WWE News: Erick Redbeard Shares Details On His Final Months With Company
Former WWE superstar Erick Redbeard appeared on this week’s episode of The Ryback Show, where he shared his experiences with the company’s creative team in the months leading up to his release in April.
As quoted by WrestlingNews.co on Thursday, Redbeard — who was formerly known as Erick Rowan in WWE — discussed several topics with Ryback during his guest appearance and notably opened up about his last major storyline with his former employer. As he recalled, he was particularly frustrated about the direction of the angle, which had him carrying around a cage with an unknown creature inside it. This was because company officials supposedly didn’t provide him enough clarity regarding the storyline’s direction and purpose.
“This was the first time in my career when I was the most vocal about things. I was professional but I was vocal about it. I said, what’s the plan for the cage? Why am I doing this? I was told it was something that’s going to be killed by a babyface but it will set up a good feud.”
According to Redbeard, that sense of hope didn’t last long, as his questions about the angle would remain unanswered in the weeks that followed. He said that he then made a number of pitches to then-Monday Night Raw executive director Paul Heyman, who, in turn, informed him that he would pass the ideas along to Vince McMahon. However, the former Wyatt Family member admitted that he still isn’t sure whether or not those ideas were indeed relayed to the chairman.
As reported by Comic Book, it was eventually shown on the March 2 episode of Raw that Redbeard’s cage contained a “clearly fake” toy spider. Several fans took to social media to criticize the reveal, which they felt was anticlimactic and lacking in impact, especially because it took place during a segment with now-former lower-card talent No Way Jose.
After recalling how he tried, yet ultimately failed, to save his final storyline, Redbeard looked back on his last match in WWE, where he lost to Drew McIntyre. Again, he admitted to feeling frustrated about how things were going, that time mainly because he felt he could at least have a competitive match against the Scotsman ahead of his WWE Championship victory at WrestleMania 36. Instead, he was allegedly informed that the contest would only last four minutes — with ring entrances taken into account — and that he wasn’t allowed to mount any offense against McIntyre.
Talking about his future career plans, Redbeard told Ryback that at this point, he wants “to see what else is out there,” as he isn’t interested in signing an exclusive contract that would prevent him from pursuing outside projects. This meshes with a recent report that debunked rumors of his imminent AEW debut and supposed reunion with former Wyatt Family stablemate Brodie Lee.
