Erick Redbeard on Working with Adam Scherr Again, The Origin of His Sheep Mask, More

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Erick Redbeard spoke about reuniting with Adam Scherr for Northeast Wrestling, the origin of his sheep mask in the Wyatt Family and more. Here are highlights:

On working with Adam Scherr again: “The last time we tagged together was in WWE in 2016. So much has happened since then. He went on this main-event run, and I’m really happy and proud of everything he has accomplished. He’s someone with this never-quit attitude, and that’s something which doesn’t go unnoticed. It’s been quite a gap since we last teamed together, so there will be some nostalgia when we are back in the ring. We were on the road so much together, and it will feel like home when we get in the ring together.”

On why he didn’t get with Brodie Lee at first and how their friendship grew: “We were too alike for our own good. At first, we were so protective of our spots. When The Wyatt Family was put together, we were the two background guys. We obviously wanted more, but that ended up helping us grow. And we kept getting back together, and every time, we jelled even more. As time grew by, we respected the hell out of each other and became great friends. It was one of those things where the ice broke, and we both let our guards down. He was a really funny guy. I tried to be funny, too, but I ended up throwing a lot of foul balls. For every 50 jokes, maybe I’d get him to laugh at one. There was no one like him. Not a day goes by I don’t think about him.”

On his sheep mask: “I was doing all these different gimmicks, and I tried a Viking gimmick. I was told that would never make any money, which is funny three or four years later, there’s the Viking Raiders and they’re great. So I tried all these different things, and I did all these promos with Windham and Jon.

Windham went to a Halloween shop and got all these masks—and one was a sheep mask. I tried all the masks on promo day, and I tried all these different mannerisms and characteristics. But back then, Dusty Rhodes didn’t want me to cover up my face. He said I was ugly enough without the mask [laughing], meaning I had a unique face.

Fast-forward, I debuted with the Wyatts in NXT. No one told me I was debuting that night at Full Sail. I had blue jeans, but I didn’t want to do that because that’s what Jon was wearing and I didn’t want to wear trunks, but I was lucky to have that jumpsuit in my trunk. It’s funny how things come together. When we filmed our Wyatt Family vignette, I decided to bring all those masks. So it just happened to be a series of funny coincidences.”