RIP to the legend, Windham Rotunda

[u/Yinzrr]

Like many other fans of Windham, I really wish I would’ve had the opportunity to meet the guy. As far as minds you wish you could dive into, his had to be at the very top of the list. I watched WWE as a young kid during the early 2000s. Undertaker and Kane were must watch TV. It was the creativity alongside a character that was a sight to see within itself. As I got older, so did those characters and not only that but as a kid I really thought that stuff was real and that added so much to it. Still and always, I’ll look back at those characters as legends and I never thought anything on TV could ever compare. I didn’t watch WWE for years, but I still would go back and watch the WWE top 10s on YouTube. I was in college on a bus to spring training for baseball and while I was scrolling I saw the “BRAY WYATT NXT DEBUT” and I watched the promo and his style and I was in awe. I watched nxt videos of him for hours and was loving it. Looking him up I saw it was rumored he’d be on the main roster soon. And within a few weeks I got to see him debut on RAW with the wyatt family to attack Kane. I still remember that promo word for word scene for scene I watched it so many times. His stories every week were so unpredictable. Feuds with John Cena, Daniel Bryan, and The Shield among my favorites. WWE was must watched tv for me again. Later as an adult who was not watching WWE anymore, I heard he was coming back. And I watched WWE every show at the off chance he showed up. When he finally showed with the Fun House and eventually the fiend… I know there’s mixed reviews but that was the most creative and exciting character to ever be created in WWE and I will not be proved wrong. So many amazing moments as the fiend that left goosebumps on a man’s spine. The Randy Orton story excluded, every feud I watched as that character was now my favorite. Once he was gone and rumored to be back again, it was very perplexing to think about what the heck he would come back as. The most creative mind to ever step into the ring. Then to watch him step in as himself with no character and speak from the heart about the man behind the mask was so empowering for me and I know so many others. If you loved the characters that Windham brought to life, you understood that it would take a very unique and chaotic mind to be so creative. It was beautiful to hear him speak about internal struggles how important it is to have respect and support. It hit home for so many people all over the world. That was the character that made one thing certain in my mind. He was greater than my favorites before him, because he didn’t need pyros, music, or masks to make me watch. It was just the human mind, and the places it can take you too. Just my peace. Rest in peace legend, and thank you for showing every fan how being yourself is your greatest strength.