Latest / Real. Guy. Pods. / Windham "Bray Wyatt" Rotunda Tribute Show | SRTU Bonus | 8/30/23

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Windham "Bray Wyatt" Rotunda Tribute Show | SRTU Bonus | 8/30/23 · Real. Guy. Pods.

0:00
It's still really to be David. Welcome, everybody. Welcome to this special
0:06
edition of The Stow Railtoy Show. Jeff Peck, Doctor Trey Franklin, August
0:10
thirty, twenty twenty three. I wish it was under better, better circumstances
0:16
as we remember the life and give our thoughts on the tragic passing of Bray
0:25
Wyatt Windham Rotunda. The news broke Thursday afternoon, late Thursday evening or early
0:33
Thursday evening. I should say I didn't know about it, doctor Tray,
0:39
for a good four hours or so. I was playing softball, which I
0:44
tend to do on Thursday nights. I come home and I didn't go online,
0:49
no text or anything like that, not even any alert news items popping
0:55
up. And I'm scrolling through Instagram at like ten o'clock on the East Coast
0:59
and I see a WE graphic WWE remembers Windham Rotunda aka Bray Wyatt, and
1:06
my heart immediately sank in my chest. You know, we'll have plenty to
1:12
talk about here throughout this entire special edition of the podcast. But where were
1:19
you and how did you find out about the very tragic news. So I
1:23
had just gotten home from work, getting ready to go on my vacation and
1:30
kind of glancing through Facebook, and I saw somebody posts, you know,
1:34
r I P bray Wyatt and I was like, wait what And went on
1:38
a few of the wrestling news sites that I go to. Nobody had posted
1:42
anything about it yet. Went on ww dot com, nothing was there,
1:48
and I was like, Okay, maybe it's one of those like a little
1:49
fake news stories you see pop up from time to time, like you know,
1:55
like celebrity passings and stuff like that, because everywhere I look, I
1:57
couldn't find anything. And then about fifteen minutes later, I saw somebody linked
2:01
to the tweet from Triple H And even then, at first I thought it
2:07
was a work. I literally thought that, you know, it was them
2:12
trying to kill off the bray Wyatt character. And you know, you and
2:15
I had talked a few weeks ago about how he had been ill, but
2:20
now they were trying to make plans for his return everything else. I thought
2:23
it was their way of kind of starting over, like refreshing the character.
2:28
Basically, you just clear clear, cleaning the slate. And then the news
2:32
reports are popping up everywhere, and then I started seeing stuff coming out from
2:37
wrestlers and everything else, and I was just kind of dumbfounded and just didn't
2:44
know how to react. I said, there way for my wife to get
2:45
help from work so we could, like I said, finished getting ready to
2:46
go on our vacation. And she got home and I was like, did
2:50
you get on Facebook day? She's like no, and I'm like, bray
2:53
Wyatt passed and she's like, are you kidding me? I'm like no,
2:57
that's It's like, I mean, it's been five days. I'm still kind
3:00
of weirdly numb about the whole thing, but yeah, that's kind of my
3:06
timeline for finding out about it. Yeah, I obviously had a tough time
3:12
sleeping on Thursday night going in Friday just thinking about the news. When these
3:16
things happen, you know, there's a selfish side of it, where it's
3:21
like, you know, you lose a wrestler, and the fan, you
3:23
know, being a fan, it's like, wow, that creative light is
3:28
out now. But I like immediately jumped towards the fact that this guy has
3:32
four young children, probably all under the age of ten. I would imagine
3:38
that as old as is probably under the age of ten, and now they're
3:42
living in a world without their father. Ray Wyatt's girlfriend, Joe Joe Offerman,
3:47
who worked for WWE for a period of time as a ring announcer,
3:51
now is widowed, has two children that she's going to be taking care of
3:57
on her own without her boyfriend end Rock, you know, solid person to
4:03
have there in Windham Rotunda and my heart broke thinking about all that. I
4:11
mean, it was just and then you just read the tributes like all night
4:14
long, like I probably did not get to sleep till about like twelve thirty
4:16
one. I am just reading tributes and tweets. There's always that denial that
4:23
you know, your point out, doctor Trey. It's like this has to
4:25
be at work, this can't be really. I mean, he's thirty six
4:28
years old. I just saw the video of his father, Mike Rotunda irs
4:31
ermanar scheister at a comic con of sorts, and they're asking about how Bray
4:36
White's doing and he said he'll be back sooner rather than later. There were
4:41
reports, you know, this month that he was dealing with not only a
4:45
career threatening issue, but a life threatening issue, and then this happens towards
4:49
the end of the month, and it's just was like a fog Sean Sapp
4:54
of Fightful Select reported that the Rotunda family wanted it to be known that at
5:00
bray Wyatt had gotten COVID back in March, you know, they were setting
5:05
up the match with he and Bobby Lashty for Wressellmania, and then bray White
5:09
just magically disappeared from television and people were pointing, well, it's because Vince's
5:13
back. And then we come to find out that it was a health issue,
5:15
and then very much clarified that it was COVID and that this COVID had
5:19
ascerated aspirated heart issues for bray Wyatt, Windham Rotunda. And then there's a
5:27
story out today or yesterday from TMZ that reported that bray White had gone to
5:32
a cardiologist or a doctor of some sort on the morning of his passing.
