Line #49 Wrestling/ErickRowan


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f1f35cf730f81e27f156d2da8f6b503b.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:[[CoolMask Without his mask]] ]]
3
4	Joseph Ruud (born November 28, 1981) is an American [[ProfessionalWrestling professional wrestler]]. He is best known for his time in Wrestling/{{WWE}}, where he performed under the ring name '''Erick Rowan'''. He is a former member of Wrestling/TheWyattFamily and is a one time [[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT]] Tag Team Champion and a two-time Smackdown Tag Team Champion, first with his tag team partner, former fellow Wyatt Family member turned fellow Bludgeon Brother Wrestling/LukeHarper, then with Wrestling/DanielBryan.
5
6	Prior to being signed by WWE, Ruud competed in Japan, where he competed in both tag team and singles matches, albeit without much success. 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.
7
8	In February 2011, Ruud signed a developmental contract with WWE and was assigned to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling under the ring name Erick Rowan, where he debuted as a member of the Wyatt Family.
9
10	On September 29, vignettes were shown of Harper and Rowan being "set free" by Wyatt, marking the dissolution of the Wyatt Family and the transition of its members into singles competition. A short time later, Rowan turned [[HeelFaceTurn face]] for the first time in his WWE career when he joined [[Wrestling/JohnCena Team Cena]] with fellow former heels Wrestling/DolphZiggler and Wrestling/{{Ryback}}, going after his former Wyatt Family member and then-Intercontinental Champion Luke Harper, who had joined Team Authority.
11
12	Shortly after Wrestlemania Erick Rowan turned [[FaceHeelTurn heel]] and rejoined with Luke Harper, teasing a potential feud with Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys but Rowan was injured with torn biceps before that could happen.
13
14	Rowan made his return months later, rejoining The Wyatt Family on the Raw before Hell in a Cell 2015, helping Wrestling/BrayWyatt and Wrestling/BraunStrowman to defeat Wrestling/DeanAmbrose and Wrestling/RomanReigns in a handicap match. Later, he would join Luke Harper in the tag team "the Bludgeon Brothers" until they were both taken out by injury.
15
16	In 2019 he returned as the acolyte of Wrestling/DanielBryan.
17
18	His return was short-lived as he was released from his contract in Spring 2020. He returned to the indie circuit afterwards under the name "Erick Redbeard". His next major televised appearance would be at the [[Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling AEW]] tribute show for his late brother-in-arms Brodie Lee (the former Luke Harper), making a run-in to save Alex Reynolds from interference by Wardlow. He made another brief appearance for the promotion again in 2022, joining [[Wrestling/{{PAC}} Death]] [[Wrestling/PentagonJr Triangle]] for their match against the Wrestling/HouseOfBlack on the Buy-In for ''Revolution''.
19
20	----
21	!! "Tropeherder"
22	* AnimalMotifs: Fitting the Family's sheep motif, Rowan wore a child's sheep mask when not wrestling, and kept it for years even after the dissolution of the Family.
23	* AscendedExtra: Initially a henchman to the charismatic Wrestling/BrayWyatt, Rowan has since become his own wrestler and given his own motif, much like Harper.
24	* BaldOfEvil: When a heel, and notable because it made him stand out from Bray, Luke and Braun, all of whom had big shaggy manes of hair.
25	* BeingGoodSucks: The only cultist of the Wyatt Family to turn {{Face}} at any point in time, which he did during the group's initial dissolution. Unfortunately, he would get constantly squashed by the Big Show and Rusev in matches when on the side of good. This is implied to be why he would turn {{Heel}} and join up with former Wyatt Family member Wrestling/LukeHarper.
26	* BigGuyLittleGuy: He's formed an alliance with [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] at Wrestling/RoyalRumble (2019).
27	* BullyHunter: During his 2014/2015 face run. Unfortunately, he wasn't very good at it.
