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Mika Rotunda, the daughter of WWE legend Mike Rotunda, has issued a statement clarifying her father’s health status after reports that he had entered hospice care at age 67. Fellow WWE legends Barry Windham and Leilani Kai recently revealed that Mike Rotunda, known as his wrestling persona IRS, had entered hospice care. Windham shared the news with Bill Apter during an interview at the Glory Days GrappleCon convention in Florida on Oct. 25, and Kai shared it in a post to X on Tuesday. On Wednesday, however, Mika issued a statement clarifying her father is not in hospice, but rather in physical rehabilitation after suffering a heart attack on Sept. 20. “Yes, my uncle Barry did make a comment mentioning that my father is in hospice care while answering a question about my late brother, Windham, whom we lost two years ago,” Mika wrote in an Instagram story. “My father is not in hospice, but rather in a rehabilitation center. He suffered a massive heart attack on September 20th, was in a coma for a week, and spent over a month hospitalized. By the grace of God, he has now transitioned to a rehabilitation center, where our family remains present, hopeful and focused on his recovery.” Mika also expressed optimism about her father’s recovery, and thanked family, friends and wrestling fans for their support. “If there’s one person I have faith in, it’s Captain Mike,” she wrote. “We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of love, prayers, and support from the wrestling world and our local communities. At this time, we kindly ask for privacy as we continue walking this journey together—but we warmly welcome continued prayers, good energy and healing thoughts for his recovery.” Mike Rotunda made his professional wrestling debut in the 1980s, and skyrocketed to stardom when he debuted his persona Irwin R. Schyster – IRS – in 1991. He reached the King of the Ring finals in 1991, and later partnered with The Million Dollar Man to win the then-WWF World Tag Team Championship on three separate occasions, according to Rotunda’s website. Rotunda also competed against WWE legends including The Undertaker, Razor Ramon, King Kong Bundy, Bam Bam Bigelow, The Steiner Bros and more. His last WWE match was in 1995. In addition to his WWE success, Rotunda won the NWA US Tag Team Championship four times, the NWA World Television Championship three times, as well as the NWA World Tag Team Championship and NWA Canadian Television Championship. Rotunda’s son, Windham Rotunda, best known as WWE persona Bray Wyatt, died at age 36 in Aug. 2023 due to a heart attack. The former WWE champion was married to former WWE ring announcer JoJo Offerman, with whom he had two children as well as two children from a previous marriage. “He was just a good boy,” Windham told Apter of Wyatt. “He was such a good person. Never got in trouble his whole life. He was a good boy.”