5:36
They'd given him reportable defibrillator. He unfortunately was not wearing it. Nobody knows
5:43
if it would have saved his life that day or not, but it was
5:46
left in his truck. According to police reports, Joe Joe thought it was
5:51
strange that he was out for a good hour or so. I think it
5:56
was past his alarm going off. And then by the time they got there,
5:59
he was passed. Everything's just like, very very shocking. It's a
6:04
numb feeling. As wrestling fans, unfortunately, we've grown accustomed to this.
6:11
I immediately when these things happened, I immediately think of how I felt and
6:16
the day that was when I found out Owen Hart passed away, that was
6:18
during the live pay per view, how I felt for days after Eddie Garrell
6:24
passed away, how I felt for a very small window of time when Chris
6:27
ben Wat passed away, and then obviously when those details got a little bit
6:31
more clarified, it was, you know, then a weirder numb feeling.
6:38
And then most recently Brodie Lee John Hubert passed away, it was very similar
6:41
feeling. And here we are Bray Wyatt and it's like, man, you
6:46
gotta be kidding me, Like he's gone. And the comforting thing and post
6:51
all this Doctor Trey outside of favorite matches promos, how he made us feel
6:57
when he was on the microphone or in the ring, or as a character
6:59
in general, is all the nice things that the people in the world of
7:01
professional wrestling have shared over the last couple of days. That's kind of how
7:05
I've gotten through. It seems like he was a very wholesome, real kind
7:14
individual, and I'm just sad about the entire thing. I really don't like
7:18
doing these shows, but I feel like we owe it to our listeners into
7:21
one another therapy wise in a way, to discuss a passing like this,
7:27
when someone's so instrumental throughout the entire time and his time and professional wrestling,
7:31
something that we've covered the entire time here on SRTU is is now no longer
7:35
with us. At such a very young age, He's a year younger than
7:39
me, thirty six years old. Kind of makes you think puts puts life
7:42
in perspective a little bit. Yeah, Like I'm forty six, I'm ten
7:47
years older than Bray Wyatt, and you know, I got Sammy running around
7:54
the house, I have, you know, my other kids, and all
7:58
of that stuff kind of kicked in my head and you know, it's it's
8:01
weird in a way, like, you know, we lost Terry Funk the
8:03
day before, and you know, being the older guy that I am,
8:09
like I remember Terry Funk from growing up in roadhouse and all those things.
8:13
But you know, seventy years old had a full life. You know,
8:18
we see some other guys the Iron Sheet. You guys like that passed me.
8:20
Ever this year, it's a different feeling when it's somebody in their sixties
8:26
and seventies and eighties as opposed to somebody in the in the prime of their
8:30
life. And you know this, this one hit me probably harder than any
8:35
other one since Eddie grow outside of Tracy smothers because of my bond with Tracy.
8:41
But like it just it's shocking to the system. It just kind of
8:46
floors you in a lot of ways. And it's just like, you know,
8:50
like I skipped SmackDown, I didn't watch SmackDown. I perfectly stayed away
8:54
from Twitter and everything else for a few days just because I kept hoping against
9:01
hope that it was something else, you know, But like you said,
9:07
like it's somebody who you know, with Bray we had heard at times,
9:13
not that it's hard to work with things, very passionate about his character and
9:18
what he was doing. And you know, every now and then, you
9:20
know, somebody ruffles a feather, and I kept waiting for that one for
9:26
lack of better and that one asshole to come out and say something or you
9:31
know, like somebody and you're right, like everybody has said such great things
9:35
about him, and not just the performer or but just like feed to be
9:41
behind the scenes helping helping me out. The story about Becky Lynch saying that,
9:46
you know, the day she had her TLC match with with Alexa Bliss,
9:50
and neither of them knew how to set the table properly, and and
9:54
Bray was out there the entire show, like before the show, showing them
9:58
how to properly set the tab able up and do all those things. And
10:01
you know, you just hear these like gracious stories about what kind of person
10:05
he was. It on one hand, it makes you feel good about the
10:11
life he led, but then it just makes you feel awful that we lost
10:16
a really good person. And in today's society, in today's world, those
10:20
are getting harder and harder to find. So to lose somebody so creative and
10:26
such a good person at such a young age is it's devastating. And the
10:31
only solace you can take from it is you know, he's always videos forever
10:37
the Internet forever, Like you can go now and see whatever you want.
