Bray Wyatt - WWE Royal Rumble
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - Bray Wyatt enters the arena to fight in the pitch black event during the WWE Royal Rumble event at the Alamodome on January 28, 2023 in San Antonio, Texas. Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) just lost a talented member of its active roster.

Retired professional wrestler and WWE chief content officer Triple H announced that Windham Rotunda, most popularly known as Bray Wyatt, unexpectedly passed earlier on Thursday. He was 36 years old.

Less than a week ago, Fightful reported that Wyatt was battling an undisclosed life-threatening illness, but he was improving significantly and nearing a return to in-ring action. The publication even brought up possible storylines for his comeback.

Wyatt quietly disappeared from television last February due to a real-life illness. He recently returned to WWE in October 2022 at the Extreme Rules 2022 pay-per-view event after being released by the promotion in March 2021.

Bray Wyatt's cause of death

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reported the cause of death of the WWE Superstar via social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Wyatt suffered a heart attack after being infected with COVID-19, which had exacerbated an existing heart issue. He was already given a medical clearance two weeks ago.

Also known as "The Fiend," Wyatt is a three-time world champion, having won the WWE Championship once and the WWE Universal Championship twice.

He also won the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship with Matt Hardy and the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship with Randy Orton and Luke Harper. Harper also died in December 2020.