During a recent interview with CardPlayer.com, WWE Superstar Erick Rowan discussed his WWE career, his run with Bray Wyatt, and his efforts to continue the deceased Superstar’s legacy with The Wyatt Sicks faction.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On carrying on the legacy of Bray Wyatt: “I don’t think it’s like this enormous pressure. Yes, we’re keeping the spirit alive. I’m trying to keep John’s spirit alive. These are things that are near to my heart but sometimes it gets emotional. You can’t stop it like you’re surrounded by it. That song that Windham used to come out to, the code orange song. Yeah it’s tough. Seeing the fireflies, it’s tough. But seeing all this stuff and being in there and seeing the fireflies and knowing that this is like being in places that…and you’re looking around and they’re not with you. I mean, that’s a tough pill to swallow.
“But then you slowly start to open your eyes and look around and you got Nikki Cross, you got Dexter, you got Gacy, and then you got Taylor, Bo and you open your eyes and you’re like okay, this is a family too. They’ve become a family to me, and it makes it easier, if that makes any sense. Because I know I have people there that, the people that are no longer here would, would probably smile that were all rocking together, you know? Initially for them, but hopefully to prove something to within ourselves of what that message is, and that’s these people have been thrown away in the eyes of the fans in a story sense.”
On the group showing their strengths while honoring Bray Wyatt: “But in a real life sense, these people have been and kind of forgotten about. These people have been if you really want to go deeper into it, these people have been, there’s been negativity spread about these people individually. Not necessarily now within whatever the realm of whatever’s going on with the group, but there’s been negativity spread about each one of these people, online. I don’t think a lot of these people have had clear chances to showcase what their strengths really are in the company. Any company. And I think this is the chance for them to begin to show those strengths while honoring something that’s pretty big and close to my heart.”
On fans not understanding how hard their jobs are: “I think sometimes, fans get caught up with what they think is good and bad. And I think that’s funny because wrestling is such a subjective thing, so some people may think something’s bad and then another person watches that same match and they love it. When you put that much time and effort into creating something, it’s kind of hard for people to fathom at home how much time and training people put into this. I just don’t get the mean-spirited stuff I see online sometimes. I think that’s kind of what makes me just a little disheartened with society.”
During a recent appearance on the “Monte and The Pharaoh” podcast, Rachael Ellering shared her experience in the WWE NXT locker room in 2019, noting that she observed a “divide” during her time there.
Rachael also stated that changes have occurred since then. She said,
“They’re very different experiences for me. Granted, I’m at different points in my career as well. But, I find I have really fantastic relationships with a lot of the girls in the locker room at AEW. I could call them if I needed something and they would pick up. They would be there if I needed them. I’ve enjoyed just countless, countless hours before shows, late night after shows, just talking, not even about wrestling, right? Just sitting and talking with them as people and so I so enjoy the company and the relationships I have with the women in the locker room at AEW and ROH, where it partly was because I was out injured for half the time I was in NXT but, I got along with the people I knew previously from the independents or that I had worked with doing extra work in NXT but, there was a little divide in the locker room that wasn’t as tight-knit. This was also in 2019 so things I’m sure have changed and I hope they’re fantastic for everyone but, yeah, I specifically just enjoy the interpersonal relationships I have with the people at AEW.”
