Erick Rowan Says People In WWE Were Surprised When He Was Able to Cut Promos on Smackdown, Why It Was Cut Short

Erick Rowan appeared on The Lewis Nicholls Show for a new interview and discussed his time in WWE, recalling how surprised people backstage were that he was able to cut a good promo. Rowan finally got the chance to speak out as part of the storyline where he attacked Roman Reigns on behalf of Daniel Bryan without Bryan’s knowledge, all of which facilitated Bryan’s turn away from a heel persona.

Rowan talked about how that period felt like he was finally getting a chance to be himself, and why the whole thing was cut short. Highlights and the full video are below:

On getting the chance to be him during that storyline: “Oh, of course. I definitely know the first time they gave me a promo, like a long promo, more than a sentence like [with] The Bludgeons and I talked. I know that I had to be as close to me as possible. And what’s funny is, I started talking and the next day, I get people coming up to me as far as people backstage, being like, ‘Well, I didn’t know you had it in you.’ It’s like, ‘What do you mean, you didn’t know I had it in me? I’m right here, I’ve been here the whole time. I’ve always been able to talk. I’m not a mute.’ But I played a mute. I played a guy who was quiet, I played a background character for the longest time. So it’s funny, we play the character we’re given … so to finally be a central character and written in it, and to prove I could be a central character? For me, that meant everything. Because that’s like, I’m working toward this. I want to show people I can do this. And I did.”

On the opportunity being cut short: “They can always do more with it. Like you said, yes it was too short. And I think a lot of that was a victim of just, we had the draft coming up, we were switching networks to Fox. So like, they didn’t have a plan for me going out because they didn’t think I was going to succeed. I know they didn’t think I was going to succeed. Because I wouldn’t have had people going up to me backstage going, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you’re doing this.’ And then week after week after week, all of sudden they’re letting me talk, they’re letting me do more and more. So they were trusting me more and more, and then it just stopped when I got put onto Raw.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Lewis Nicholls Show with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.