28	* ButtMonkey: Sadly, WWE management never really seem to have any faith in Rowan. His first singles run as a face was a joke (spending most of it getting fed to Wrestling/TheBigShow and [[Wrestling/RusevandLana Rusev]]) and any time someone in the Wyatts is going to eat a pin, you can bet it'll be him. Oh, Harper will often eat more of the offense (because he's ''amazing'' at selling it) but Rowan is constantly made to look weak by the booking and is very rarely allowed to really do any actual ''wrestling.'' If you need proof, he was the one who lost to Wrestling/TheRock in ''[[CurbStompBattle six seconds]]'' at Wrestlemania 2016.
29	* TheCameo: A more tragic example than most as Rowan made his first WWE appearance since 2020 on the August 25, 2023 episode of Smackdown... to stand front and center for Bray Wyatt's ten-bell salute after he had died not even 24 hours prior to the episode.
30	* CompanionCube: In late 2019, Rowan took to carrying a covered cage[=/=]pen containing... something. Curiosity on the part of his opponents..... [[BerserkButton has not been rewarded.]]
31	* CoolMask: Has worn a number of variants of the Sheep Mask, including the [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/WWE_Erick_Rowan_Sheep_Mask.jpg first]] WhiteMaskOfDoom, one that had [[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/836784815638728704/gBu5z35Z_400x400.jpg clown make-up]], one that [[http://pm1.narvii.com/6374/c28760de90af424f74bb29a39dbc62831df6125e_00.jpg looked like a ram]] and one that [[https://www.wwe.com/f/styles/og_image/public/all/2017/04/001_Rowan_04182017ej_1309b--e64e1352b6547cce136ce183808e4c20.jpg wouldn't look out of play in a radioactive wasteland]].
32	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: A decidedly more harmless variant than his boss. He's ultimately very intelligent, but has a childlike approach on things.
33	* CreepyDoll: He has one on a table in his shed, wearing all black and an appropriately-sized sheep mask. It seems to be the source of the hair sewn into some of his masks.
34	* DarkIsNotEvil: In his {{face}} incarnation, Erick Rowan wears the attire he debuted in (sheep mask included), with the only change being that it's all black.
35	* DidntSeeThatComing: Rowan of all people coming out and joining Team Cena not only shocked Harper and Wrestling/TheAuthority, but ''Cena himself.''
36	* TheDragon: To Wrestling/DanielBryan in 2019.
37	* EvilIsBigger: During his time in the Family, Rowan came in at about 6'8" and was well over '''300 pounds,''' easily making him the biggest member, until Braun Strowman's debut that is.
38	* EvilRedhead: Obviously the "evil" part is debatable.
39	* {{Expy}}: Erick Rowan could very well be considered an expy of [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Voorhees]]. He's a tall, imposing figure who hides beneath a mask, says VERY little (he's only spoken one word after over two years of being a member of The Wyatt Family on the main roster: "Run"), and he tilts his head in a very similar fashion to Voorhees (and [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael Myers]] before him).
40	** Rowan is also considered one to Sheamus, largely due to his long beard contrasting with Sheamus's long spiky hair, as Big Show lampshaded. Also, both men's attack on a much smaller competitor (Wrestling/CurtisAxel and Wrestling/DanielBryan respectively) ultimately shot their victims' popularity through the roof
41	* FacePalmOfDoom: Uses a variant of a chokeslam in which he does this instead of putting his hand around the victim's neck.
42	* FinishingMove: Formerly, The Running Splash and The Torture Rack. Currently, The Full Nelson Slam.
43	* TheGiant: At 6'8", he's no Wrestling/BigShow, but as a 320-pound MightyGlacier that dwarfs anyone on the roster ''not'' named Wrestling/TheUndertaker, Braun Strowman or Big Show, he plays this trope pretty straight.
44	* GlowingEyesOfDoom: [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=p7IEQoBTvlI THE RAGE]] features Rowan creating a misshapen mask with glowing eyes.
45	* HiddenDepths: According to Tom Phillip's research, Erick Rowan has a genius level IQ (143, allegedly) and is a guitar prodigy as well as an award-winning winemaker. To drive the point home, Rowan solved a Rubix cube ''during'' the (less-than-one-minute) interview in which this was revealed.
