Erick Rowan Joseph Ruud ( November 28 , 1981 ) is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE where he performs under the ring name of Erick Rowan . 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 . 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 . World Wrestling Entertainment . 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 . 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 . 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 . 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 . 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 . The Wyatt Family ( 2012 - 2014 ) . When WWE rebranded its developmental territory , FCW , into NXT Wrestling , 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 " . As a member of The Wyatt Family , Rowan formed a team with Wyatt ' s " first son " Luke Harper , and they defeated Percy Watson and Yoshi Tatsu on the January 9 , 2013 episode of NXT . 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 . Following a win over Bo Dallas and Michael McGillicutty in the semifinals , Harper and Rowan were defeated in the finals of the tournament by Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey . On May 2 , Harper and Rowan defeated Neville and Bo Dallas , filling in for the injured Grey , to win the NXT Tag Team Championships . On June 5 , Harper and Rowan successfully retained their titles against Corey Graves and Kassius Ohno . On June 20 , Rowan and Harper lost the NXT Tag Team Championship to Adrian Neville and Corey Graves . From the May 27 episode of " Raw " , WWE aired vignettes promoting the upcoming debut of the Wyatt Family . The vignettes showed the Wyatt Family ' s backwoods origins and Rowan wearing a sheep mask . On the July 8 episode of " Raw " , the Wyatt Family made their debut by assaulting Kane . Rowan made his WWE in - ring debut on the July 26 episode of " SmackDown " , where he and Harper defeated Tons of Funk ( Brodus Clay and Tensai ) in a tag team match . Over the next few months , Rowan and Harper went on a winning streak over many teams , until Cody Rhodes and Goldust handed them their first loss on the October 11 episode of " SmackDown " . In early 2014 , Rowan took part in the Wyatt Family ' s feud with The Shield , while also supporting Bray Wyatt in his feud with John Cena at WrestleMania XXX . While feud of Bray Wyatt and John Cena , Harper and Rowan started a feud with The Usos and beat them in a series of matches . Harper and Rowan unsuccessfully challenged The Usos for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Money in the Bank and Battleground , respectively . Face turn & singles competition ( 2014 – present ) . Beginning on September 29 , vignettes were shown of Harper and Rowan being " set free " . On the November 17 episode of " Raw " , Rowan turned face for the first time in his career when he chose to join John Cena ' s team for Survivor Series , going after his former Wyatt Family member and Intercontinental Champion Luke Harper , who had joined Team Authority .