Wikipedia

Erick Rowan

American professional wrestler

Joseph Ruud (born November 28, 1981), better known by his ring name Erick Rowan, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE and performs on their SmackDown brand as a member of The Wyatt Sicks.[1] Rowan first competed in WWE from 2011 to 2020, where he was a member of The Wyatt Family along with Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Daniel Bryan, Braun Strowman and Randy Orton. He began performing as Erick Redbeard on the independent circuit and for All Elite Wrestling, before re-signing with WWE in 2024.

Erick Rowan
Rowan at WrestleMania XXX week on April 4, 2014
Born (1981-11-28) November 28, 1981 (age 43)
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Thoruf Marius
Thoruf
Erick Redbeard
Erick Rowan
Rowan
Billed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Billed weight315 lb (143 kg)
Billed fromMinneapolis, Minnesota
Snake Bight, Florida
Trained byEddie Sharkey
DebutSeptember 3, 2003

Career

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Rudd competed in various independent promotions in both the United States and Japan before signing with WWE. In 2007, he worked for Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan under the ring name, Thoruf. After his time with them was done, he returned to the United States and started competing for F1rst Wrestling under the ring name, Thoruf Marius. During his time there he feuded with Brody Hoofer.

WWE (2011–2020)

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In 2011, Ruud signed a developmental contract with WWE. He was assigned to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling and started competing under the ring name Erick Rowan. He debuted on FCW TV in August 2011 when he defeated Kenneth Cameron. When FCW changed its name to NXT Wrestling, he debuted on the December 12, 2012 episode of NXT as a follower of Bray Wyatt, who introduced Rowan as his "second son".

As a member of the stable The Wyatt Family, Rowan teamed with Wyatt's "first son" Luke Harper. They defeated Percy Watson and Yoshi Tatsu on the January 9, 2013 episode of NXT and defeated them again on the January 23 in the first round of the NXT Tag Team Championship tournament. Rowan and Harper defeated Bo Dallas and Michael McGillicutty in the semi-finals but were defeated in the finals by Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey. Harper and Rowan won a triple threat elimination tag match on May 2 and defeated Neville and Bo Dallas, who filled in for the injured Grey, on the May 8 epsiode (taped on May 2) to win the tag titles.[2] On June 20, they lost the NXT Tag Team Championship to Adrian Neville and Corey Graves.[3]

 
Rowan wore a sheep mask as part of The Wyatt Family

Starting on May 27, 2013, videos played on Raw to promote the upcoming main roster debut of the Wyatt Family. They debuted on the July 8 episode when they attacked Kane.[4] Rowan made his WWE in-ring debut in a tag team match on the July 26 episode of SmackDown, where he and Harper defeated Tons of Funk (Brodus Clay and Tensai).[5] Rowan and Harper went on a winning streak over many teams for a couple months but suffered their first lost on the October 11 episode of SmackDown from Cody Rhodes and Goldust.[6]

On September 29, 2014, Rowan and Harper were "set free" by Wyatt, therefore the Wyatt Family broke up and Rowan began wrestling in singles competition.[7] On the November 17 episode of Raw, Rowan became a face when he joined Team Cena for Survivor Series, while Harper joined Team Authority.[8] At the event, Rowan was eliminated by Harper, with the help of Seth Rollins, but Team Cena later won the match.[9] At the 2015 Royal Rumble, Rowan entered his first Royal Rumble match. Although he lost to Harper in a qualifying match 3 days before on SmackDown,[10] he entered the match anyway after attacking number 6 entrant Curtis Axel before he could make his way to the ring. Rowan was eliminated by Wyatt.[11]

After an injury, Rowan returned on the October 19 episode of Raw as a heel when he re-joined the Wyatt Family.[12] On April 3, 2016, at WrestleMania 32, Rowan answered The Rock's challenge to a match, after the Wyatts confronted him. The Rock defeated Rowan in six seconds, which broke the record for the shortest WrestleMania match of all time.[13] On July 19, Rowan was drafted to SmackDown in the 2016 WWE draft along with Wyatt.[14] On April 10, 2017, the Wyatt Family broke up again when Wyatt was moved to Raw in the Superstar Shake-up.[15]

