Mike Rotunda, the former professional wrestler known as IRS or Irwin R. Schyster, has been placed in hospice care, according to close friends.
Rotunda’s former tag team partner and brother-in-law Barry Windham made the revelation this past weekend.
During an interview with pro wrestling journalist Billy Apter, Windham was asked to share a story about Rotunda’s son, late WWE superstar Windham Rotunda, who wrestled under the name Bray Wyatt.
“It’s kinda tough right now. Mike is in hospice right now,” Barry Windham said. “So, anyway, that family, I love that family, but it’s so tragic.”
When asked about the younger Rotunda’s best quality, Windham said that he was “a good boy.”
“He was such a good person. Never got in trouble at all his whole life,” Windham said.
He also shared that after meeting Mike Rotunda in 1981 or ’82, the two “were like old friends when we first met.
“When he showed up in Florida, we hit it right off the bat … just like old pals.”
Former WWE star Leilani Kai also shared her heartbreak over the news, posting a photo on X of herself hugging Rotunda.
“It breaks my heart to share that my friend Mike Rotunda has been placed under hospice care. This photo was from earlier this year — a moment I’ll treasure,” wrote Kai, real name Patty Seymour. “Please keep Mike and the Rotunda family in your prayers. We love you, Mike. #WrestlingFamily.”
Rotunda, 67, is best known for his time in WWE and WCW during the 1980s and 90s.
He had a notable career as a tag team wrestler, starting when he partnered up with Windham as The U.S. Express in the early 1980s. The duo won the then-WWF tag team championships twice before exiting the company.
He returned in 1991, repackaged as the IRS character and teaming up with ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted Dibiase as “Money Inc.” They won the tag titles three times during the run and faced off against Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake in a championship match at WrestleMania IX in 1993.
He later joined WCW as V.K. Wallstreet – a riff on former WWE owner Vincent Kennedy McMahon.
He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame last year alongside Barry Windham.
In 2023, Windham Rotunda died of a heart attack at the age of 36.
Rotunda’s other son, Taylor, wrestles in WWE under the name of Bo Dallas and alter ego Uncle Howdy, which is a tribute to his brother’s Bray Wyatt character.