Erick Redbeard fka Erick Rowan talks about what WWE did not allow him to do
Erick Redbeard fka Erick Rowan was recently interviewed by Michael Morales of Lucha Libre Online, where he talked about various aspects of his wrestling career. One of the things that he focused on was how he was not allowed to speak while a part of the company. WWE released Rowan during the middle of the pandemic, and it's not yet certain where Rowan will go in his post-WWE career.
Readers can see the full interview with former WWE Superstar Erick Rowan here.
Erick Rowan on not being allowed to talk in WWE
Erick Rowan was released from WWE during the company-wide WWE cost-cuts in April. Now, he opened up about what WWE did not allow him to do while he was a part of the company.
"They always had me on the show. I can't complain about that. But when you're given certain things and it's hard like it was hard because, I always wanted to say a lot more than I was given and sadly, it wasn't until like, six years in, that I'm able to start cutting longer promos. Which I did with the Daniel-Roman angle. That was incredibly frustrating to me, because I knew I could see and to be here after that, can't speak and you control the booking you’re always trying to think of different ways on how to get a guy who can't speak the front and center of attention and it's not always possible which is why I changed my mask from time to time."
Erick Rowan on how he tried to change up his WWE career
Erick Rowan talked about how he wanted to create a character in WWE and how he did not get to be anything other than a bodyguard when he was paired with Daniel Bryan. Talking about his time with the Bludgeon Brothers with Brodie Lee, he said that it felt like it was a step back for him.
"So I wanted to create a character within that so I would always change the masks and the looks and I wanted it to be able to tell a story without having to speak and the same thing with Daniel. I spoke with Daniel originally. I thought it was a step back from the Bludgeon Brothers because in the Bludgeons, me and Harper were together a unit of different people. But with Daniel it was always, I was his bodyguard. That's basically what I looked at. Even though I was told it wasn't supposed to be, even we were the Tag Team Champions, I just felt like The Bodyguard. They never gave me anything to release a I'll set up a one liner and that was for us which is why I starting the metal shirts, but I was in the background because I wanted to show like what I you know, personally I enjoy going to shows and metal and I wanted to show personality because I took my mask away. I couldn't have these different masks and these different looks but I wanted to just represent, you know, the metal community and give people, you know, new bands they can enjoy and still have people looking at me even though Daniel might be the one speaking and given the attention, you know, in the ring."
Erick Rowan on how he got a promo in WWE
Erick Rowan went on to add how he was given a promo that he had to say word for word, but he changed it a little, and they allowed him to have that freedom when he was working with Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan. Erick Rowan also talked about his WWE segment with Michael Cole where he was able to talk, but finally, he ended up with the cage storyline that ended his time in WWE.
"So it wasn't until like an accident that is started like writing me a promo and you talk about word-for-word, that first promo they gave me with Daniel and Roman, I changed it a little bit. And when I came to the back, they weren't mad at me. In fact, they started giving me a promo the week after, and the week, after that they gave me two in one to do a backstage segment with Michael Cole and then another one so they started adding more and more and, I started getting more comfortable on the microphone. I think the hardest for me creatively after that was when they did the brand split and they put me on Raw and put Harper and Roman and Daniel on the other side. Okay. Well, what's next? I’m excited. But then I'm told you have a cage and now you're quiet. And no matter what you pitch for the cage, doesn't matter, because it's going to be this as much as you don't want it to be, and you're also going to be quiet. You're not going to speak. So any kind of character development you had, it's gone. That was frustrating for a guy. Any guy to go from getting more of a character and feeling it out being more you to have it to act a certain way."