Former Bryan Danielson WWE Tag Team Partner Calls Pairing 'A Blessing'

Joseph Ruud, who performs as Erick Redbeard and was formerly known as Erick Rowan, spent nearly a decade in WWE. During his tenure, he was part of a memorable tag team with Luke Harper (aka the late Brodie Lee) as members of the Wyatt Family and later as The Bludgeon Brothers. Later in his WWE run, he formed an alliance with "The New" Daniel Bryan (aka Bryan Danielson), who was looking to create a more environmentally friendly planet. The two would go on to become "SmackDown" Tag Team Champions in 2019. Ruud recently took time on Reddit to answer what he enjoyed about his pairing with "The Planet's Champion."

"I loved it because it led somewhere," Ruud said. "To me, feeling like a second wheel, which is funny because I'm twice the size of him, but the story of feeling like a background character was one that was a blessing to tell. Plus we were the greatest tag team of all time #Fickle."

Their tag-team title reign lasted more than two months before losing the belts to The New Day. The alliance ended when Ruud turned on Bryan.

Ruud has made several appearances in AEW, although he is not officially signed with the promotion. His first appearance was on "AEW Dynamite" in 2020 for the Brodie Lee tribute episode. Most recently, he returned on the August 12 edition of "AEW Rampage," teaming with Danhausen to form Beardhausen. Their lone match as a team was a losing effort against the Gunn Club