Ryback – too late?

[Laura]

This is something I’ve been wondering about for a while. Is it still possible for Ryback to be the WWE’s next big star? Or have they killed his potential already?

It’s probably too soon to tell, but I know I lost a lot of interest in him after HIAC. I was really looking forward to see how they’d handle that, and the finish was just WTF. The explanation for it was even worse. Maddox makes an ‘impact’ by maintaining status quo. Er, okay. I think Ryback would’ve benefited more from a clean loss after being out-smarted or out-wrestled by Punk. It would’ve implied that he’s only human and still has to grow – which he does.

And now Ryback facing Punk at TLC, and I really have no excitement at all. There’s no chance in hell Punk is going to lose, and even less chance he’ll retain cleanly, so basically it’s just another match where we wait around to see who interferes. And after that Ryback will either win the Rumble and beat Punk at WM, or he’ll bury Shield at RR before going on to have his ‘Wrestlemania moment’ with Bigshow. Either way, it doesn’t seem very exciting.

I think they pushed him too fast. It would’ve been great to see him rip apart the midcard, maybe even winning the IC and US titles at the same time, like Kurt Angle when he was double champion. Maybe they could’ve even added the tag titles on top, which would’ve probably made him the only person in WWE history to hold three titles simultaneously. It would’ve added to his aura of invincibility.

In other words, they should’ve let his menace grow naturally. Before his push he seemed like a legitimate monster. Now he seems more like a poorly written monster. Does he even get pops anymore? I read somewhere that his chants are piped in.

It’s a shame, because I really did like him. His matches were mostly power spots, but power like that qualifies as talent in my eyes, and it was impressive to see. All he needed was time to round out the rest of his ring skills, but I don’t think he’ll get a chance anymore. I think people will have lost interest in him by WM, especially with distractions like Rock vs Punk, Cena, whoever.

So anyway, what do you guys think? Is there still time for him, or is he done?

 

[Cloud]

It's similar to ADR in my eyes pushed to soon without a build so no one really gives a crap!

 

[CM Punk]

I don't care or ever will for Ryback.

 

[BaraaKhalaf92]

This is something I’ve been wondering about for a while. Is it still possible for Ryback to be the WWE’s next big star? Or have they killed his potential already?

It’s probably too soon to tell, but I know I lost a lot of interest in him after HIAC. I was really looking forward to see how they’d handle that, and the finish was just WTF. The explanation for it was even worse. Maddox makes an ‘impact’ by maintaining status quo. Er, okay. I think Ryback would’ve benefited more from a clean loss after being out-smarted or out-wrestled by Punk. It would’ve implied that he’s only human and still has to grow – which he does.

And now Ryback facing Punk at TLC, and I really have no excitement at all. There’s no chance in hell Punk is going to lose, and even less chance he’ll retain cleanly, so basically it’s just another match where we wait around to see who interferes. And after that Ryback will either win the Rumble and beat Punk at WM, or he’ll bury Shield at RR before going on to have his ‘Wrestlemania moment’ with Bigshow. Either way, it doesn’t seem very exciting.

I think they pushed him too fast. It would’ve been great to see him rip apart the midcard, maybe even winning the IC and US titles at the same time, like Kurt Angle when he was double champion. Maybe they could’ve even added the tag titles on top, which would’ve probably made him the only person in WWE history to hold three titles simultaneously. It would’ve added to his aura of invincibility.

In other words, they should’ve let his menace grow naturally. Before his push he seemed like a legitimate monster. Now he seems more like a poorly written monster. Does he even get pops anymore? I read somewhere that his chants are piped in.

It’s a shame, because I really did like him. His matches were mostly power spots, but power like that qualifies as talent in my eyes, and it was impressive to see. All he needed was time to round out the rest of his ring skills, but I don’t think he’ll get a chance anymore. I think people will have lost interest in him by WM, especially with distractions like Rock vs Punk, Cena, whoever.

So anyway, what do you guys think? Is there still time for him, or is he done?

I agree that they pushed him to the main event too soon, perhaps it would have been better for him to feud for the middle card titles before, but they rushed him .....

But despite that, I don't really think his feud with Punk hurt him a lot, they rushed him yes but it didn't hurt him that much as he walked out of every match looking strong....

I also agree that the Road to WrestleMania and Rock's return will probably overshadow him which is bad, but he can still has his WM moment by either winning the WH title or carrying Big Show on his shoulders which would be a huge marking moment :

 

[Leo C]

You make a great point, I'm personally a Ryback fan and I don't think he should've been pushed like that. It was too much too soon. He should've had 2-3 big midcard feuds before they even thought of putting him on the main event. I want to see how they'll work with this. I hope they put him back on the midcard, or at least out of the title picture, as soon as possible.

