Wrestlezone spoke with Erick Redbeard (fka Erick Rowan in WWE) and discussed a myriad of topics, including the odd spider cage storyline that saw him tease what was actually in the enclosure for weeks.
The cage (and its contents) were hidden under a sheet for several weeks, which allowed fans to speculate on what was actually in the cage. Erick Rowan previously said he’d put different items in the cage while he carried it, including a stuffed animal so that people would see a shape if they looked closely. Asked if he ever put anything else in the cage as a rib on his fellow Superstars, Erick said it didn’t get too out of hand and it was mostly for practical effect.
“I know one time I put one of the old sheep masks in there just because ‘why not?’ But no, as far as gags, I think the gag was on me the whole time I was carrying that thing around.”
Asked how he felt in hindsight about being part of a ‘mystery box’ or MacGuffin-esque storyline, Erick said it could have gone a lot of other ways than it did and the timing was unfortunate.
“You know, it’s disappointing because there were so many different ways to go with it, and the way it was crushed, the way COVID hit, the way they released everybody, it’s like man, am I the first person in WWE history to not only have the gimmick crushed, but to get the job papers? That was basically my last appearance in front of a crowd was that day that the cage was crushed. And so I was like man, I wonder if they wrote that story just to get rid of people.”
Erick would then recall working with the now Malakai Black (FKA Aleister Black in WWE) as being some of the most fun he had while working in WWE.
“I mean, if you just watch the body of work and the glimpses of things we’ve seen and you just put stuff together, I mean I had fun with guys like Aleister towards the end because they let us work for a bit, you know what I mean? And just working the size difference and stuff in practical ways since he’s a striker. I also worked with guys like The Usos, I had matches that were good with those guys because they’re such high-flyers. So as far as any kind of style or what people can expect, they see my body of work, they know what to expect of me, but maybe you’ll see a few different things and a few different surprises.
“I know throughout my career, especially when I would do some singles matches, that necessarily wasn’t the forte I was known for, but it opened eyes as to what I could do in the ring. I always knew what I could do, but when you’re conditioned to only seeing certain things or when you have guys who are booked to be fall guys for so long, their credibility starts to waver a little bit. It’s interesting to be out of that facade and to show people other parts of my work.”
Read what Erick Rowan shared about the original plans for his cage gimmick at this link.
