Former Erick Rowan Opens Up About Initially Not Liking Luke Harper In WWE

Oftentimes, athletes and performers are forced to put their differences aside for the sake of the team. In the case of the late Luke Harper (Jon Huber) and Erick Rowan, they were not necessarily fond of each other when they were first paired up on WWE TV. Yet, they went on to thrive for years as stablemates and later as a tag team in WWE. 

In a recent interview with "Insight," Rowan opened up about how his relationship with Harper evolved from strangers to coworkers to brothers. "Each journey is different for everybody," Rowan said. "There are some wrestlers who can't stand each other outside the ring. Of course, me and Jon [Huber] went through that stage earlier on. It's well-publicized that there was friction between us, and it wasn't until towards the end of The Wyatts stuff and Bludgeon Brothers [that] we just had this mutual respect for each other."

The former WWE star recalled a conversation where he and Harper looked at each other and realized they were "stuck together" since WWE didn't have other plans for them. The realization led to a heart-to-heart conversation between them. "The more time we spent together, the more we gelled as a team and as friends. Windham [Bray Wyatt] was no different. He was always there." 

Rowan is admittedly still in disbelief that his two late friends are no longer with him. "We spent so much time together. You have tiffs with your family, and you have tiffs as a team, but luckily with the three of us, there was always one guy going, 'Calm down. We'll be good.' We never really had crazy fights, it was literally just a family dynamic." 

Despite being constantly reminded of his late friends, Rowan chooses to delve into the positives by honoring them at every opportunity. "Me being reminded of their [deaths] makes me kinda smile ... because I'm constantly reminded of them in my life and what they meant to me."