“One of those guys that had dedication in him,” Erick Rowan Praises Current WWE Superstar
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Erick Rowan in an episode of SmackDown (via WWE)
Erick Rowan has been one of the most underrated wrestlers to step foot in the squared circle. During his run in WWE, he was associated with the Wyatt family and The Bludgeon Brothers. The former was one of the biggest factions of the modern era. During his run, he was synonymous with the white sheep mask. He made it a part of his act, which added to his spooky persona.
During the pandemic, WWE released Erick Rowan. Currently, he wrestles under the ring name Eric Redbeard. He spoke candidly about the athletes recruited in WWE in his recent appearance on the “Ten Count” podcast. These include collegiate athletes and football players. Erick Rowan named one such athlete whom he was impressed by: Baron Corbin.
“There’s some naturally gifted athletes that don’t have that dedication. They made it so far in their sport that they played before, and now they get a chance and an opportunity with WWE. And there’s some people that have dedication that’ll prove [it] every day and get better and better. Baron Corbin was one of those guys that had dedication in him. There’s other guys that didn’t have that dedication in them, to improve and get better,” said Rowan.
Baron Corbin was a football player in college. He played in NCAA Division II and spent time on the rosters of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals. In WWE, he made his name in NXT and learned the art of pro wrestling. He has been a consistent feature in the mid-card, but the WWE Championship has eluded him.
Related: “It depends,” Erick Rowan Discusses Potential Appearance in the WWE Royal Rumble in 2023
“No room for egos” Erick Rowan’s bold statement about new recruits
Erick Rowan also made bold statements about what separates successful recruits from unsuccessful ones. According to him, it is their attitude and egos that are their enemies and stop them from growing in the business.
“You need people with ‘check your ego at the door’ [attitudes]… There’s no room for egos, to say ‘I’m the best,’ because no, you’re doing the best to make the fans happy.”
Baron Corbin is not the only successful football player that has made it big in WWE. Many WWE superstars have played football, at least at the college level. Bill Goldberg, The Rock, John Cena, and the current WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns, are a few of the biggest names in that category. There are a lot of names still getting recruited under the WWE NIL program, being trained and tested for a future in the pro-wrestling industry.
Erick Rowan wrestled in Japan before he joined WWE in 2011. He was an integral part of the Wyatt Family, led by Bray Wyatt. His last match in WWE was against Drew McIntyre on an episode of Raw in March 2020. WWE released him in April 2020, after which he has been working independent dates, including AEW as well. He made his first AEW appearance in the tribute show to his late friend Brodie Lee.
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Suteekshan Joshi
(312 Articles Published)