10:43
I mean literally, like the other day, I was, like yesterday,
10:46
I was at the day off, and I was just kind of unwinding and
10:48
trying to avoid stuff. And I watched a special on you know, one
10:52
of the older specials on FCW, and I'm watching in there talking about all
10:58
the stuff from FFCW, and all of a sudden, I see Appointment talking
11:00
about the Dusty Rhodes promo classes and you see Seth rollas pop up and he's
11:05
like, yeah, there was one guy that just got it better than anybody
11:07
else. It was Bray White. And they started seeing old clips of bray
11:11
There's Bray and there's Brody Lead right behind him, and Brace doing his promos
11:16
in front of the class in the Bray White character, and You're just like,
11:20
guy, it was just so beautiful. So it's it's a little bit
11:22
of solace knowing that it's not one of those things were like, you know,
11:26
you passing away with a young kid and there's nothing other than pictures to
11:30
remember you buy you know with his kids that there's a video and there's gonna
11:35
be stuff forever that talks about what a great man their father was. What
11:39
was your favorite time period of Bray White you had, now, Craig me
11:45
if I'm wrong here, because I feel like I remember this during the period
11:46
of time when we were doing this during the show. But like you were,
11:50
you were watching NXD before it was on the network. It was on
11:52
Hulu or something, right, I forget what it was. I might have
12:00
at Hulu before Hulu became what Hulu is now. I remember you saying when
12:03
bray Why like was about to debut, and I think he immediately feud with
12:07
Kane heading into SummerSlam that year. Like people, there was a buzz already
12:13
on the internet, but you were watching NXT and and you were, you
12:18
were behind that bus on on brey Why before he ever debuted on on the
12:20
main moroster right, Yeah, I'm not why. At that point, I
12:26
was working a show here in Alabama, and I was trying to reinvent my
12:30
character and I was stealing directly. I was gonna I was gonna bring up
12:35
the influence he had on you. Like there's a there's a promo actually just
12:39
popped up on my Facebook feed not too long ago where I was sitting on
12:41
a beach in Florida and I'm doing the bray Why voice and and you would
12:46
wear it for Dora too, right, Yeah, I've worned for Dora's I've
12:50
worned Hawaiian shirts like i've we did where we did, IWA mids South.
12:56
We did the tryout show about a year after that, and I literally did
13:00
a bray Wyatt character as a manager. Uh, like the guy was and
13:05
you know you and I've joked with you for shoot Jeff almost almost a decade
13:09
and a half. Now, I root for chubby guys as a guy who
13:13
was, you know, been chubby his entire life. You find a charismatic
13:18
chubby guy. Yeah, I'm root for that guy. And that was our
13:20
affinity, my affinity for Kevin Owns, my affinity for Bray White and just
13:26
how charismatic he was. And uh that that video I referenced that that thing
13:33
on a peacock, Like Sasha and Charlotte were talking about it and they're like
13:37
half the time, you didn't know what he was talking about, but you're
13:39
like, dude, whatever he's talking about him in And that's how I felt
13:43
watching him in n xt FCW when that transition was taking place, Like I
13:48
didn't know half the stuff he was saying, but it was just so captivating
13:52
and enthralling, and you're just like I bought in day one. I bought
13:56
into the bray Wyatt character. I thought I was so unique and so different,
14:00
even though people were like, you know, it was kind of a
14:03
take on the Wayland Mercy character. But Bray he just made it his own
14:09
and just did it in a way that was so different, unique, And
14:11
I kept waiting for that called the main rosters. I knew he'd be even
14:15
bigger on the main roster stage than he was an Excy just because of production
14:20
in the size of the crowd, not knowing he would ever get to the
14:24
level that he eventually got to. So back to the question there of what
14:28
time period of Bray Wyatt did you enjoy the most. You have the debut
14:31
of the Wyatt family and his couple of years in there in the beginning where
14:35
he's you know, wrestling John Cena at WrestleMania thirty and then at thirty one
14:39
he's wrestling the Undertaker. Then there's that time period where in my I'm trying
14:46
to think here where it was Okay, so WrestleMania thirty two he's in the
14:50
ring with the Rock in a segment, and then Rock takes on Eric Rowan
14:54
at thirty three. Is the SmackDown time period where Bray wins Thewich Champion Chip
15:01
he's got Brodie Lee, Luke Harper and Randy Orton in the Wyatt family with
15:07
him, and then Randy turns on him, lights the house on fire.
15:11
Then they have a match at WRESTLEMANI thirty three at thirty four is I'm doing
15:15
it via WrestleMania. There's the time period where he is with Woken Matt Hardy
15:20
for a little bit, then he's off television for a period of time.
15:24
He returns as the Fiend. You've got that Fiend era the Firefly feon House.
15:30
Then he gets released and then he returns most recently less than a year
15:33
ago. I believe it was October of last year, in a very triumphant,
15:39
amazing return with a great build up. He returns with that character.
