Eric Bugenhagen (born December 21, 1987) is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

and graduated

collegiate wrestler Collegiate wrestling (also known as folkstyle wrestling) is the form of wrestling practiced at the college and university level in the United States. This style of wrestling, with some slight modifications, is also practiced at high school and ...

. He is best known for his YouTube presence and his tenure with

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

, where he performed under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projectin ...

Rick Boogs.

Background

After winning a state title while at Franklin High School in Franklin, Wisconsin, Bugenhagen wrestled for the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

team under Barry Davis. Bugenhagen competed for the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level (NCAA Di ...

from 2006 to 2011, starting at 184 pounds in his sophomore season and at heavyweight for his junior and senior years. Bugenhagen competed at the

NCAA Championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

twice, qualifying for the 2010 and 2011 tournaments in Omaha and Philadelphia, respectively. He went 2-4 at the NCAAs and also wrestled in a U.S. Olympic Trials. Bugenhagen graduated with a degree in

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human health ...

and worked as a wrestling coach for his alma mater after graduating.

Professional wrestling career

WWE (2017–2023)

Bugenhagen made his

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

debut on the October 19, 2017 episode of '' WWE NXT Live'', where he fell short to

Lars Sullivan Dylan Miley (born July 6, 1988) is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his time in WWE under the ring name Lars Sullivan. He joined WWE in 2013 and spent several years training at the WWE Performance Center before making hi ...

in a singles match. After an injury set him back significantly, he returned to wrestling at NXT live events under the ring name Ric Boog. Under his real name, Bugenhagen lost to

Drew Gulak Drew Gulak (born April 28, 1987) is an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling trainer. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand. He is a former one-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion and an eight-time ...

on February 6, 2019 on '' NXT'' in his television debut. On the May 1, 2019 episode of

WWE Worlds Collide WWE Worlds Collide, also known as NXT Worlds Collide, is a professional wrestling event series produced by WWE, an American-based professional wrestling promotion. Established in 2019, the concept is interbrand competition between WWE's various ...

, he participated in a 20-man battle royal as Rik Bugez, competing against other popular superstars such as

Brian Kendrick Brian David Kendrick (born May 29, 1979) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE. Kendrick is also known for his appearances with Ring of Honor (ROH), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), New Japan Pro-Wrestl ...

Akira Tozawa Akira Tozawa (戸澤陽, ''Tozawa Akira'', born July 22, 1985) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He is a former WWE Cruiserweight Champion and WWE 24/7 Champion, winning ...

Tyler Bate Tyler Bate (born 7 March 1997) is an English professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE where he performs on the NXT brand. In 2017, he became the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion (later renamed NXT United Kingdom Championshi ...

and the winner

Roderick Strong Christopher Lindsey (born July 26, 1983), better known by his name Roderick Strong, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand, as the leader of Diamond Mine, but is currently inactive due ...

. On the February 21, 2019 episode of '' WWE NXT Live'', Bugez teamed up with Denzel Dejournette to unsuccessfully face the

NXT Tag Team Champions The NXT Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended on the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental territory. Introduced on January 2 ...

of the time,

The Viking Raiders The Viking Raiders are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of Erik and Ivar, and are managed by Valhalla. The team is currently performing in WWE on the SmackDown brand. Erik and Ivar were previously known as War Machine ...

(

Ivar Ivar (Old Norse ''Ívarr'') is a Scandinavian masculine given name. Another variant of the name is Iver, which is more common in Norway. The Old Norse name has several possible etymologies. In North Germanic phonology, several of the elements c ...

and Erik). A notable confrontation of his career took place on the February 22, 2020 episode of '' WWE NXT Live'', where Bugez competed against

Finn Balor The word Finn (''pl.'' Finns) usually refers to a member of the majority Balto-Finnic ethnic group of Finland, or to a person from Finland. Finn may also refer to: Places * Finn Lake, Minnesota, United States * Finn Township, Logan County, No ...

in a losing effort. Bugez made several appearances as an extra in the main shows, being one of the many NXT performers being used as part of a makeshift crowd on

Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry data ...

at the beginning of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

in 2020. Leading up to

WrestleMania 37 WrestleMania 37 was the 37th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place as a two-night ...

