The Wyatt Family (2012–2014) Rowan signed a WWE contract in February 2011 and Harper in March 2012, with both wrestlers performing in NXT's predecessor
Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). After FCW was
rebranded to
NXT Wrestling, Harper and Rowan debuted on
NXT under the leadership of
Bray Wyatt to form a faction known as
The Wyatt Family in November, with the duo being referred to as Wyatt's "sons". On the January 23, 2013, episode of
NXT, Harper and Rowan entered the
NXT Tag Team Championship tournament to crown the inaugural champions, defeating the team of
Percy Watson and
Yoshi Tatsu in the first round. Following a win over
Bo Dallas and
Michael McGillicutty in the semi-finals with Wyatt's interference, Harper and Rowan went on to the finals of the tournament, but were defeated by
Adrian Neville and
Oliver Grey. The Wyatt Family later assaulted Brock lesnar (who had suffered a legitimate injury) while Wyatt prevented
Bo Dallas from winning a
NXT Championship number one contender match due to Dallas refusal to join The Wyatt Family. On the May 2 episode of
NXT, Harper and Rowan won a
triple threat elimination tag team match by lastly
pinning Neville to earn a shot at the NXT Tag Team Championship. On the May 8 episode of
NXT, Harper and Rowan defeated Neville and Dallas, the latter filling in for the injured Grey, to win the NXT Tag Team Championship. After Harper and Rowan won the titles, The Wyatt Family went on to feud with
Corey Graves and
Kassius Ohno. On the June 19 episode of
NXT, The Wyatt Family defeated the team of Graves, Neville and Ohno. On the July 17 episode of
NXT, Harper and Rowan lost the NXT Tag Team Championship to Neville and Graves. From the May 27 episode of
Raw, WWE aired
vignettes promoting the upcoming
main roster debut of The Wyatt Family. The vignettes showed the Wyatt Family's
backwoods origins and Rowan wearing a sheep mask. On the July 8 episode of
Raw, The Wyatt Family made their debut by assaulting
Kane. Harper and Rowan made their main roster in-ring debut on the July 26 episode of
SmackDown, where they defeated Tons of Funk (
Brodus Clay and
Tensai) in a tag team match. Over the next few months, Harper and Rowan competed as a tag team and went on a winning streak over many teams, until
Cody Rhodes and Goldust handed them their first loss on the October 11 episode of
SmackDown. In early 2014, Harper and Rowan feuded with
The Shield, while also supporting Bray Wyatt in his feud with
John Cena. While Wyatt and Cena's feud continued, Harper and Rowan also started a feud with
The Usos, unsuccessfully challenging for the
WWE Tag Team Championship at
Money in the Bank and
Battleground.
Split and feud (2014–2015) On September 29, 2014, vignettes began to air of Bray Wyatt announcing he was setting Luke Harper and Erick Rowan "free". Rowan returned on the October 31 episode of
SmackDown, while Harper returned on the November 10 episode of
Raw, aligning himself with
The Authority. On the November 17 episode of
Raw, Rowan joined Team Cena for
Survivor Series, opposing Luke Harper and turning into a
heroic character. At the event, Rowan's team was victorious. During the match, Harper and Rowan attacked each other, with Rowan ultimately being eliminated from the match by his former partner (with assistance from
Seth Rollins). On the December 8 episode of
Raw, Harper and Rowan faced each other in singles competition, with Harper ultimately getting himself disqualified. On the January 5, 2015 episode of
Raw, The Authority punished Rowan by putting him in a singles match against Harper, with Harper picking up the win after a
discus clothesline and the help of J&J Security (
Jamie Noble and
Joey Mercury), who were the
special guest referees for the match. On the January 22 episode of
SmackDown, Harper and Rowan once again competed against each other, this time in a
2015 Royal Rumble qualifying match, with Harper winning and thus not allowing Rowan to participate in the Royal Rumble match. Despite this, Rowan appeared during the Royal Rumble match on January 25, ambushing the number six entrant
Curtis Axel, to attack Harper and subsequently sparking a brief Wyatt Family reunion, along with Bray Wyatt, before all three men began to brawl.