15:43
Then unfortunately, that character obviously does not last long on television because he is
15:46
off TV by late February. I think really one of the last times he
15:50
had cut a promo in the ring heading into elimination Chamber, letting the winner
15:56
of brock Lessner and Bobby Lashley know that they were going to be he wouldn't
16:00
meet them at Russellman. He had Then they did a little segment on Raw
16:03
I think afterwards with Bobby Lashley of doing the muscle Man dance, and then
16:07
we did not see Bray Wyatt until you know, the news broke out of
16:11
his passing last week. So what is what is your favorite Bray Wyatt time
16:17
period? So there's two for me and one is pre Sammy and one's post
16:22
say so I'm kind of torn yourself. I'm talking about your son, just
16:26
to clarify, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So the early NXT
16:32
stuff was so good and so experimental and like the stuff with the rocking chairs
16:41
and all that stuff, and it was just you kind of you know,
16:44
you and I joke or you and not talking about like it's NX. He
16:47
was finding Metallica before Metallica hit it big, and that's why I felt with
16:49
bray Whitt was like, oh my god, this is like the coolest thing
16:52
ever and nobody knows about it again and just waiting for it to kind of
17:00
off, you know. And honestly, I can't even remember really any of
17:03
the feuds they had an NXT, Like the Wyatt family was there and they
17:07
were kind of getting mixed up with different things, but there was never one
17:10
of those big, long out feuds that you know, we see guys get
17:15
into later on, but that character was so unique and so different, and
17:19
the presentation inside you know, full Sale with that crowd was just amazing.
17:26
And the entrance music, like everything about that fit. The entrance music was
17:30
so different than anything else we had heard post Sammy. It was the Firefly
17:34
Funhouse because even that character. I mean, the first time we saw the
17:37
Firefly Funhouse, you and I say on the show and like went like,
17:40
what the hell was that? Yeah? Yeah, we had no idea what
17:44
that was going to be. And it was crazy because I think Sammy was
17:49
about a year and a half old, and every time that music would hit,
17:55
he would stop whatever he was doing and watch the TV. Did not
17:59
matter he was playing with toys or eating dinner, and it didn't matter.
18:03
I could pull it up on YouTube that song is Who's that song would hit,
18:07
he would stop everything in absolutely be engrossed watching bray Wyatt. And it
18:12
made me, as a dad kind of like happy because I'm like, oh,
18:15
this is something we can bond over down the road. So but to
18:22
me, those two characters, those two versions of bray Wyatt, were so
18:26
unique and so different from anything else we had seen on TV that it just
18:33
it captivated me. I mean, could you imagine if the like we always
18:36
Bray Whittet always kind of compared to the Undertaker, if the Undertaker had an
18:38
altered ego where he was like the actual like if he was actually doing the
18:42
If he had the Paul bar gimmick as an alter ego where he was like
18:48
the super clean cut director of a funeral home, and then the Undertaker was
18:52
was altered a gimmick, we would have lost we would have lost our minds.
18:53
And that's kind of what Bray did with that Firefly Funhouse Fiend combination.
19:00
So those two characters was just so uniquely different from anything else we had seen
19:04
on TV that it's hard for me to kind of pick a side there.
19:07
Yeah, it's very difficult to find like a time period of Bray's character that
19:11
you enjoy the most. But there, for me, I got to go
19:17
back to that SmackDown error when Hero Brody, Lee, Luke Harper and Randy
19:22
Orton had like this reformed Wyatt family, because that was one of the first
19:27
times in a while in w Wheat that they had like this slow build angle.
19:33
It always felt like Randy Orton would turn on Bray Wyatt and it took
19:38
forever for that to happen. They wanted a tag team championship at one point
19:44
at the TLC show that Becky Lynch talks about. Then the Elimination Chamber match
19:48
happens, Bray wins the title and then that heads into WrestleMania because Randy had
19:52
won the Royal Rumble that year and that match was okay. It had some
20:00
strange moments, like like I think like a spider was squshed on the mat.
20:04
Remember the mat like took over as this like horror movie screen that was
20:11
so cool, and it kind of rebooted Randy Orton. Like Orton was one
20:15
of the top like and I don't mean this in a sense of good guy
20:18
but faces of the company. Like promotionally and strategically, he was one of
20:25
the top stars of the company. He took a back seat to the Bray
20:27
Wyatt character, and it was completely different from what we're used to because Randy
20:32
Orton would always be out in front, whether it be Evolution or legacy.
20:37
It was he was always kind of a centerpiece and he was a bit player
20:41
in the new formed Wyatt family. And that was when they had just did
20:45
the brand extension again. And for a very brief period of time, like
20:48
SmackDown, Raw were really cool because they were different and that had a new
20:52
different feel to it, and it was really enjoyable. And then the second
20:56
thing was was the Fiend. I've watched the tribute video that aired on SmackDown
21:02
and also aired on Raw this past Monday, the music video captivating his entire
21:07
career in life, and there's the part where it shifts to the Firefly fun
21:15
House phenare and just the subtle things that they would do. It was so
21:19
hilarious and so funny, and bray White had such great, great comedic timing,
21:25
whether if he was one that made the point to do these types of
21:27
things or to or if a writer was doing it. No matter what,
21:32
it was executed to perfection. And there's this brief cut of the Firefly fun
21:37
House. He's waving and I think it's either Huskus the pig or the rabbit
21:44
is holding up a sign that says help, and he slowly pushes it down,
21:47
laughing and then waving, and it was like that type of stuff.
