| Rick Boogs | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Eric Bugenhagen |
| Born | (1987-12-21)December 21, 1987 (age 37)[1] Franklin,Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Eric Bugenhagen Joseph Average The Nightpanther Ric Boog Rick Boogs Rik Bugez |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[2] |
| Billed weight | 285 lb (129 kg) |
| Billed from | Madison, Wisconsin |
| Trained by | WWE Performance Center |
| Debut | October 19, 2017 |
| Retired | January 4, 2024 |
| Rick Boogs | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube information | |||||||
| Channels | |||||||
| Years active | 2012–present | ||||||
| Genres | |||||||
| Subscribers | 327 thousand | ||||||
| Total views | 116.77 million | ||||||
| |||||||
Last updated: November 16, 2024 | |||||||
Eric Bugenhagen (born December 21, 1987) is an Americanfitness personality,YouTuber, retiredprofessional wrestler and graduatedcollegiate wrestler. He is best known for his tenure withWWE from 2017 to 2023, where he performed under thering nameRick Boogs.
After winning a state title while atFranklin High School inFranklin, Wisconsin, Bugenhagen wrestled for theNCAA Division IUniversity of Wisconsin team underBarry Davis. Bugenhagen competed for theWisconsin Badgers from 2006 to 2011, starting at 184 pounds in his sophomore season and at heavyweight for his junior and senior years. Bugenhagen competed at theNCAA Championships twice, qualifying for the 2010 and 2011 tournaments in Omaha and Philadelphia, respectively. He went 2–4 at the NCAAs and also wrestled in aUnited States Olympic Trials Qualifier. Bugenhagen graduated with a degree inkinesiology and worked as a wrestling coach for hisalma mater after graduating.[3]
Bugenhagen made hisprofessional wrestling debut on the October 19, 2017 episode ofWWE NXT, where he lost toLars Sullivan in asingles match.[4] After an injury set him back significantly, he returned to wrestling at NXT live events under the ring nameRic Boog.[3] Under his real name, Bugenhagen lost toDrew Gulak on February 6, 2019, onNXT in his television debut.[3] On the May 1, 2019 episode ofWWE Worlds Collide, he participated in a20-man battle royal asRik Bugez.[5] On the February 21, 2019 episode ofWWE NXT Live, Bugez teamed up with Denzel Dejournette to unsuccessfully face theNXT Tag Team Champions of the time,The Viking Raiders (Ivar andErik).[6] A notable confrontation of his career took place on the February 22, 2020 episode ofWWE NXT Live, where Bugez competed againstFinn Balor in a losing effort.[7]
While working on NXT, he also appeared atEVOLVE 143 andEVOLVE 144, two events promoted byEvolve during their relationship with WWE in January 2020.[8][9]
Bugez made several appearances as an extra in the main shows, being one of the manyNXT performers being used as part of a makeshift crowd onRaw at the beginning of theCOVID-19 pandemic in 2020.[10] Leading up toWrestleMania 37, Bugez playedOld Spice representative character Joseph Average/The Nightpanther in several backstage advertisements atFastlane and after WrestleMania 37, during which he defeatedR-Truth andAkira Tozawa to capture theWWE 24/7 Championship twice.[11]
On May 21, 2021, Bugez, now going by the tweaked ring nameRick Boogs, made his debut onSmackDown, playingShinsuke Nakamura to the ring with anelectric guitar.[12] They also worked as a tag team, facingThe Usos for theSmackDown Tag Team Championship atWrestleMania 38 Night 1, but during the match, Boogs suffered a tornquadriceps/patellar tendon injury, requiring surgery.[13][14]
After a nine-month absence due to injury, Boogs made his return on the January 30, 2023, episode ofRaw as the newest member of the roster, but during the2023 WWE Draft, Boogs was drafted back to theSmackDownbrand. AtSummerSlam, Boogs competed in the Slim Jim Battle Royal where he was unsuccessful in winning.[15][16] This would end up being Boogs' final appearance for the company as he was released from his contract on September 21.[17] On January 4, 2024, he confirmed in an interview withChris Van Vliet, that he no longer wishes to wrestle anymore after his release from WWE, effectively announcing his retirement from professional wrestling.[18]
Bugenhagen appeared as Big Billy Beavers in the 2020 filmThe Main Event.
Bugenhagen, as Rick Boogs, made hisvideo game debut in theClowning AroundDLC forWWE 2K22.[19][20] He also appears inWWE 2K23.
