Upon taking on the persona of ‘The New’ Daniel Bryan in late 2018, Bryan embarked on what many believe to be one of the greatest runs of his career. This involved a WWE Championship reign that saw the now-Bryan Danielson introduce an environmentally-friendly version of the strap, as well as acclaimed matches vs. AJ Styles, Kofi Kingston, and Mustafa Ali.
It was at the 2019 Royal Rumble, however, that Bryan was joined in his fight by Erick Rowan. The multi-time Tag Team Champion became Daniel Bryan’s henchman for the first half of 2019, capturing the SmackDown Tag Team Championships alongside him post-WrestleMania 35.
Vince McMahon Wanted Erick Rowan To Resemble Daniel Bryan
What fans may remember about this period is that Rowan began to wear a distinct style of clothing during this period. He was often seen sporting various band t-shirts and flannel shirts, a style not too dissimilar to that of Daniel Bryan. This, it turns out, was the direction provided by then-WWE boss Vince McMahon.
The now-Erick Redbeard was recently a guest on Rewind Recap Relive, where he recalled being told to dress like his new ally by WWE executives:
“I remember the first day, they’re like, ‘We want you to dress like Daniel Bryan. We’re going to cut your beard, even.’ Like, they wanted to cut this nice and short, like, they wanted me to look like him. Like, ‘Can we do a little makeup, and make his ears.’ True Story. We’re at TV, they’ve already given me a couple plaid shirts to look like him.”
Erick Rowan ultimately came to an agreement with management, maintaining his rugged look while adapting a dress sense similar to Daniel Bryan’s:
“I think, Dean Malenko came to me and said, ‘We gotta get you to makeup and cut your beard.’ I said, ‘No, we’re gonna talk to Vince.’ So going to Vince’s office, I basically said, ‘Before I start cutting my beard off and making permanent changes to the way I look, can we discuss what exactly do you want out of this?’”
Erick Rowan’s alliance with Daniel Bryan ultimately ended in September 2019, following Rowan revealing that he was behind a series of mysterious attacks on Roman Reigns.