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During an interview with GiveMeSport's Louis Dangoor, WWE's Rick Boogs finally reacted to Chris Jericho's recent criticism of him.
Jericho had revealed sometime back that while Boogs was an entertaining character, he didn't see the WWE star winning the world title due to his in-ring name. The former AEW World Champion felt Rick Boogs had a better chance of making it big with his real name, Eric Bugenhagen.
The WWE SmackDown star recently disagreed with Chris Jericho's claim and said he took it up as a challenge to get his ring name over with the fans once he caught wind of Y2J's comments.
Jericho mainly had positive things to say about Rick Boogs, and the SmackDown star was grateful for all the praise coming his way.
Here's what Rick Boogs had to say during the interview:
"Yeah, I mean, I was definitely happy for the most part. The only thing that was negative was that Rick Boogs was going to hold me back, that name. And I accepted it as a challenge because I don't think so. I think Rick Boogs is going to; it's going to get way more over. I take that as let's see what we can do with the name 'Rick Boogs.' As of right now, let's look at the entrance with Shinsuke, right? I'm Rick Boogs! Do you know what I'm saying? What would you have done with Bugenhagen in that sense? My name is Eric Bugenhagen! Maybe it could have worked, but I think Rick Boogs works better in that sense. So, he had a lot of praise, and I'm very grateful for that, and I hope I can live up to that. I think that's what I'm doing, and I want to prove him wrong with the Rick Boogs shtick."
Rick Boogs and his WWE storyline with Shinsuke Nakamura
The former WWE NXT star was called up to the main roster in May 2021 and has since been booked as Shinsuke Nakamura's on-screen sidekick on SmackDown.
Boogs' enthusiasm and energy have helped add a new dimension to Nakamura's character, and the tag team has also wrestled several matches on television and at WWE live events in recent months.
Rick Boogs is undoubtedly trying to make the most of his run on WWE SmackDown as he plays a vital role in Nakamura's current Intercontinental title reign.
Please credit GiveMeSport and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use the quote from this article.
