Erick rowan

**Joseph Ruud** (born November 28, 1981)[4] is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs under the ring name **Erick Rowan**. He was part of The Wyatt Family and is a former NXT Tag Team Champion with his former tag partner and Wyatt Family member Luke Harper.

## Early life

Ruud was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota[4] and is of Norwegian origin; his family emigrated from Nannestad, Norway. He attended the University of Minnesota Morris, where he played football.[6]

## Professional wrestling career

### Early career (2003–2011)

Prior to being signed by WWE, Ruud competed in Japan, where he competed in both tag team and singles matches, albeit without much success.[7] 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

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F1rst Wrestling promotion. Upon joining the promotion, he began feuding
with Brody Hoofer, with the pair exchanging wins across several events.[8]

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### WWE

#### Florida Championship Wrestling (2011–2012)

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**.[9] He made his FCW TV debut in August 2011 with a win over Kenneth Cameron, while being accompanied by Byron Saxton and James Bronson.[10] To tie in with Saxton's feud with Titus O'Neil, Rowan and Bronson lost to O'Neil and Leakee in a tag match.[11]
 Although Rowan continued to compete in both singles matches and tag
matches with Bronson, he was not involved in any further feuds and did
not challenge for any titles on FCW TV.[12]

#### The Wyatt Family (2012–2014)

Main article: The Wyatt Family

The Wyatt Family - Erick Rowan (left), Bray Wyatt (center) and Luke Harper (right)

After FCW was rebranded to NXT Wrestling,[13] 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".[14] As a member of the Wyatt Family, Rowan formed a team with Wyatt's "first son" Luke Harper,[15] and they defeated Percy Watson and Yoshi Tatsu on the January 9, 2013 episode of *NXT*.[16] 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.[17] Following a win over Bo Dallas and Michael McGillicutty in the semi-finals with Wyatt's interference,[18] Harper and Rowan were defeated in the finals by Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey.[19] On the May 2 episode of *NXT*, Harper and Rowan won a triple threat elimination tag match by last pinning tag champion Neville.[20] On the May 8 *NXT*
 (taped on May 2), Harper and Rowan defeated Neville and Bo Dallas (who
was filling in for the injured Grey) to win the NXT tag titles, Rowan's
first professional wrestling championship.[21][22] On the June 5 *NXT*, Harper and Rowan successfully retained their titles against Corey Graves and Kassius Ohno,[23] and on the June 19 *NXT* the Wyatt Family defeated the team of Graves, Neville and Ohno.[24] On the July 17 *NXT* (taped on June 20), Rowan and Harper lost the NXT Tag Team Championships to Adrian Neville and Corey Graves.[25]

From the May 27 episode of *Raw*, WWE aired vignettes promoting the upcoming main roster debut of the Wyatt Family.[26] The vignettes showed the Wyatt Family's backwoods origins and Rowan wearing a sheep mask.[27][28] On the July 8 episode of *Raw*, the Wyatt Family made their debut by assaulting Kane.[29] 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.[30] Over the next few months, Rowan and Harper competed as a tag-team and went on a winning streak over many teams,[31][32][33] until Cody Rhodes and Goldust handed them their first loss on the October 11 episode of *SmackDown*.[34] In early 2014, Rowan took part in the Wyatt Family's feud with The Shield,[35] while also supporting Bray Wyatt in his feud with John Cena.[36] While Wyatt and Cena's feud continued, Harper and Rowan also started a feud with The Usos, unsuccessfully challenging for the WWE Tag Team Championships at Money in the Bank and Battleground.[37]

#### Singles competition and face turn (2014–present)

Beginning 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. On the
November 17 episode of *Raw*, Rowan turned face for the first time in his WWE career when he joined Team Cena for Survivor Series, going after his former Wyatt Family member and Intercontinental Champion Luke Harper, who had joined Team Authority.[38]
 At Survivor Series, Rowan scored no eliminations and was himself
eliminated by Harper, with the assistance of Seth Rollins. However, Team
 Cena later won the match.[39] After Survivor Series, Rowan started a feud with Big Show, the team member who had betrayed the rest of Team Cena at the event.[40] At TLC in December, Rowan faced Big Show in a stairs match in a losing effort.[41]

On the January 5, 2015 episode of *Raw*, Rowan along with former Team Cena teammates Ryback and Dolph Ziggler was (storyline) fired by The Authority for being a part of Team Cena.[42] On the January 19 episode of *Raw*, Rowan, Ryback and Ziggler were rehired after Cena won a 3-on-1 handicap match against Seth Rollins, Big Show and Kane following assistance from Sting. On the January 22 episode of *SmackDown*, Rowan lost to Luke Harper in a qualifying match for the 2015 Royal Rumble. Despite this, Rowan appeared during the Rumble match and attacked #6 entrant Curtis Axel

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before Axel could make his entrance to the ring, sparking a brief Wyatt
Family reunion with Harper and Bray Wyatt before all three men brawled.
Later that week, Rowan defeated Axel in a match on the January 31st

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episode of *Main Event*. At WWE Fastlane

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Rowan competed together with Ziggler and Ryback in a six man tag team

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match against Rollins, Big Show and Kane, which they lost.[43]

personal life

his illigetiment brother is zeb katarn,who is also a wrestler.

## In other media

In 2010, Ruud participated in Norwegian reality series *Alt for Norge* and finished in third place.

In 2014, he made his video game debut in *WWE 2K15* where he is featured as a playable character.[44]

## In wrestling

Rowan wearing his sheep mask as part of The Wyatt Family.

* **Finishing moves**
	+ Full nelson slam[45][46] – 2014-present
	+ *Greetings From the North* (Chokeslam)[47] – 2011–2012
	+ Running splash[30] – 2012–2013; used as a signature move thereafter
	+ Waist-lift side slam[48][49] – 2014
* **Signature moves**
	+ Bearhug[50][51]
	+ Big boot[52]
	+ Clawhold,[53][54] sometimes transitioned into a one-handed biel throw[50][54]
	+ Fallaway slam[51][55][56]
	+ Multiple forearm clubs to a cornered opponent[51][54]
	+ Overhead gutwrench backbreaker rack[57]
	+ Pumphandle backbreaker[47]
	+ Scoop slam[57]
	+ Spin kick[58]
* **Managers**
	+ Bray Wyatt[59]
* **Nicknames**
	+ **"Big Red"**[60]

* **Entrance themes**
	+ "Live In Fear" by Mark Crozer[61] (2012–2014; used while a part of The Wyatt Family)
	+ "Swamp Gas" by Jim Johnston[62] (June 29, 2014 – November 21, 2014; used while teaming with Luke Harper)
	+ "**Sheepherder**" by Jim Johnston[63] (November 23, 2014–present)

## Championships and accomplishments

* **Pro Wrestling Illustrated**
	+ PWI ranked him #**57** of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2014[64]

* **Wrestling Observer Newsletter**
	+ Best Gimmick (2013) The Wyatt Family[65]

* **WWE NXT**
	+ NXT Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Luke Harper

* **WWE**
	+ Slammy Award for Match of the Year (2014) - Team Cena vs. Team Authority at Survivor Series