AJ Francis Discusses Backstage Relationship With Windham Rotunda, WWE's Bray Wyatt

Last week, WWE announced their plans to release a new documentary centered around the life and career of the late Windham Rotunda (known to WWE fans as Bray Wyatt), who unexpectedly died last year at the age of 36. The documentary, titled "Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal," will debut on the Peacock streaming service on April 1. Ahead of the project's premiere, former WWE star AJ Francis opened up about his backstage relationship with Rotunda, with whom he previously shared a locker room on the "WWE SmackDown" brand.

"Windham, to me, was somebody who would let me sit and learn," Francis told "Insight With Chris Van Vliet." "I would literally just sit and watch him and LA Knight put matches together. They did the match obviously [at] the [Royal] Rumble, but they were doing like dark matches and house shows the whole time. Windham, his character was so much different than anything I had ever done, so I wanted to see how he implemented his thing into what he was doing. Then he always had the nicest, I don't wanna say disposition, but he would go out of his way to make everyone around him feel comfortable."

Given his previous ties to the NFL, Francis was frequently provided access to several WWE-related events, such as WrestleMania, before he officially inked a contract with the company in 2020. Despite this, and his known fandom of the Bray Wyatt character, Francis noted that Rotunda never made him feel like a fan; instead, he embraced him as family. Apart from Rotunda's kindness, Francis also particularly admired the creativity that Rotunda brought forth not only in his own work, but also in others'.

"He was great to bounce ideas off of because he is by far one of the greatest wrestling minds in the history of this business. And I don't think anyone would argue that," Francis said.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight With Chris Van Vliet" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.