On the October 10 episode of SmackDown Live, Rowan and Harper, now wrestling simply under their last names, were reintroduced as the Bludgeon Brothers.[16] They defeated the Hype Bros (Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley) in their return match on November 21.[17] At WrestleMania 34 on April 8, 2018, they won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship in a Triple threat tag team match also involving champions The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso), and The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston). This also was Rowan's first main roster championship win.[18] On the August 21 episode of SmackDown Live, they lost the title to The New Day (Kingston and Xavier Woods) in a no disqualification match.[19] After both Rowan and Harper were injured, the Bludgeon Brothers broke up.[20]

Rowan returned from injury at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event on January 27, 2019,helping Daniel Bryan to keep his WWE Championship against AJ Styles.[21] On the May 7 episode of SmackDown Live, Rowan and Bryan defeated The Usos for the vacant SmackDown Tag Team Championship.[22] At Extreme Rules on July 14, they lost the titles to the New Day (Big E and Xavier Woods) in a Triple threat tag team match also involving Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker).[23] On September 3, Rowan turned on Bryan. In the 2019 draft on Ocrober 14, he was drafted to Raw.[24] On April 15, 2020, he was released from WWE, ending his time in the company after nine years.[25]

Return to independent circuit and All Elite Wrestling appearances (2020–2022)

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Following his time WWE, Ruud began wrestling under the ring name "Erick Redbeard". After the death of his friend and former tag team partner Brodie Lee, Redbeard appeared on All Elite Wrestling's (AEW) Brodie Lee Celebration of Life on December 30. He protected members of The Dark Order (a stable peviously led by Lee) from being attacked by Wardlow during a six-man tag team match.[26] Redbeard returned to AEW on the March 4, 2022 episode of Rampage and teamed with Death Triangle (Pac and Penta Oscuro). On March 6, they faced the House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews) at Revolution's "Buy-In" pre-show event. They lost the match after Redbeard got pinned by Black.[27]

Return to WWE (2023–present)

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On August 25, 2023, Rowan made his return to WWE on SmackDown in a tribute to Bray Wyatt, who died from a heart attack the day before.[28] In May 2024, he signed a contract to return to the company full-time.[29] On the June 17 episode of Raw, Rowan was reintroduced a part of The Wyatt Sicks, the new stable led by Uncle Howdy. His new mask looked like Ramblin' Rabbit from Bray Wyatt's "Firefly Funhouse".[30] On August 5, Rowan won his return match, teaming with his new partners Dexter Lumis and Joe Gacy against American Made (Chad Gable, Julius Creed and Brutus Creed).[31]

Championships and accomplishments

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Rowan is a two-time WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champion