Reformation and The Wyatt Family reunion (2015–2017) On the May 7 episode of
SmackDown, Rowan would come out after Harper defeated
Fandango, seemingly to confront Harper, but would instead attack Fandango and thus turning into a
villain in the process. On the May 11 episode of
Raw, Harper and Rowan would officially reunite when Harper accompanied Rowan to his match against Fandango which Rowan won after 30 seconds and the two proceeded to double team Fandango after the match. On the May 18 episode of
Raw, Harper and Rowan teamed up to take on Fandango and
Zack Ryder, which Rowan and Harper won after a
superkick and
full nelson slam combination. On the June 4 episode of
SmackDown, Harper and Rowan cut a
promo about being ostracized and stated they were a family. On the June 5 episode of
Superstars, Harper and Rowan defeated
Los Matadores in a tag team match, and once again in a rematch the following week on
Raw. In late June, during a match at a
live event, Rowan suffered a torn
bicep, with reports saying he would be out of action for 4–6 months. On the June 23 episode of
Main Event, Harper returned to singles competition when he defeated
Cesaro, but not before cutting a promo where he said losing his tag team partner has only made him more dangerous. Harper eventually reunited with Bray Wyatt on July 19 at
Battleground by helping him defeat
Roman Reigns. After four months of inactivity, Rowan returned from injury on the October 19 episode of
Raw, when he filled in for Harper (who was unable to show for personal reasons) to team with Wyatt and Wyatt Family newcomer
Braun Strowman, against
Roman Reigns,
Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, which his team won by disqualification after Ambrose attacked Strowman with a kendo stick. During this time, The Wyatt Family feuded with several teams including
The Brothers of Destruction (
The Undertaker and
Kane) and
Team ECW (
The Dudley Boyz,
Tommy Dreamer and
Rhyno). In March 2016, Harper suffered a knee injury during a
Raw dark match and it was reported that the injury would sideline him for five to six months. On July 19, at the
2016 WWE draft, Wyatt and Rowan were drafted to SmackDown while Strowman was drafted to Raw, separating him from the group. After the draft, Wyatt and Rowan continued their alliance, and Harper returned at the close of the SmackDown brand's event
No Mercy on October 9 in a match between Wyatt and
Randy Orton, whom Harper distracted to help Wyatt win the match, thus realigning himself with the group. Prior to Harper's return, Rowan underwent surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. During Rowan's absence, Harper betrayed the group, attacking Wyatt and his new ally Randy Orton during the
2017 Royal Rumble. On the April 4 episode of
SmackDown, Rowan returned from injury after nearly eight months of inactivity, sporting a new
steampunk-style sheep mask, assisting Wyatt in attacking Orton (who had also betrayed Wyatt); Wyatt and Rowan later that went on to lose a tag team match against Orton and Harper. The Wyatt Family seemingly disbanded again when Wyatt was moved to the Raw brand during the
2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up, but despite this Wyatt and Rowan continued their alliance, with Wyatt distracting Orton during his match with Rowan on the April 11 episode of
SmackDown. Harper and Rowan continued to rival each other until the feud seemingly ended at
Backlash on May 21, where Harper defeated Rowan.
The Bludgeon Brothers (2017–2018) After months without appearing on WWE programming, on the October 10 episode of
SmackDown, Harper and Rowan returned in a
repackage vignette, with the duo wielding mallets and calling themselves "bludgeon brothers". During this time, both Luke Harper and Erick Rowan shortened their ring names, officially being billed as "Harper" and "Rowan". After a month of promotion, Harper and Rowan wrestled their return match as The Bludgeon Brothers on the November 21 episode of
SmackDown, defeating
The Hype Bros. After multiple weeks of defeating enhancement talent in
squash matches, the Bludgeon Brothers made an appearance at
Fastlane on March 11, 2018, interfering during the
SmackDown Tag Team Championship bout between defending champions
The Usos and
The New Day. This would lead to a
triple threat tag team match between the three teams for the title at
WrestleMania 34, where the Bludgeon Brothers won, earning their first title as a team on the main roster; this was also Rowan's first title on the main roster, and the first win at WrestleMania for both. They would go on to successfully defend the titles against The Usos at the
Greatest Royal Rumble, against
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson at
Money in the Bank, and against
Team Hell No at
Extreme Rules. At
SummerSlam, Harper and Rowan defended their titles against The New Day; they lost by disqualication after Rowan attacked
Xavier Woods with a mallet, marking their first loss as The Bludgeon Brothers. Two days later on
SmackDown, Rowan and Harper lost the titles to The New Day in a no-disqualification match, ending their reign at 135 days. The following day, it was announced that Rowan had suffered a torn right bicep, sidelining him indefinitely. During this time, Harper also underwent surgery due to a wrist injury.
Brief reunion and disbandment (2019) Rowan returned alone on January 27, 2019, at the
Royal Rumble pay-per-view, where he aided
WWE Champion Daniel Bryan in retaining his title against
AJ Styles. On March 9, 2019, Harper returned to in-ring action, defeating
Mojo Rawley at a live event. Harper then wrestled at
WrestleMania 35 and
Worlds Collide before taking an extended hiatus from weekly television, and on April 16, requesting his release from WWE. However, at
Clash of Champions on September 15, Harper returned, helping Rowan defeat
Roman Reigns and reforming their alliance. The two were then defeated by Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan at
Hell in a Cell in a Tornado Tag Team Match. However, this would be their final time teaming together as during the
2019 WWE draft, Rowan was drafted to
Raw while Harper remained on
SmackDown. On December 8, 2019, Luke Harper was released from his WWE contract, thus ending the possibility of Harper and Rowan teaming again in WWE. On April 15, 2020, Erick Rowan would also be released from his WWE contract as part of budget cuts stemming from the
COVID-19 pandemic. Following their respective releases and after their 90-day non-compete clause had expired, Harper signed with
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Brodie Lee, while Rowan began working on the
independent circuit under the ring name Erick Redbeard. On December 26, 2020, Jon Huber (Luke Harper/Brodie Lee) died from lung disease at the age of 41. At AEW's
Brodie Lee Celebration of Life on December 30, 2020, an event memorializing Huber, Rowan appeared for the first time in AEW to pay his respects to Huber; Rowan performed a
run-in to save Huber's former
Dark Order teammates
John Silver and
Alex Reynolds and their partner
Adam Page from interference by
Wardlow, helping them defeat
The Inner Circle's team of
Maxwell Jacob Friedman,
Santana and Ortiz. At the end of the match he held up a sign dedicated to his tag team partner and friend: "Goodbye for now, my brother. See you down the road." == Championships and accomplishments ==