21:51
I watched it and I was like, man, I just remember how entertaining
21:55
the Firefly fun House was. It would make you laugh. It would make
21:59
you feel like like creepy, like you had bugs crawling on you. And
22:04
it was just ahead of its time. And that's the thing. We've talked
22:10
about it here time and time again. I said it in the beginning of
22:12
the show. The selfish part of this all is that one of the most
22:18
creative lights in professional wrestling history has slowly dimmed down in the past week,
22:26
and that is heartbreaking. The selfish side is where were things going upon his
22:33
return to w w WE. Where were things supposed to go after the realm?
22:37
But where were things supposed to go following elimination chamber? Like we're missing
22:41
that he was silenced by a disease and then silenced in his passing, and
22:48
we have the memories forever, but it's like the what ifs. You can't
22:52
sit there and go and not think about the what ifs, Like what was
22:56
the direction supposed to be? We had read so much right Exa Bliss was
23:00
starting a turn. W WE had resigned Eric Young and there's been whispers that
23:03
he was supposed to be involved in some degree with whatever Bray Wyatt was doing.
23:08
I believe Vincent and Dutch who are now in roh Or a w however
23:14
you want to look at it. Were kind of rumored to be coming into
23:18
the company as well to work with Bray Wyatt, and it's just I love
23:23
to see a good comeback. And his release back in twenty twenty was awful
23:30
and something that all wrestling fans could agree on was should not have happened.
23:36
And that sucked that he was away from w for that long. And then
23:41
he finally made the return. Triple H is back in charge, and it's
23:44
like we're getting way back and we're getting this opportunity to see what's next for
23:48
him, and it just yeah, it just doesn't doesn't take place, and
23:56
it's just hard. It's hard from a wrestling perspective to see someone creative,
24:00
so creative gone, and it's so sad from a human perspective to see someone
24:06
so genuinely loved and adored a father, a significant other, a brother,
24:11
a son, a friend like gone like this so young. I mean,
24:18
that's the thing, Doctor Trey is just like so young. It resonates with
24:22
guys like you and I because you know, we get these moments in our
24:26
lives where life is put in perspective, and this is one of those moments.
24:29
In professional wrestling and in life where it kind of sits you on your
24:33
ass for a good couple of days and you self reflect, and you reflect
24:37
in general. You think about everything that his family and friends are going through
24:41
right now, and then you think about your own life and how things are
24:45
right now, and in an instance, you could be on top of the
24:48
world like Bray why it was, and a snap of the fingers you could
24:51
be gone. And it's just it's a sad day. It's been a sad
24:55
week. It's been a tough week for professional wrestling. I know there's a
25:00
lot of things celebrated with all elite wrestling, I know, celebrating the life
25:04
of Terry Funk, celebrating the life of Bray Wyatt. But obviously we're not
25:11
lying to you. Where I wish we weren't sitting here today, going up,
25:14
Let's have the Bray Wyatt tribute Shell, Let's get one of the books
25:15
before we sit down and recorded this week's episode tomorrow and then make it available
25:22
for download. It's just it stinks. It's I don't know. I just
25:29
don't think there will never It's easy to say when someone passes doctor Trey,
25:33
but I think it's safe to say there will never be another Bray Watt and
25:36
professional wrestling now. When I was listening to what you're saying there and you
25:41
talked about how ahead of his time he was, and I don't even think
25:47
that he was ahead of his time. I think he was just on a
25:49
different level than when anybody else creatively could come up with because I mean like,
25:56
because of him, really, we started getting into the cinematic matches.
26:00
I mean, you go back to the the was the House of Horrors match
26:04
with him and Randy Orton that was ahead of its time, you know,
26:07
like and then all of a sudden, because the pandemic, we had to
26:10
do more of it. I saw somebody tweet out this week that the match
26:15
with him and John Cena WrestleMania, the cinematic one they did, it was
26:18
the only interesting thing John Seen has done in the last ten years, you
26:22
know, And I'm like, that's I mean, he was he was including
26:23
Sena's movies, and I was just like, it's kind of kind of a
26:27
shot. But I was like, in a way, he was right,
26:30
Like, you know, we got to see a John Cena heal in that
26:36
match, Like what would have happened if it had gone that row, Like
26:40
all these questions that we've had over the years about have seen it got answered
26:44
in that match in a sense, and it was just so crazy and delightful
26:48
at the same time. And you know, just I would say about this
26:52
week, I'm like, I don't want to I'm hoping at some point somebody's
26:59
able to kind of come out and lay out what we were going to get.
