Erick Rowan

Real name: Joseph Ruud
Height: 6’8″
Weight: 318 lbs.
Date of birth: November 28, 1981
Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Pro debut: September 3, 2003
Trained by: Eddie Sharkey
Finishing move: Greetings From The North

Biography

– Ruud began his career wrestling as Thoruf Marius, he would then go on to be known as Erick Rowan in the WWE. After his release he would change his ring name to Erick Redbeard since he was also nicknamed Big Red.
– In July 2007, Thoruf toured Japan with Pro Wrestling NOAH
– In 2011, Ruud signed a WWE development deal and was assigned to FCW as ‘Erick Rowan’
– On April 14, 2011, Rowan made his FCW debut, teaming with Buck Dixon to defeat DeSean Bishop & DT Porter
– In July 2012, Rowan became part of The Wyatt Family alongside Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper
– In January 2013, The Wyatt Family (Harper & Rowan) entered the NXT Tag Team Title tournament, but lost in the final to Adrian Neville & Oliver Grey
– On May 2, 2013, The Wyatt Family (Harper & Rowan) defeated Adrian Neville & Bo Dallas (subbing for the injured Oliver Grey) to win the NXT Tag Team Titles
– On May 23, 2013, The Wyatt Family (Harper & Rowan) defeated Corey Graves & Kassius Ohno to retain the NXT Tag Team Titles
– In May 2013, The Wyatt Family debuted on Raw via a vignette. These video packages continued over the next few weeks
– On July 8, 2013, The Wyatt Family made their Raw debut, attacking Kane. They assaulted R-Truth a week later
– At TLC ’13, The Wyatt Family defeated Daniel Bryan in a Handicap Match
– At Elimination Chamber ’14, The Wyatt Family defeated The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins)
– In November 2014, vignettes aired suggesting the breakup of The Wyatt Family
– Soon afterwards, Rowan turned face by aligning with Team Cena for the Survivor Series match against Team Authority
– At Survivor Series ’14, Team Cena (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, The Big Show, Ryback & Erick Rowan) defeated Team Authority (Seth Rollins, Rusev, Mark Henry, Luke Harper & Kane)
– On January 5, 2015, Rowan was storyline fired for his part in The Authority’s Survivor Series loss, but was rehired two weeks later
– In May, Rowan re-aligned with Luke Harper after attacking Harper’s opponent, Fandango
– In June 2015, Rowan suffered a torn bicep and would be out of action for several months
– Rowan returned to action in mid-October
– At TLC ’15, The Wyatt Family defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D-Von), Rhyno & Tommy Dreamer in an Elimination Tables Match
– The next night on Raw, Rowan scored the decisive pinfall as The Wyatt Family defeated the former ECW stars in an Extreme Rules Match
– In the 2016 WWE draft, Rowan was allocated to Smackdown
– At Battleground ’16, The Wyatt Family (Wyatt, Rowan & Strowman) defeated The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods)
– In late 2017, Harper & Rowan reunited as ‘The Bludgeon Brothers’
– At Clash of Champions ’17, The Bludgeon Brothers defeated Breezango (Tyler Breeze & Fandango)
– At WrestleMania 34, The Bludgeon Brothers defeated The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) and The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) to win the Smackdown Tag Team Titles
– At The Greatest Royal Rumble, The Bludgeon Brothers defeated The Usos to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Titles
– On the Money In The Bank ’18 pre-show, The Bludgeon Brothers defeated Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Titles
– At Extreme Rules ’18, The Bludgeon Brothers defeated Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane) to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Titles
– At Summerslam ’18, The Bludgeon Brothers lost to The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) by DQ, but retained their Smackdown Tag Team Titles
– On the following episode of Smackdown, Rowan suffered a torn bicep in a loss to The New Day and would be out of action for the rest of the year
– Rowan returned to TV at the 2019 Royal Rumble, aiding Daniel Bryan in his match against AJ Styles
– On the May 7 episode of Smackdown, Bryan & Rowan defeated The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) to win the vacant Smackdown Tag Team Titles
– At Stomping Grounds ’19, Bryan & Rowan defeated Heavy Machinery (Tucker & Otis) to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Titles
– On April 15, 2020, WWE released Rowan
– ‘Erick Redbeard’ returned to the indies in November 2020
– On June 25, 2021, Redbeard defeated Rylie Jackson to win the vacant Doublewide Bar Title
– On September 12, Redbeard defeated Carlito to win the UCW Heavyweight Title
– On June 9, 2022, Redbeard defeated Big Kon to win the IWR World Title, but immediately lost it to Dread King Logan
– On March 13, 2023, WarBeard (Redbeard & Matt Basso) defeated The Flippin’ Machines (Brian Cage & Flip Gordon) to win the WSW Tag Team Titles
– On October 6, WarBeard defeated The VeloCities (Jude London & Paris DeSilva) to retain the WSW Tag Team Titles
– In April 2024, it was reported that Erick Rowan would be returning to WWE