The Aug. 25 SmackDown provided a much needed chance for the wrestling community to mourn the deaths and celebrate the lives of WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk & future WWE Hall of Famer Windham “Bray Wyatt” Rotunda.
But two hours was never going to be enough, especially for the people who worked with and shared the ring & the road with Bray — many of them for a third of his all too brief 36 years.
Seth Rollins posted this message before the show, sharing his love for “unique cat” Windham, and explaining that his decision to not fly to Louisville, Kentucky for his friend’s farewell show was based on how Rotunda signed off their phone call after Brodie Lee’s death, telling Rollins to “go hug on that baby girl” — Seth & Becky Lynch’s daughter Roux.
— Seth Rollins (@WWERollins) August 25, 2023
Another star who will forever be tied to Bray Wyatt is Alexa Bliss. Getting to SmackDown proved to be impossible for her, which she explained in this message about how much fun it was to work with him and how his creativity changed the industry.
Alexa Bliss says she tried to make it to tonight’s SmackDown to pay tribute to Bray Wyatt but unfortunately can’t due to last minute flight troubles but wanted to send a message to Windham, Windham’s family, and to talk about how special he was as a creative genius and the Bray… pic.twitter.com/iqgjn9eIcX
— Chris Gardner (@thechrisgardnr) August 25, 2023
Chris Jericho is in London getting ready for AEW All In tomorrow, but at his Fozzy gig in Kentish Town he dedicated the weekend to Rotunda as the crowd sang “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands”.
Chris Jericho's sad tribute to the immense talent and human being that was Bray Wyatt, Thank you Bray ! "He's got the whole world in his hands" #Fozzy #BrayWyatt pic.twitter.com/U89QGrBKty
— Zozo Wolf (@D4RK_M4UL) August 25, 2023
@IAmJericho just done a really nice tribute to #BrayWyatt at Fozzy gig in London. pic.twitter.com/FqqL6OJShD
— . (@Kevandwhatever) August 25, 2023
Some video tributes didn’t make the air, but were shared online. Adam Pearce will remember Windham’s hugs and the laughs he shared with everyone he encountered...
#ThankYouBray ❤️ pic.twitter.com/OWYhtWjjFm
— Adam Pearce (@ScrapDaddyAP) August 26, 2023
AJ “Top Dolla” Francis spoke about how much Wyatt meant to him, even before they met.
Thank You Bray… I love you. #RIPBrayWyatt #RIPBray #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/sxHOxihQP1
— Top Dolla (@AJFrancis410) August 26, 2023
Along with Erick Rowan, Braun Strowman was on SmackDown, and these pictures of the surviving Wyatt Family are worth even more than the proverbial 1,000 words when describing how this week has made many of us feel:
Braun Strowman and Erik Rowan during tonight's tribute to Bray Wyatt #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/Im2LDc4NC8
— WWE on TNT Sports (@wweontnt) August 26, 2023
Strowman then headed to a tattoo studio, where like Rob Fee, Shotzi, Karrion Kross & Scarlett, and many others he got some ink to remember their friend and the connection to Bray that they share:
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We’ll close it out with this from someone who, like Bray, just has a way with words...
He brought Joy to everyone he loved and he loved everyone he could. The fireflies will glow forever because what you meant to us will never be extinguished. My love and condolences to the Rotunda family in this incredibly difficult time. pic.twitter.com/s9g2hi48p1
— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) August 26, 2023
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