27:03
Now. I know we're not gonna get you know, we're not gonna
27:06
find out like what we're gonna do ten years from now, but just just
27:08
what was the plan for the Wyatt six or whatever it was? Because I
27:12
still remember that the Mountain Dew Pitch Black match, and I saw some may
27:17
people are hating on that match, and I still I went back and watched
27:19
it yesterday and I was like, I still really enjoyed that, Like it
27:23
was cool and it was different. And then the ending segment, you know
27:27
when you see all the Wyatt family characters like kind of looking down, you
27:33
know, You're like, oh, man, where is this going? I
27:34
mean, even going back to you know, the rumble, you know,
27:38
and seeing the characters around the ring and then the crowd and everyone else,
27:42
I'm like, where were they going with it? Remember you and I said,
27:45
are going who do you think was that guy? Who do you think
27:47
that guy was? Or who do you think that guy was? Or who
27:48
do you think sister Abigail was. It's like the intrigue into it all,
27:53
Like, I mean, you and I were still going on. I think
27:56
Husks a joke acy, I think Rambling Rabbit were I think Mercy the Buzzard
28:00
was Grayson Waller and like that was a thing. And then even when I'll
28:03
call Howdy debut and we're like, is that bow Dallas? I think it's
28:06
bow Dallas. Maybe it's not bow Dallas. Like all of these things tying
28:10
in just to it's kind of like you only got half the movie, you
28:15
know, even if it's a you know, like Marvel movie post credit scene,
28:19
just let me know where we're going with this, because it was because
28:23
right now, I think the hardest part about this, and it's similar to
28:26
Eddie and similar to Owen, is there's no closure on it. And from
28:30
a character standpoint, there's no closure. I mean, you go back to
28:33
this with Eddie Graw like we were. There was rumors that we're gonna get
28:37
Eddie Gramer Shawn Michael's match at a WrestleMania, you know, and how much
28:41
that sucks Owen Hart, you know, where that was going and Bray being
28:45
arguably the most creative performer in the history of our business, Like where was
28:51
where was this buying going with stuff? You know? And how is all
28:55
this gonna play out? Like I hope we kind of get something down the
28:59
line where we can kind of go, Okay, that would have been beautiful
29:03
and we can kind of play it out in our mind's eyes where just to
29:06
kind of get that little bit of closure on the end, because it just
29:10
sucks on so many levels right now. And you mentioned earlier like taking stock
29:15
it was ironic they brought the COVID stuff And I have talked about you off
29:19
air before, like I'm still blown away that in what the three and a
29:22
half years of I've never gotten COVID thank God? Right, Yeah, And
29:27
you know everybody knows how much I travel, Like if anybody was frightening to
29:32
get it, it would have been me. It. I just talked with
29:34
my wife out the near day is like I can't believe I haven't gotten it
29:37
yet, you know, And then all of this comes out and you know,
29:41
like two of my friends are battling the new straight of COVID right now,
29:45
and I lost a friend of mine, you know, to COVID,
29:48
you know, right in the middle of the pandemic that was a diehard wrestling
29:51
fan and you left behind it, you know, a couple of young kids,
29:53
and it's like, yeah, it makes you take stock of everything in
29:57
your life when something like this happens from somebody who you admire and look up
30:03
to, and you almost because of the way wrestling is now, you almost
30:07
feel like that you're a part of their life, even though you're like,
30:10
you feel differently connected to a brave wyat uh you know, a professional wrestler
30:14
than you do an NFL player, a baseball player, like you know,
30:18
the stuff with Damar Hamlin last year, Like I felt bad for the guy,
30:21
but it didn't it didn't hurt me. It didn't hit me. This
30:25
hurts. This hit me hard because I think we just have a different look
30:30
into their lives they would do any other celebrity or athlete out there in the
30:33
world today, Wrestling is its own separate dy that we bond to closer,
30:38
Like we talk about wrestling me in a soap opera. I didn't cry with
30:44
any of my soap opera characters that I love, Diet Victor Kuriakis, you
30:47
know, Jennifer Hanson is at it felt bad for her, didn't like get
30:49
upset, didn't you know people like I grew up watching for forty years with
30:53
my grandmother. It didn't hurt me. Like when guys like that, when
30:57
this happens at guys like or Eddie or Owen or even go back to Cherry
31:02
von Eric, you know those guys and that you know Liz even Ultimate Waire,
31:07
Like you're just like, man like, how much more did they have
31:10
to contribute to the business that we all love, not just characterwise, but
31:15
also on a personal level, you know, going forward, I mean we
31:18
see all these guys out of the independent scenes. You're doing autograph signings and
31:22
things like that, and you can go up and you can talk to Alex
31:23
Luder, you can talk to you know, a Stargist Slaughter. You can
31:26
actually form a connection with these guys. Now, you get you don't do
31:30
that with star athletes, but wrestling is its own different entity, and we
31:34
fill a closeness in a bond to these people that we see on TV in
31:37
multiple times a week. I think you said it very very perfectly. There.
31:44
There's not much more I can add. I mean, you learn about
31:45
these people more than you learn about any other actor, actress, sports figure,
31:52
what have you anybody that you look up to, or anybody that you
31:56
watch it In an entertainments aspect, you know more about them than anyone.
32:00
You know about their trials and their tribulations, you know about their struggles.
32:07
In the case of Windham Rotuna, he started out as Husky Harris on NXT,
32:10
was with Nexus, and then he was sent back down to developmental to
32:15
find a new character. I remember reading about him toying with his new character.
32:21
I think he wore like this Hannibal Lecter mask, and then this character
32:23
started catching fire and there was this buzz around him, and then he came
32:28
on the main roster and you watched him grow and become this amazing superstar we
32:32
champion. You get behind these people more than anywhere else in the world.
