BodySlam

Tag: American Gladiator

  • The Former Rick Boogs Doesn’t Think He’s Done With Wrestling

    The Former Rick Boogs Doesn’t Think He’s Done With Wrestling

    Rick Boogs, now going by his real name Eric Bugenhagen, is a former WWE superstar who’s now staring on the revamped season of American Gladiator.

    While he’s still jacked and kicking ass on the show, he recently sat down for an interview with Chris Van Vliet where he revealed that he doesn’t think he’s done with wrestling just yet.

    When asked, he simply said “I don’t think so, man.” When asked if 2 and a half years ago he wasn’t sure, Rick responded with “I was a little soiled, sour flavor in my mouth.”

    He went on to explain that he is more open to it now after years have passed and he’s gotten older.

    “Yeah. I mean, as I get older and wiser. 3 years, you’ve almost graduated high school. That’s a freshman to a senior. Look at how much you’ve developed in that point in time. Or in college, baby-faced freshman to, like, grizzled, a real man. I’m going out to the real world. But I’m also glad, though, because if anything would have happened, it’s hard, man, pro wrestling is tough. What if I had a kink in my shoulder, I can’t do the tryout, I can’t do any push-ups. So I missed the try-out for American Gladiators because of that. Or what if I can go but I got a kink in my shoulder, and I can only do 6 push-ups instead of 100.”
    If you use any of the quotes above, please h/t Bodyslam.net
  • Eric Bugenhagen Reveals How He Got On American Gladiator’s Radar

    Eric Bugenhagen Reveals How He Got On American Gladiator’s Radar

    Eric Bugenhagen is a former WWE superstar. You may know him as Rick Boogs. Now, he’s on the revamped series of American Gladiator. If there’s anyone that looks the part, it’s definitely him.
    Recently, Eric sat down with Chris Van Vliet and was asked how he got onto the radar of American Gladiator. For him, he explained how he reached out himself.

    “I just found an email address for a casting director that was involved in that. Emailed them, ‘Hey, my name is Eric Bugenhagen. I hoist, heft and heave mega loads.’ Sent some clips and stuff whatnot, told him what I’ve done in the past. They said, Okay, we’ll set you up with the Zoom call. So give me the Zoom call a couple of days later, and I don’t know what to expect. Luckily, I have the 20,000 hours of promo practice from the WWE Performance Center. If that Performance Center has done anything well, for me, I don’t know about anyone else, but grinding those promos in. Because I learned if you wanted to stand out in that business, you got to be different.”

    When asked how he blew them away in the zoom call, Eric revealed that he actually first had to pitch a gimmick.
    “First and foremost, I know you gotta have a gimmick. You gotta be recognizable. ‘Who is this guy?’ One sentence: Who is he? So what I pitched was, I’m The Max. I’m The Maximum. Maximum entertainment value, maximum intensity, right? So I said, ‘I am The Maximum, aka The Max, you will call me The Max.’ They asked me a bunch of questions about where I’m from, if you had 30 seconds or whatever, you just whooped someone’s ass, what would you say? That kind of stuff. So I felt like it was grand slam home run. But then months go by and I never hear back, and I’m like, wow, now I can see why WWE fired me. I just don’t have what it takes. But apparently, they were just extending. They wanted to be sure they had the cream of the crop.”
    If you use any of the quotes above, please h/t Bodyslam.net