Wisconsin Badgers alum Eric Bugenhagen rocking his way to superstar status with WWE NXT
Even his name is entertaining, and it’s his.
Eric Bugenhagen is Eric Bugenhagen.
This air band specialist has captured the hearts and minds of WWE NXT fans globally. They just love him.
South Floridians can experience and share in that love and fun by head-rocking, hand-clapping and mime-guitar playing live, when the high-octane Bugenhagen arrives in West Palm Beach on Friday for an NXT show at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.
Bugenhagen, 31, debuted in NXT in October 2017. After learning the ropes and a name change (Ric Boog) and an injury, he returned to make his NXT TV debut — under his real name with a different look and an air guitar — on the Feb. 6 episode where he lost to Drew Gulak.
Gulak won the battle, but Bugenhagen won the war.
Bugenhagen entertained the fans immensely that night at Full Sail Live in Winter Park, especially during his extended ring entrance jam session. For his effort, he earned an air band-playing encore later in the show to the delight of the crowd. You want to connect with fans, and he connected using his metal musical passion.
They don’t recall the win or the loss. They remember the energy and the enthusiasm and the yell. When the name Bugenhagen popped again on the giant screen at Full Sail and his music hit, the fans erupted.
Bugenhagen birthed Bugen’s Bangers, which includes fans and other NXT superstars, referees and ring announcers.
His Twitter account handle: @metalHAGEN.
He can actually play guitar, the bass and the drums, performing with his brother and friends in a band as a teenager. As for his current air band-type performance in an NXT ring, he plays guitar, keyboards and drums and screams, a high-pitched yell.
Here is my audio interview with Bugenhagen.
The 6-1 Bugenhagen is another unique find by WWE — learning, growing and progressing via the coaching in various aspects at the state-of-the-art WWE Performance Center in Orlando.
Bugenhagen amateur wrestler
After winning a state title while at Franklin High School in Franklin, Wis., Bugenhagen wrestled for NCAA Division I University of Wisconsin, under top coach Barry Davis.
“Eric came in every day prepared to work hard, to train hard, to get better as an athlete, and he did that,” said Davis who coached 25 seasons (1994-2018) at Wisconsin. “He spent a lot of time in the weight room, and I remember Eric being very dedicated.”
Bugenhagen competed at Wisconsin from 2006 to 2011, starting at 184 pounds in his sophomore season and at heavyweight his junior and senior years. He had that intensity in college, compiling a 56-55 mark.
“For a big guy, he moved very well on his feet. He could penetrate,” Davis added. “What you try to do as a coach with guys that big, who are able to move their feet, is get them to grow. I’d seen that athletic ability in him with room to get bigger and grow frame wise.”
Bugenhagen grew into a strong heavyweight, physically and mentally.
As a senior in 2010-11, Bugenhagen was ranked as high as ninth at heavyweight. He was 25-13, including winning the Loras Open, placing fourth at the Cliff Keen Invite and finishing third at the Big Ten Championships with a 5-1 record.
Bugenhagen twice competed at the NCAA Championships, qualifying for the 2010 and 2011 tournaments in Omaha, Nebraska, and Philadelphia, respectively. He went 2-4 at the NCAAs.
For the Badger Wrestling Club, Bugenhagen wrestled in a U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifier. He fared well but did not advance to the trials.
Bugenhagen, a college grad who studied kinesiology, put the team first, which impressed coaches, and later led to him working with Wisconsin as a strength coach and a volunteer assistant coach.
“Eric always had leadership abilities. The guys on the team respected him, and we as coaches respected him, too,” Davis noted. “His focus, his dedication, and he was always good at taking care of his body, getting stronger. Going from 184 to heavyweight, he had to make adjustments on his body that way, and he did.
“So we knew Eric, we relied on Eric to get guys stronger in weight classes that way. He knew a lot about nutrition, a lot about the body; so it fit well.”
Davis, 57, a star wrestler at the University of Iowa who won a silver medal in freestyle wrestling at 125 pounds at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, currently works for Silver Star Nutrition in Wisconsin.
Davis knows his former wrestler and coach is embarking on a WWE journey: “Like [transitioning to] MMA [from amateur wrestling], being an amateur wrestler makes it easier to transfer over into that style, and I think Eric fits that very, very well.
“You’re wrestling — body movement, body control, athletic ability — you understand position. When you wrestle — be it amateur wrestling or pro wrestling — you got to understand that body and how it works and how to pin people, etc.”
Davis, a National Wrestling Hall of Famer, has watched pro wrestling.
“I watched the British Bulldogs [Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith] and the Steiner Brothers [Rick and Scott],” he said.
The Steiner brothers wrestled for the University of Michigan when Davis competed for Iowa.
“I enjoy watching [pro wrestling]. They’re entertaining, and those guys are total athletes, as well,” he continued. “Some of the things they do are amazing. Their body control, etc.”
How about Eric in WWE?
Davis responded: “I’m glad to see him back in the sport of wrestling. I think it’s a great thing. I’m glad he’s doing it. I wish him the best. I know he’ll be dedicated. I know he’ll want to be one of the best there. Like he understands college wrestling, he understands pro wrestling. It’s all about confidence and getting better and making yourself better. I think Eric will rise to that occasion down the road.”
Before turning his attention to pro wrestling, Bugenhagen also concentrated on powerlifting (something he did when he became a heavyweight on the wrestling team), personal training and his family (wife and daughter).
A coffee achiever on social media, he’s listening to metal music, of course, when lifting. It’s a Bugenhagen ritual.
In a 2016 interview for the Fit World Blog, he noted his top six metal songs when pumping iron.
“Neo Seoul” — After the Burial
“Instinct” — Decapitated
“Dom/Hollow” — Pantera
“Hordes of Chaos” — Kreator
“Shogun” — Trivium
“Pennyweight” — After the Burial
Check out powerlifting The Bugenhagen Way.
Click BugenhagenIntenseYouTubePowerliftingChannel
Otis Dozovic of Heavy Machinery
Bugenhagen is not the only high-energy, crowd pleasing superstar in WWE with a Wisconsin state high school wrestling title under his belt. Otis Dozovic (Nikola Bogojevic), 27, of Heavy Machinery won a Wisconsin state title for Superior High School in Superior, Wisconsin.
Could we see a Franklin Sabres vs. Superior Spartans amateur-style battle — like Angle vs. Lesnar — before a show or at the Performance Center for NXT, WWE and Wisconsin bragging rights?
Bugenhagen is ready.
The Ultimate Warrior
Prior to landing in WWE he told All Out Athletics those who have inspired him. The list included actor, former bodybuilder, former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; former eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman; family (his brother the doctor, his sister the nurse and mom, and his parents the business owners); and the very intense Ultimate Warrior.
NXT in South Florida
NXT is Friday for a special show at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach.
NXT then travels a little north for a usual visit to the Havert L. Fenn Center on Saturday in Fort Pierce.
For ticket info, click NXTticketInfo.
For NXT news and notes, click NXTnewsNotes.
NXT on WWE Network
NXT is 8 p.m. EST Wednesdays on WWE Network.
My Pro Wrestling Reports on the Web and Social Media
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This story was originally published May 1, 2019 at 3:18 PM.