References

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  1. ↑ "Raw results, June 17, 2024: Uncle Howdy terrorizes WWE in shocking return". WWE. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  2. ↑ "James's WWE NXT Report 5/8 Week 45: Wyatt Family captures Tag Titles, Ohno turning face?, Sandow in action, Paige vs. Summer Rae feud continues, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2013-11-08.
  3. ↑ "WWE News: NXT Spoilers for summer episodes - first NXT Women's champ, Flair, more, plus NXT TV in the U.S.?". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2013-11-08.
  4. ↑ "Raw News: Vickie "fired" as Raw authority figure & replacement named, Wyatts debut, final MITB PPV hype, RVD, Lesnar, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2013-11-08.
  5. ↑ "Parks's WWE Smackdown Report 7/26: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Friday show, including Wyatt Family in-ring debut, Del Rio vs. RVD match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2013-11-08.
  6. ↑ "Parks's WWE Smackdown Report 10/11: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Friday show, including Curtis Axel vs. R-Truth for the Intercontinental Title". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2013-11-08.
  7. ↑ "Raw News: Hell in a Cell, two items next week on Raw, Hogan & Heyman return to TV, IC Title match result, more". PWTorch.com. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  8. ↑ Trionfo, Richard. (November 17, 2014). "WWE RAW Report: Team Cena Is Finalized; Intercontinental Title Match; Brie Has A New Look; A Rocky Night For Half Of Slater-Gator". PWInsider.com. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  9. ↑ Caldwell, James (November 23, 2014). "Caldwell's WWE S. Series PPV results 11/23: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of Team Cena vs. Team Authority, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  10. ↑ Tedesco, Mike (January 23, 2015). "WWE Smackdown Results - 1/22/15 (Bryan vs. Kane)". wrestleview.com. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  11. ↑ Caldwell, James. "Royal Rumble PPV Report 1/25: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of Lesnar vs. Cena vs. Rollins for WWE Title, Royal Rumble, post-PPV Network show". PWTorch.com. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
  12. ↑ Caldwell, James (October 19, 2015). "Raw News – Stone Cold & big names appear, Orton pulled, Wyatt return, no Kane, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  13. ↑ Adkins, Greg. "John Cena returns and joins The Rock at WrestleMania". WWE. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Dot Net Exclusive WWE News: Erick Rowan undergoes surgery". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. October 4, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  15. ↑ WWE.com Staff (April 10, 2017). "SmackDown LIVE Superstars come to Raw in wild Superstar Shake-up". WWE.com. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  16. ↑ Currier, Joseph (November 22, 2017). "Daily Update: SmackDown next week, NJPW, Nate Diaz". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  17. ↑ Barnett, Jake (November 21, 2017). "11/21 Barnett's WWE Smackdown Live TV Review: Charlotte vs. Natalya for the Smackdown Women's Championship, Shane McMahon opens the show, The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The Hype Bros, Survivor Series fallout". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  18. ↑ Pappolla, Ryan (April 8, 2018). "The Bludgeon Brothers def. The Usos and The New Day in a Triple Threat Match to win the SmackDown Tag Team Titles". WWE.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  19. ↑ Pappolla, Ryan. "The New Day def. The Bludgeon Brothers in a No Disqualification Match to win the SmackDown Tag Team Titles". WWE.com. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Rowan suffers arm injury". WWE.com. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  21. ↑ Powell, Jason (January 27, 2019). "Powell's WWE Royal Rumble 2019 live review: Men's and Women's Royal Rumble matches, Brock Lesnar vs. Finn Balor for the WWE Universal Championship, Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles for the WWE Championship, Ronda Rousey vs. Sasha Banks for the Raw Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
  22. ↑ Barnett, Jake (May 7, 2019). "5/7 WWE Smackdown Live Results: Barnett's review of The Usos vs. Daniel Bryan and Rowan for the vacant Smackdown Tag Titles, Raw wrestlers appear, Ali vs. Andrade, Carmella and Ember Moon vs. Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  23. ↑ Benigno, Anthony. "The New Day def. Daniel Bryan & Rowan and Heavy Machinery to become the new SmackDown Tag Team Champions (Triple Threat Match)". WWE.com. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  24. ↑ WWE.com Staff (October 11, 2019). "See all the results from the 2019 WWE Draft". WWE.com. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  25. ↑ Tedesco, Mike (April 15, 2020). "Five more WWE Superstars announced as being released, including Erick Rowan". Wrestleview. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  26. ↑ Rose, Bryan (December 30, 2020). "Erick Rowan appears on AEW Dynamite Brodie Lee tribute show". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  27. ↑ DeFelice, Robert (March 6, 2022). "AEW Revolution 2022 - The House Of Black vs. Erick Redbeard, Penta Oscuro, & PAC Result". Fightful.com. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  28. ↑ Nahta, Sudeep (2023-08-26). ""Can't Imagine How He Is Feeling" - Fans Worried After Gutted Erick Rowan Returns to WWE SmackDown for Special Bray Wyatt Tribute". Sportsmanor. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  29. ↑ Johnson, Mike (May 1, 2024). "RETURN WWE SIGNING CONFIRMED & MORE". PWInsider.
  30. ↑ "Raw results, June 17, 2024: Uncle Howdy terrorizes WWE in shocking return". WWE. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
  31. ↑ Berge, Kevin (August 6, 2024). "Wyatt Sicks' Sizzling Debut, Orton Is Perfect Gunther Challenger, More WWE Raw Takes". Bleacher Report. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  32. ↑ "IWR 12: Clash Of The Titans « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  33. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2014". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  34. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (January 27, 2014). "Jan 27 2014 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 2013 Annual awards issue, best in the world in numerous categories, plus all the news in pro-wrestling and MMA over the past week and more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 34. ISSN 1083-9593. Archived from the original on August 27, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  35. ↑ "WSW Tag Team Championship". Cage Match. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  36. ↑ "WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships". WWE. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  37. ↑ "NXT Tag Team Championship". WWE. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  38. ↑ Laboon, Jeff (December 8, 2014). "2014 Slammy Award winners". WWE. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  39. ↑ "Under The Big Top 4". CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2023-03-06.

Other websites

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