Rick Boogs was one of over 20 stars released by WWE on September 21st.
Boogs – real name Eric Bugenhagen – originally signed with the company back in 2017 as part of NXT and became a regular at live events for the developmental brand as well as appearing as an extra on the main roster and was briefly part of the 24/7 Title hunt in early 2021.
He made his SmackDown debut on May 21st of that year when he began playing Shinsuke Nakamura to the ring with his electric guitar. The pair also teamed together up to WrestleMania 38 where they unsuccessfully challenged The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships.
During that match, Boogs suffered a quadriceps injury which put him on the shelf for the rest of 2022. He returned as part of the Raw roster in January 2023 but was moved back to the blue brand during the 2023 Draft. His last appearance came at SummerSlam where he was part of the Slim Jim Battle Royal which was won by LA Knight.
Rick Boogs claims there was a “political power play” that led to his WWE release
On the latest of his gym tour videos on YouTube, Boogs briefly spoke of his release, saying he was the casualty of a “backstage political power play.”
“All right fellas we’re back, and let me tell you it’s been an interesting time in my life with my job in WWE being terminated due to a backstage political power play – at least that’s my opinion of it.
“But now is not the time to talk about that, I will go into detail about that when the time is right.”
At the end of the video, after saying he had a few more gym tours left to upload, Boogs said he will be going into the details of his release when he is able to speak freely.
“It’s not the time, but when it is, but when I do and can speak freely it’s gonna be freaking juicy fellas. I’m talking about all the nitty-gritty details, you know what I’m talking about? So stay tuned fellas.”
Rick Boogs also suggested Vince McMahon’s retirement “killed” his WWE career.
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