Backstage Update On Erick Rowan's AEW Status

Was Big Red's AEW appearance a one-off or something more?

by Andrew Pollard
Erick Rowan AEW Dynamite
AEW.com

Following Erick Rowan’s emotional, poignant appearance on this past Wednesday’s edition of AEW Dynamite, now comes an update on the former Bludgeon Brother’s AEW status.

Many have wondered whether Rowan – now going by the Erick Redbeard name – turning up to pay tribute to Brodie Lee was a one-off appearance or whether this was the start of the one-time WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champion becoming a more regular presence on AEW television.

As per the Wrestling Observer, it’s believed that Rowan has not signed any sort of deal with AEW and that his appearance was indeed solely a one-and-done affair to pay tribute to his long-time tag team partner. Of course, moving forward this could all change, but for now Big Red remains a free agent.

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Having been released by WWE as part of the company’s mass cuts last April, Erick Rowan made a surprise, welcome appearance on AEW’s Brodie Lee tribute show – coming to the aid of Hangman Page and the Dark Order’s Alex Reynolds and John Silver as Wardlow interfered in the trio’s match against MJF, Santana and Ortiz.

After hitting Wardlow with a chokeslam and banishing him to the back, Rowan would return to the ring with a sign paying his respects to Brodie.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.