46	* TheJannetty: To both Wrestling/LukeHarper and Wrestling/BrayWyatt, the former winning his first singles title in taking the IC Championshp from Wrestling/DolphZiggler, while Bray, who was the face of the stable from the beginning, has been immersed in high-profile feuds with Wrestling/DeanAmbrose and Wrestling/TheUndertaker.
47	** Rowan's found himself on the wrong end of beatdowns from the Wrestling/BigShow, lost his first and so-far only PPV singles match to the giant in a Stairs match at the TLC PPV, and when the Ziggler-Ryback-Rown trio's Royal Rumble spots were on the line, he was the only one to lose and not be entered in the Rumble match. [[spoiler:If his beat down of Wrestling/{{Fandango}} on ''[=SmackDown=]'' is any indication, he may be having second thoughts about his time away from Wrestling/TheWyattFamily.]]
48	* LastNameBasis: After re-debut as The Bludgeon Brothers.
49	* LastOfHisKind: After the tragic deaths of Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt in 2020 and 2023 respectively, Rowan is the last of the founding members of the Wyatt Family.
50	* LighterAndSofter: Slightly compared to the rest of the Wyatt Family, much more obvious nowadays. His theme music alone is this compared to his contemporaries'. Compared to Bray's creepy neo-bluesy "Broken Out Of Love" and Harper's distorted "Swamp Gas", Rowan's theme [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_lSm-JFac0 "Sheepherder"]] is a jolly (if slightly unnerving) little bluegrass number. He's also the only member to have [[HeelFaceTurn turned face]] at any point prior to 2017.
51	* MalevolentMaskedMen: The aforementioned sheep mask. He's also worn a brown goat mask, curled horns and all, of a similar design. Nowadays, he wears a fusion of his sheep mask and a ''gas mask''.
52	* MetalHead: After his alliance with Daniel Bryan, he's wearing a metal band shirt. He also involved with Music/AmonAmarth music video Raven's Flight, Crack the Sky and Mjolner, Hammer Of Thor as Thor. Rowan or Redbeard involved in Amon Amarth 2022 music video Get In The Ring.
53	* MightyGlacier: Erick Rowan is the definition of this trope. 6'8", 320 pounds, and about as agile as you'd expect for someone that size that isn't named Wrestling/{{Kane}} or Wrestling/TheUndertaker. And when he hits you, ''you know it.'' Although he does have some moves in his arsenal that you wouldn't expect from somebody that big, like a spinning heel kick or a top rope splash.
54	* MookCarryover: Wyatt, Harper, Bryan... he spends an awful lot of time taking orders from other heels. Notably Wrestling/TheNewDay mocked him for it, and in September 2019 he claimed he'd tried to kill Roman Reigns because he was tired of it and wanted to break away from his latest taskmaster.
55	* TheQuietOne: Erick Rowan isn't much for talking, almost less so than his form partner Luke Harper. He's been a little more vocal since turning face, but his time with the family can be summed up in one word:
56	-->'''Rowan:''' ''Run.''
57	%% * RedBaron: An unofficial one could be "Big Red," [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin due to his sheer size and thick, red beard.]]
58	* RoomFullOfCrazy: The shed seen in his [[https://youtube.com/channel/UCgv3dfDTgKrFNxgqejZIbCQ YouTube videos]], particularly [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=ixJcCHX7jUc WHAT I SEE]]. Its sole visible wall is covered in his various sheep masks, newspaper clippings, and (by the table) locks of human hair.
59	* SerialKiller: Implied by his Website/YouTube videos. [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=ixJcCHX7jUc WHAT I SEE]] opens with him dragging a body in a bag through the woods, and he has a newspaper clipping about an escaped inmate's body being found. And that human hair taped to his wall came from ''somewhere''.
60	* ShoutOut: Since joining up with Wrestling/DanielBryan, he's taken to wearing merch shirts of (typically obscure) metal bands.
61	* ShutUpHannibal: One of the rare times he did speak was four choice words to the Big Show, who had recently turned against Team Cena and joined the Authority.
62	--> "'''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis I. Don't like. Bullies!]]'''"
63	* SleevesAreForWimps: His very farmer-like jumpsuit.

Context Wrestling / ErickRowan