Elias is no longer the sole guitar-wielding superstar in the WWE main roster. “The Drifter” has some competition now, in the form of debutant Rick Boogs.
BARON CORBIN’S SMACKDOWN TIRADE WAS INTERRUPTED BY A NEW FACE
During the latest episode of WWE SmackDown Live, a tirade by Baron Corbin was interrupted by a new superstar. Corbin was speaking out his anger at Shinsuke Nakamura stealing his cape and crown, when the debutant entered the scene and named himself. He even let the audience catch the entire pronunciation of his last name. He then went on to state Shinsuke Nakamura as the real king of SmackDown Live.
Before Nakamura’s music hit, Boogs played a part of his entrance music via his electric guitar. He remained at ringside for the match between Nakamura and Corbin, and led to Corbin’s defeat. He started playing Nakamura’s theme “The Rising Sun” in his guitar, leading to Corbin getting distracted, and Nakamura getting an upper hand for a victory.
Highly impressed by Boogs was WWE SmackDown Live commentator Pat McAfee. The fans on social media showed similar opinions. Fans were impressed by the superstar’s competence at playing the guitar and excited at the future of his partnership with “The King Of Strong Style”.
RICK BOOGS HAS APPEARED ON WWE NXT AND EVOLVE UNDER MULTIPLE RING NAMES
While it was his first main roster apperance, Boogs, whose real name is Eric Bugenhagen, has appeared at WWE NXT before. If his real name strikes a bell, it is because it was the ring name he used while he became popular with the fans through a show of wearing flamboyantly new ring attire, growing his hair long and wearing a handlebar-styled mustache. A display of enthusiasm, energy and his shredding of an air guitar made life easier for him as he rapidly grew over. However, he did not wrestle much under the name, changing into an abbreviated version: Rick Boog.
In 2020 under the ring name Rik Bugez, he made his debut in WWE’s business partner EVOLVE wrestling at EVOLVE 143, in a match won by Joe Gacy. He returned at EVOLVE 144 defeating Anthony Greene.
