Chris Van Vliet recently caught up with former WWE Superstar Erick Rowan, and he discussed a number of topics, including the decision to go by Erick Redbeard on the independent wrestling scene. It's a name which makes sense for him, and that he explains is what led to him picking that.
"It’s pretty easy," Redbeard started. "All my handles are already Erick Redbird anyway. I guess the most obvious part was when I was let go, I was basically banished and exiled from this big company. Some other guy that was banished from the land and had to make a name for himself was Erick the Red, so I had a redbeard. It’s an easy transition for me."
Things are pretty quiet on the indie wrestling scene right now, of course, but All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite continues airing every Wednesday night on TNT, and that's where Redbeard's former fellow WWE Superstar (Luke Harper) Brodie Lee currently calls home.
"You never say never. Me and him have always been joined at the hip," he explained. "I know he had very high singles aspirations. He wants to be the world champion and all that. To me, I just want to wrestle and have fun doing it and be creative, whether it’s a character backstage and doing that. I have fun doing that stuff. I have fun in the ring. I had fun doing the tag stuff."
Redbeard went on to explain that he doesn't have the same ambitions as Lee, and it's hard to imagine the new AEW Television Champion wanting to reteam with someone he spent years being forced to tag with in WWE (even though they are good friends).
What do you hope to see from Erick Redbeard moving forward?