Somebody backstage at WWE likes Erick Rowan.
He’s only been back from his latest injury (a torn rotator cuff) for a month-and-a-half, but it looks like he’s already getting another singles push. SmackDown is the land of opportunity and all...
Good news is, the character/gimmick he’s using now is much, much better than his last solo run from 2014-15. “Big Red”, the super-genius who solved Rubik’s Cubes in seconds, made wine in his spare time and teamed with John Cena against The Authority is gone.
In his place is... well, what you’d expect from 6’ 8” bald, bearded guy who likes to wear masks and make eerie videos.
During an oddly compelling appearance on Talking Smack which set up Rowan’s match this Sunday at Backlash, he railed against Luke Harper for leaving “the Family”. A line about having been left a lot in his life injected a bit of pathos, but mostly this him talking to his masks, infringing on Renee Young’s personal space and ignoring Shane McMahon’s entreaties to leave.
The above video gives you a taste. Unsuprisingly, Young is crucial to making this work, as she really sold discomfort during and after Rowan’s visit.
He wasn’t done there, though! A few hours later, he was up to his old social media tricks with this haunting, Sister Abigail-invoking looking Tweet...
— Erick Rowan (@ERICKROWAN) May 17, 2017
It’s not an act that’s destined for pay-per-view (PPV) main events (although, on the blue brand, who knows?), and it’s definitely a bummer that a great worker like Harper was moved from the cusp of the World title picture to what feels pretty “creative has nothing for you”-ish.
But it also kind of works, so... let’s see where it goes.
What do you make of Erick Rowan’s solo act so far, Cagesiders?