, Bugez played

Old Spice Old Spice is an American brand of male grooming products encompassing aftershaves, deodorants and antiperspirants, shampoos, Shower gel, body washes, and soaps. It is manufactured by Procter & Gamble. Old Spice was launched as Early American Old ...

representative character Joseph Average/The Nightpanther in several backstage advertisements at Fastlane and after WrestleMania 37, during which he defeated

R-Truth Ronnie Aaron Killings (born January 19, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to WWE, performing on the Raw brand under the ring name R-Truth. Killings worked for World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now ...

and

to capture the

WWE 24/7 Championship The WWE 24/7 Championship was a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It was a tertiary championship open to anyone—regardless of gender or WWE employment status—and carried the special rule ...

twice. On May 21, 2021, Bugez, now going by the tweaked ring name Rick Boogs, made his debut on ''SmackDown'', playing

Shinsuke Nakamura is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE brand extension, brand. Nakamura is known for his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where ...

to the ring with an electric guitar. He made his in ring debut on the August 20 episode of SmackDown, teaming with Nakamura to defeat

Apollo Crews Sesugh Uhaa (born August 22, 1987) is a Nigerian-American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Apollo Crews. He started his career in 2009, originally working under the ring nam ...

and

Commander Azeez Babatunde Łukasz Aiyegbusi (; born May 26, 1989) is a Nigerian-Polish professional wrestler and former football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Commander Azeez. He previously played ...

. At

WrestleMania 38 WrestleMania 38 was the 38th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event was held as a two-night e ...

, Boogs and Nakamura faced

The Usos The Usos (born August 22, 1985) are an American professional wrestling tag team composed of twin brothers Joshua Samuel Fatu and Jonathan Solofa Fatu, who are known professionally by their respective ring names Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso. They ar ...

for the

SmackDown Tag Team Championship The WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, representing the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two male tag team championships for WWE' ...

, in which The Usos retained. During the match, Boogs suffered a torn quadriceps/patellar tendon injury, requiring surgery. After a nine month absence due to injury, Boogs made his return on the January 30, 2023, episode of ''Raw'' being introduced as the newest member of the roster before defeating

The Miz Michael Gregory Mizanin (born October 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, actor, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name The Miz. Mizanin first gained fame ...

in an impromptu match. As part of the

2023 WWE Draft The 2023 WWE Draft was the 17th WWE Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between their Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The two-night event began with the April 28 episode of ''Friday Night SmackDown'' (in Corpu ...

, Boogs was drafted back to the

SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes si ...

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create a ...

. On September 21, 2023, Bugenhagen was released from his WWE contract.

Evolve (2020)

Bugenhagen, as Rik Bugez, worked his first match in the independent scene at ''EVOLVE 143'', an event promoted by Evolve during their relationship with

on January 17, 2020, where he faced

Joe Gacy Joseph Ruby (born August 8, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Joe Gacy. He is the leader of The Schism. Gacy is best known for his work in Combat Z ...

in a losing effort. One night later, at ''EVOLVE 144'', Bugez scored his first victory by defeating Anthony Greene.

Other media

Bugenhagen appeared as Big Billy Beavers in the 2020 film ''

The Main Event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

''. Bugenhagen, as Rick Boogs, made his

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

debut in the ''Clowning Around'' DLC for ''

WWE 2K22 ''WWE 2K22'' is a 2022 professional wrestling sports video games, sports video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It is the twenty-second overall installment of the video game series based on WWE, the ninth game under ...

''.

Championships and accomplishments

*''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' **Ranked No. 224 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publis ...

'' in 2022 *

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outsid ...

)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boogs, Rick 1987 births Living people American male professional wrestlers American YouTubers People from Franklin, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area Wisconsin Badgers wrestlers WWE 24/7 Champions 21st-century professional wrestlers