32:37
Because I don't know, it's what makes wrestling special to me. It's the
32:43
reason why I feel so much more connected than any other entertainment form and why
32:49
when I watch Sammy Zane and Kevin Owens hold of the tag team Champion to
32:52
close out wrestle MANI this past year that I feel just as accomplished as they
32:58
do, because twelve years ago I watched them in a thousand seat arena in
33:04
the Manhattan Center in New York City, tearing it up as Kevin Stein and
33:07
al jan Erico. We connect with professional wrestlers more than you would in any
33:12
other type of entertainment value. I mean, if an athlete passes away today,
33:16
the likelihood of me knowing what their trials and tribulation and their struggles were
33:21
to climb the charts into who they became or their families is probably pretty slim
33:29
to none. But I immediately thought of Bray Wide and his family, his
33:34
connections to his father Mike Rotunda, his brother Bo Dallas, his girlfriend Joe
33:39
Joe Offerman, and his children. Like it's the same exact thing that I
33:44
thought of when John Hubert passed away Brodie Lee Luke Harper, Like, I
33:47
immediately thought about his children because I had watched this little ten minute clip on
33:53
WA Network about like before he became a superstar and him talking about the importance
33:59
of of being a role model for his kid in Luke Harper. So it's
34:02
it's a really that's what makes it a very beautiful and poetic entertainment form.
34:07
And that's why the connection that diehard wrestling fans have with the superstars and the
34:14
shows and the organizations and the promotions and everything in between is oh so very
34:19
special. And it's tough. It's a tough day. It's a tough week
34:23
for professional wrestling fans. It's a tough week profession and wrestling to lose somebody
34:28
so young in bray Wyatt, Doctor Trey. I think to wrap up this
34:34
this tribute show, how does Bray Wyte or how do you want bray Wyatt
34:42
Windham Rotunda to be remembered? That's a that's a fantastic question because it does
34:49
kind of feel like we talked about Oh, we talked about Eddie. You
34:53
know, Eddie Hitry had twenty years in the business, Ohol had, Alveray
34:58
had twenty. I mean, these guys had long careers, you know.
35:02
And then we mentioned you know, Brodie Leeve's last John Hubert and although it
35:08
hurt, he really hadn't ascended to that next level where Eddie Owen were and
35:15
then you obviously were braves with Bray. It just feels like it was cut
35:20
short like it was like there's so much one, there's so much more meat
35:22
on the bone. But for me, I think I just want Brady Wide
35:28
to be remembered as you know, maybe the most creative mind we've ever come
35:34
across and professional wrestling. The way he could articulate an envision where he wanted
35:42
his characters to go is something we've never seen before. And to have the
35:46
guts and are in the balls to take risks beyond anything else and we've never
35:52
seen. And I mean obviously just a good person, a great man,
35:57
a great father. I mean I don't know about you watch in the SmackDown,
36:00
like watching the start of the show and watching I was just talking about
36:04
this earlier today watching Brounze drum and breakdown. Like to see a guy who's
36:07
six foot ten three or fifty pounds like just break down because that was his
36:13
best friend. You know, it's like it's just so hard. But for
36:16
you know, to me, like I said, Bray Wyatt was the most
36:21
creative mind we have ever seen come across professional wrestling in my lifetime. And
36:25
I hope people remember him that way. Yeah, even the Becky Lynch the
36:30
clothes to raw on Monday night with her holding up the arm pan and just
36:32
breaking down crying. I felt like was a representation of all of us.
36:37
It was culmination of the past couple of days, and her emotion is what
36:43
every wrestling fan and wrestler felt, what the world of professional wrestling felt.
36:46
And losing somebody so young, so amazing, so creative, so bright,
36:52
so energetic, so kind in Windham, roetun and bray Wyatt. I will
36:57
remember him as one of not the most creative mind in the world professional wrestling.
37:02
He took something that can be so repetitive and mundane and that you've seen
37:07
time and time again, whether it's over a five year span you see something
37:12
that is similar or a ten year span, and he spun it around and
37:16
created a world and created a character of some things that we never saw before.
37:22
Whenever you thought bray White's character and storyline was going to go left,
37:25
it went right. And it was so beautiful, it was so entertaining,
37:30
It was so much fun to watch, and I wish we weren't saying these
37:36
words, but it's just a complete thank you to everything that he did and
37:40
brought to our joy and entertainment throughout his entire career. So we wanted to
37:49
get this episode in the books. We wanted to share our thoughts about bray
37:52
White, We wanted to give it enough time so that we could give our
37:58
thoughts and feelings about the entire situation and not feel like there was a time
38:01
crunch to cover anything from the past week. So we'll get to the world
38:06
of professional wrestling tomorrow the next time an episode drops here for SRTU. But
38:13
it was important to get this this show out there, Doctor Trey, There's
38:15
there's something I want to read that I feel like it is the perfect way
38:20
to wrap up this show. But before we close up shop on this week's
38:24
edition of of SRTU, is there anything you would like to add in regard
38:30
to bray Wyatt. I mean really from I mean you mentioned his family and
38:37
you know, not to mention like his uncle Barry Wyndham. Obviously he's still
38:40
out there as well, But I mean some one of the things like when
38:45
something of this happens, this is reminded like not to take life for granted,
38:50
to tell the people in your life how you feel about them whenever you
38:52
have the chance. You know, today's I saw it some today, like
38:59
anybody who die today had plans for tomorrow. Anybody who died this morning had
39:01
plans for tonight. You know those instances where it's like, man, just
39:07
let everybody know around you how much you value them, appreciate them, love
39:12
them, because you never want to leave anything unsaid. You know when it's
39:15
your time, So just take that to heart. Tell like, hug your
39:20
kids, hug your family, tell them all you love them. Like,
39:22
oh, those things kind of come back to the forefront when something like this
39:29
happens and we have to put you know, wrestling and work and everything else
39:34
kind of on the back burner and just go you know what, man,
39:36
I love you. I mean you, and I like you, and I
39:37
joke off the airlock like we've been on that we've been We've been together longer
39:42
than two of my marriages combined. You know, I've known you since before
39:47
you met your girlfriend. Yep. Like we're we're an old married couple.
