The anatomy of a monster: Bray Wyatt's family tree

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Walking through the fireflies...

Bray Wyatt is undoubtedly one of the most intriguing WWE Superstars of all-time. Everything about him is just simply interesting. You may or may not be a fan of his style, or you may not like him whatsoever. However, you have to at least be fascinated by his run thus far.

When you look at Wyatt, one of the first words that probably comes to mind is "mysterious." Wyatt's entire body of work just screams mystery. With that said, there's actually quite a bit known about the Eater of Worlds, thanks to his family background. Bray Wyatt belongs to one of pro wrestling's most respected and successful families of all-time, the Windham-Rotunda family.

In this column, we will take an in-depth look at where Bray Wyatt comes from and who laid the legendary groundwork for Bray to not only become a WWE Superstar but to eventually be WWE Champion. Here's a look at the Bray Wyatt Family Tree.



The Patriarch: Blackjack Mulligan

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The original "toughest s.o.b.!"

It all starts right here, at the feet of the 6-foot, 9-inch, 330-pound patriarch of the Windham/Rotunda family...WWE Hall of Famer Blackjack Mulligan.

Bray Wyatt attributes a lot of his mannerisms and talents to his grandfather, Blackjack Mulligan. Like Bray, Blackjack started out with a love for football. Mulligan played collegiate football and even had a few NFL tryouts before eventually joining the United States Marine Corps. After serving his country, Blackjack would go on to become one of the most feared and revered villains of all-time.

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Throughout his 20-year professional wrestling career, Blackjack accumulated a plethora of championships. Many of them would come with his former tag team partner, Blackjack Lanza. However, Mulligan was just as good solo as he was in tag action.

Mulligan lived a hard life. He was the quintessential "mans-man." He was tough, yet kind-hearted and very fair. Blackjack adored his family and they loved him dearly as well. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity that I had to speak with Blackjack just months before his passing. Long gone was the hard-spoken roughneck.

He had traded in that persona for a much more compassionate and inviting gentleman. During our conversation, he spoke mostly of Faith and family, with very little wrestling to be mentioned. Nonetheless, I found myself captivated by his wisdom and thankful for his time. Mulligan did, in fact, mention how proud he was of both Bray and Bo. During the time of our talk, Bray was in the midst of an enormous push and it was obvious how proud he was of his grandson.

Bray Wyatt has some tremendous shoes to fill if he wants to do his grandfathers legacy justice. Personally, I think he is doing just fine in that regards. Both Bray and Bo continue to honor Blackjack by wearing the glove on their right hands, which is similar to the glove Mulligan wore during his career.

Blackjack Mulligan passed away in mid-2016. He was 73 years of age at the time.

BFather: Mike Rotunda (I.R.S.)

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Everyone has to pay the man!

Mike Rotunda is the man behind the man. Mike is Bray Wyatt's father and obviously one of his biggest influences. It's also worth noting that Rotunda still travels with the company, serving as a road agent, as well as making the occasional on-screen appearance for shows such as Old School RAW.

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During the great run of the 1980s, Irwin R. Schyster, or "I.R.S." as he was more commonly known, was a very intricate part of the great success that era enjoyed. Whether he was competing in singles competition or tagging with The Million Dollar Man, I.R.S. was a very entertaining and consistent performer.

Mike is married to Stephanie Windham-Rotunda, the daughter of Blackjack Mulligan. Together, Mike and Stephanie had three children, which include Bray Wyatt, Bo Dallas and their sister, Mika Rotunda.

Uncle: Kendall Windham

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The "other" Windham...

While Kendall might be the "lesser-known" of the Windham-Rotunda family, he still had his fair share of in-ring success throughout his nearly 20-year wrestling career. Kendall enjoyed moderate success with several promotions, which included WCW, Championship Wrestling of Florida and Jim Crockett Promotions. Much of his in-ring style was adopted from his father, Blackjack Mulligan. For instance, Kendall perfected the lariat, which was one of Mulligans most powerful and popular manoeuvres.

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Kendall keeps a very close relationship with Bray Wyatt to this very day. In fact, Kendall's son is actually named Wyatt. Currently, Kendall owns and operates a security services company in his hometown of Brandon, Florida, which is a suburb of Tampa.

Uncle: Barry Windham

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Barry Windham was one of the most successful in the family.

If you are not familiar with anyone else in the Windham-Rotunda family, I'm sure you at least know who Barry Windham is.

Barry Windham is undoubtedly one of, if not the most successful wrestler to come from the Windham-Rotunda family. To this day, Barry still makes the occasional public appearance and still draws a huge response from the fans.

Barry has a laundry list of accolades that he has accumulated throughout the course of his storied career. But some of the most notable moments include a plethora of NWA titles, as well as multiple Championship reigns with WCW. Barry may have been best known by some as a member of the Four Horsemen.

In 1988 Barry turned heel, much to the surprise of the fans. After the turn, Barry joined Ric Flair's infamous stable that we all know as The Four Horsemen. Barry was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of The Horsemen.

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As far as the family ties, Barry is also the son of Blackjack Mulligan. Barry molded most of his career around his fathers' style of wrestling. He too would wear the black glove, which was a tribute to his dad.

Brother: Bo Dallas

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The sport certainly runs in the family!

ray Wyatt and his brother Bo Dallas grew up very close. They are only separated by 3-years, with Bray being the eldest at 31-years old and Bo being 28-years of age. As they were coming up as children, they were privy to witnessing the sport of professional wrestling first-hand as their father was on the road with the WWE hundreds of days per year. This would prove to be an advantage for the brothers as they were able to learn so much about the industry, at such a young age.

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While Bray and Bo were both coming up through the developmental ranks in Florida Championship Wrestling and then NXT, the brothers were occasionally placed together in tag team action. However, they both found more success on the solo route.

Now Bray and Bo are both thriving on the main roster, performing as WWE RAW Superstars. In fact, Bo and his tag team partner, Curtis Axel recently defeated Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy, to become the new WWE RAW Tag Team Champions. It appears that Bray may very well be headed back to singles competition in the near future if he does move forward with the split from Matt Hardy.

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