Erick Rowan
Erick Rowan | |
---|---|
Born | [1] Minneapolis, Minnesota[1] | November 28, 1981
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Thoruf Marius[1] Thoruf[1] Erick Rowan[2][3] Rowan |
Billed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)[2][3] |
Billed weight | 318 lb (144 kg)[2][3] |
Billed from | Minneapolis, Minnesota[2][3] |
Trained by | Eddie Sharkey[1] |
Debut | September 3, 2003[1] |
Joseph Ruud (born November 28, 1981) is an American professional wrestler. Ruud is currently signed to WWE, where he performs as Erick Rowan as part of the Wyatt Family.
Professional wrestling career
Independent circuit (2007–2011)
Prior signed to WWE, Ruud has competed in several independent promotions in both the United States and Japan. In 2007, he competed under the ring name Thoruf in Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan, where he competed in both tag team and singles matches, albeit without much success.[4] Following his tour in Japan, Ruud returned to the United States in 2008 and began competing under the ring name Thoruf Marius for the Minnesota-based F1rst Wrestling promotion. Upon joining the promotion, he began feuding with Brody Hoofer, with the pair exchanging wins across several events.[5]
WWE
Florida Championship Wrestling (2011–2012)
In 2011, Ruud signed a developmental contract with WWE and was assigned to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling. He made his FCW debut on April 14, 2011 under the ring name Erick Rowan, where he and Buck Dixon defeated the team of DeSean Bishop and DT Porter in a tag team match.[6] The following week, Rowan suffered his first loss, as he, Bobby Dutch and Aksana were defeated by Derrick Bateman, Xavier Woods and Kaitlyn in a six-person intergender tag team match.[6] Rowan later began competing as in the tag team division, where he and James Bronson competed in the FCW Tag Team Showcase Tournament. However, he and Bronson were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Epico and Hunico.[6] Despite this, Rowan and Bronson received a championship match against the Florida Tag Team Champions CJ Parker and Donny Marlow, but were unsuccessful in winning the title.[6] After Rowan and Bronson's team disbanded due to a lack of success, Rowan began a singles push in 2012 and found small success before returning to the tag team division by forming a team with Luke Harper.[7]
The Wyatt Family (2012-present)
When WWE rebranded its developmental territory, FCW, into NXT Wrestling,[8] Rowan made his debut on the December 12, 2012 episode of NXT as a follower of Bray Wyatt, who introduced Rowan as his "second son".[9] As a member of the Wyatt Family, Rowan formed a team with Wyatt's "first son" Luke Harper,[10] and they defeated Percy Watson and Yoshi Tatsu on the January 9, 2013 episode of NXT.[11] On the January 23 episode of NXT, Harper and Rowan again defeated Watson and Tatsu in the opening round of the NXT Tag Team Championship tournament.[12] Following a win over Bo Dallas and Michael McGillicutty in the semifinals,[13] Harper and Rowan were defeated in the finals of the tournament by Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey.[14] On May 2, Harper and Rowan defeated Neville and Bo Dallas, filling in for the injured Grey, to win the NXT Tag Team Championships.[15] On June 5, Harper and Rowan successfully retained their titles against Corey Graves and Kassius Ohno.[16] On June 20, Rowan and Harper lost the NXT Tag Team Championship to Adrian Neville and Corey Graves.[17]
From the May 27 episode of Raw, WWE aired vignettes promoting the upcoming debut of the Wyatt Family.[18] The vignettes showed the Wyatt Family's backwoods origins and Rowan wearing a lamb mask.[19][20] On the July 8 episode of Raw, the Wyatt Family made their debut by assaulting Kane.[21]
In wrestling
Championships and accomplishments
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Erick Rowan Profile". WrestlingData.
- ^ a b c d e "NXT profile".
- ^ a b c d "WWE profile".
- ^ "The 18 NOAH matches fought by Erick Rowan in 2007". Wrestling data. Retrieved June 1.
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(help) - ^ "The 4 F1rst matches fought by Erick Rowan in 2008". Wrestling data. Retrieved June 1.
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(help) - ^ a b c d "The 20 NXT matches fought by Erick Rowan in 2011". Wrestling data. Retrieved June 1.
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(help) - ^ "The 22 NXT matches fought by Erick Rowan in 2012". Wrestling data. Retrieved June 1.
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(help) - ^ "WWE News: FCW name being phased out". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- ^ James, Justin. "JAMES'S WWE NXT REPORT 12/12 - Week 25: Rollins defends NXT Title, Paige in action, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
- ^ Bishop, Matt (November 8, 2012). "WWE NXT: Who will challenge Rollins?". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
Bray announces this man as the "first son of the Wyatt family, Luke Harper."
- ^ James, Justin (2013-01-10). "James's WWE NXT report 1/9: Big E. captures NXT Title, Shield involved, Pac debut promo, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2013-01-12.
- ^ Santiago, Andres (2013-01-11). "DX invades DX taping: Complete WWE NXT spoilers from Florida". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2013-01-25.
- ^ James, Justin (2013-02-08). "James's WWE NXT report 2/6 - Week 32: Tag Tournament continues, Bo Dallas's main-roster debut carries over, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
- ^ Parry, Josh (2013-01-31). "WWE News: Spoiler - first NXT tag champs, next month's guest". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2013-02-01.
- ^ Santiago, Andres (2013-05-03). "WWE NXT spoilers from Winter Park, FL: John Cena and more". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
- ^ James, Justin. "JAMES'S WWE NXT RESULTS 5/29 & 6/5: Wyatts defend Tag Titles, NXT Women's Title introduced, #1 contender battle royal, Parade of released NXT wrestlers in matches". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
- ^ Caldwell, James (2013-06-21). "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 2013-06-26.
- ^ Caldwell, James (May 27, 2013). "RAW NEWS: HBK & Hart cameos, Axel beats top star, Wyatt Family intro, Punk's return, Hunter status, two title matches, World Title, Kidd returns with new look post-Raw, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
- ^ Benigno, Anthony. "Raw Five-Point Preview: July 8, 2013: All in the family". WWE. Archived from the original on 9 July 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
Theories and speculation have abounded as to what the backwoods madman Bray Wyatt's mission is and where his family fits into the equation.
- ^ James, Justin. "JAMES'S WWE NXT REPORT 7/3 - WEEK 53: Bo Dallas defends NXT Title, Women's Tourney continues, Mason Ryan". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ^ Caldwell, James. "RAW NEWS: Vickie "fired" as Raw authority figure & replacement named, Wyatts debut, final MITB PPV hype, RVD, Lesnar, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ^ a b "SPOILERS FOR FLORIDA CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING FOR SEPTEMBER 25, OCTOBER 2 AND 9: TWO NEW CHAMPIONS CROWNED AND ANOTHER ROLLINS/AMBROSE MATCH".
- ^ a b Namako, Jason. "WWE NXT Results - 6/6/13 (Wyatt Family vs. Ohno/Graves)". WrestleView. Retrieved June 10.
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(help) - ^ Miller, Christian. "WWE NXT Recap: Women's Tournament Opening Round Begins, NXT Tag Titles Defended, More". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved June 8.
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(help) - ^ "WWE: Live in Fear (Bray Wyatt) - Single". Apple Inc. Retrieved 12 June 2013.