39:51
And I value and appreciate and you know, love everything you and I have
39:55
done for twelve years. If I haven't told you that, I want you
39:59
to know that quest front for all of our listeners that tune in every single
40:04
week, Like we value and appreciate everything you guys have done to us.
40:07
You guys are our motivation to keep doing this show for seven hundred plus episodes.
40:14
You know, like like you and I told you as far as I
40:16
looked up, we are the second longest running wrestling podcast in the world that
40:23
I that I could verify against. And honestly, I don't know if number
40:28
one is even still around, so we may be number one. Who knows,
40:30
But things like that put it in perspective that you know, those people
40:36
that you value and appreciate, just let it, me know, just just
40:38
get it out there, put in the world. It looks you might have
40:42
the most cold hearted, redneck, toughest nail's friend and you tell them that
40:46
they may blow you off. I guess what it's going to sink in And
40:49
that way, if something happens, they know how you felt and they don't
40:52
feel guilty about it. So just love your friends, love your neighbors,
40:55
love your kids. Just put it all out there into the ethos and let
40:59
it go. It's a perfect way to end the show. Their doctor Trey
41:02
with some beautiful thoughts. So we close with something that is obviously made the
41:08
rounds. Since bray Wyatt passed away, It's something he posted on Twitter and
41:14
Instagram back in August of twenty twenty two, and I felt like it was
41:16
the perfect way to sum up how we as wrestling fans feel about the world
41:23
of professional wrestling and how the world of professional wrestling makes us feel. So
41:30
we'll read this and then close up shop here on the show. Thank you
41:32
all for for joining us, Thank you for allowing us these forty plus minutes
41:37
to give our thoughts and feelings towards the tragic passing of Windimore Done and Bray
41:42
Wyatt, and and thank you for you know, letting us share how we
41:47
feel on this podcast today. It's it's therapeutic because it's been it's been tough
41:53
to go through this, because it's it's not easy, obviously losing somebody so
42:00
special and made people feel so good in the world of professional wrestling. So
42:04
Windomton a road back in August twenty twenty two, and I quote, wrestling
42:08
is not a love story. It's a fairytale for massachists, a comedy for
42:13
people who criticize punchlines. Punchlines fantasy. Most can't understand a spectacle. No
42:17
one can deny lines are blurred heroes or villains, budgets or cuts. Business
42:22
is business, but it can also be a land where dead man walk,
42:27
where honor makes you elite, where demons run for office, and rock bottom
42:31
is a reason to rejoice. Woo. It's an escape, a reason to
42:37
point to blame in anyone but yourself for two to three hours, an excuse
42:39
to be a kid again, and nothing mad except the moment we are in
42:44
Wrestling is not a love story. It's much more. It's hope and in
42:47
a world surrounded and hate, greed and violence, a world where closure may
42:52
never come, we all know a place that has hot and cold hope on
42:54
tap for better or for worse. End quote. Thank you Bray Wyatt,
43:00
Rest in peace, Windom Rotunda and uh until next time. Follow the buzzards.
43:20
He's gone in news. He's gonna die in news. I I stop
43:49
creating some kind of buzz here. Man, you won't see nothing yet.
43:57
Feel a new face out here. Walk upon my side and I will lead
44:05
you to clarodops. We're here. See about the dance and feel the magic
44:13
on the floor. They try to save me at all stop, but they
44:20
never cared in school. You never had the last time because he no shine
44:29
he gave us everything and now you never in his mind. Yes, it
44:34
is the firefly funhouse waiting no money over, no shall she must Yeah,
44:52
because he was jail going world gold, now sunset and space between the shows.
45:10
Never let it darkness. She couldn't down shine sees that a being the
45:15
spa in the long I can truly say that I have the whole damns in
45:22
the world in my head. I would like to welcome you all. Tuesday
45:35
Hour rock if it's my favorite dew point the Shu great mother understood photograph.
45:54
The resent in my mind was still together. Spear meet I and the color
46:15
red. In a world for the black and white. I am the eater
46:21
of worlds. I bray white, am forever you, and I can look
46:39
all of you in the eyes and I can say thank you.