Former WWE Star Recalls Bray Wyatt Picking Out His Gear From A Halloween Shop
In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Erick Rowan (Erick Redbeard) shared the hilarious origin story of his first WWE gear β a sheep mask and jumpsuit. According to Rowan, Bray Wyatt visited a regular Haloween shop to pick out an assortment of masks for him to try out before Wyatt Family filmed their first NXT vignette.
"I was doing all these different gimmicks, and I tried a Viking gimmick," Rowan recalled. "I was told that would never make any money, which is funny three or four years later, there's the Viking Raiders and they're great. So I tried all these different things, and I did all these promos with Windham and Jon.
"Windham went to a Halloween shop and got all these masksβand one was a sheep mask. I tried all the masks on promo day, and I tried all these different mannerisms and characteristics. But back then, Dusty Rhodes didn't want me to cover up my face. He said I was ugly enough without the mask [laughing], meaning I had a unique face.
"Fast-forward, I debuted with the Wyatts in NXT. No one told me I was debuting that night at Full Sail. I had blue jeans, but I didn't want to do that because that's what Jon was wearing and I didn't want to wear trunks, but I was lucky to have that jumpsuit in my trunk. It's funny how things come together. When we filmed our Wyatt Family vignette, I decided to bring all those masks. So it just happened to be a series of funny coincidences."
On Saturday night, Rowan and Adam Scherr (Braun Strowman) reunited in a tag team match against nZo and WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray at Northeast Wrestling's WrestleFest XXVI event, where AEW star Jon Moxley made a surprise appearance. As noted earlier, Scherr invited Bray Wyatt to be a part of the Wyatt Family reunion. However, the Eater of Worlds hasn't been seen in a wrestling ring since last year's WrestleMania 37. According to several reports, he is presently working on his first-ever Hollywood project.
You can see below for highlights from the Rowan & Strowman vs. nZo & Bully match.
Poughkeepsie y'all were awesome last night. Had a blast!!!!! @newwrestling1 #FamilyReunion pic.twitter.com/vYuCQfdqTf
β The Monster of all Monsters (@Adamscherr99) January 24, 2022
ππΌ y'all. #nZo vs The π
Side bar: Erick "Redbeard" is the most under rated big man in pro wrestling. 1 of the best of a generation hands down. I'm sure he's got bouquets, but I really hope he gets his flowers. That mf'r can GO. Can work a π§Ή or lock up w/ Lesnar. Scary af too pic.twitter.com/4s1P61eKCY
β REAL1 (FKA Enzo Amore) (@real1) January 23, 2022
ππ€π»ππ€π» https://t.co/0u5PpWAlc0
β Joseph Ruud (@ErickRedBeard) January 24, 2022