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