a younger sister , Mika . Rotunda was named after Barry Windham . Rotunda attended Hernando High School , where he won a state wrestling championship at 275 lb in 2005 . He graduated from high school in 2005 . 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 . He earned a football scholarship to Troy University , where he played collegiate football for two years . He left Troy University 27 hours before earning a bachelor ' s degree after deciding to become a wrestler . Quotes . " Follow The Buzzards " " Go Down With The Machine " " He ' s Got The Whole World In His Hands "