 

[Stopspot]

I think no one can say he wasn't pushed too fast but looking back on the situation with Cena injured and all that it was kind off obvious they needed to.

 

[seabs]

I think no one can say he wasn't pushed too fast but looking back on the situation with Cena injured and all that it was kind off obvious they needed to.

This, plus he's over listen to the feed me more chants when Shield attacked Kane... plus when his music hit, he's still horribly green for being a pro wrestler for 7 years though.

 

[Rysenberg]

It's similar to ADR in my eyes pushed to soon without a build so no one really gives a crap!

Good post Laura. To answer your question(sort of): I tend to find myself agreeing with the above quote, both very talented guys and both had the potential to get over with the crowd - but booking has totally wrecked them.

They have definitely pushed him way too soon. That match at Hell in a Cell was horrible and contrary to what many have said on here, I don't think it needed to happen. There were plenty other guys that could have filled in. WWE should have realised that Ryback is not experienced enough yet to work the main event match of a Pay-Per-View and looked elsewhere.

The match that still pisses me off and IMO is the turning point in Ryback's career is his match against Miz on Raw. They had Ryback decimate him in about 3-4 minutes which is one of the most costly decisions WWE have made in months and they probably don't even realise it. If they had made a proper fued out of it with Ryback taking on Miz at a Pay-Per-View in a match lasting 10-15 minutes then they could have slowly introduced new moves and more importantly, analysed whether he was capable of making the step up. What they ended up going for instead benefited nobody to be honest.

Then Hell in a Cell came around and when Cena got himself injured, WWE could have had a much better idea as to whether Ryback was prepared for such a big match - and if he wasn't they could have replaced him. I'm sure they could have found a solid face worker to face Punk, Orton or Mysterio could have easily done so and if they had Ryback be in a much better place right now.

I also dislike his booking. He's gotten to the point where he is so overpowered that it just frustrates people. It wouldn't be so bad if he had a bigger moveset in which he could fill matches with - but he doesn't. So unless he's facing a powerful heel then his matches are just going to be filled with his opponent running away for the majority of it. Punk/Ryback doesn't work because Ryback spends far too much time dominating and that doesn't allow Punker to talk him through the match, instead we are left with massive impact move after massive impact move from Ryback, with the only rest period being Punk running away. It's horrible viewing.

Impatience and laziness from the WWE are what has killed/is killing Ryback.

 

[Cloud]

On this topic I'd also like to note that I appreciate that ADR is a great wrestler and could be so much more. Also I think Ryback has so much potential but it's as i stated it was too soon and meh I couldn't care less despite them both having mass amounts of potential.

 

[catlady]

Ryback gets good crowd pull but to me, he's generic & generic don't last too long in today's wwe.

 

[Lockard 23]

I guess some forget that Cena was injured and that's why Ryback had to take his place? The only other guy who could have filled in (in my opinion) was Randy Orton, but I personally liked the unpredictability of not knowing whether they'd hotshot the belt onto Ryback or not. It did make HIAC a little more exciting not knowing what they might do, and they've done this sort of before, where they put a midcarder/upper-midcarder in the main event (Austin at Cold Day In Hell 1997, Cena at Backlash 2003, Jericho-HHH on Raw in April 2000), just to test them out and see how people react to it.

However, after HIAC, it probably would have been best for him to just destroy Maddox and then descend back into the upper-midcard. I said myself him beating Miz for the IC Title (pretend Kofi never won the belt) would have been a good first title win for Ryback. They could have jump started that feud by having Miz mock Ryback for losing at HIAC and saying that he is a former world champion and Ryback isn't, and began a Ryback-Miz feud that easily. That could have gone a couple of months, if they had Miz intentionally DQ himself on their first encounter.

But after the HIAC buyrate came out, I can see why they decided to keep on with Ryback in the main event, especially since they thought Ryback could gain a lot of momentum from it, even if he doesn't end up winning the belt. At least Ryback/Punk feels like a fresh feud, although we never got that big blowoff match between Cena and Punk. Guess we'll probably have to wait till Wrestlemania (triple threat) for that.

 

[Dat Kid1]

It's similar to ADR in my eyes pushed to soon without a build so no one really gives a crap!

Del Rio was one month after his debut. Del Rio beat Mysterio in his debut, and Ryback went through jobbers. People actually give Ryback a reaction and the only opportunity Ryback had was his WWE championship shots, where as Del Rio had countless shots as well as a Royal Rumble win and a MITB win.

Ryback is being pushed equivalent to his skills and popularity, Del Rio was not. WWE is actually doing good with his push.

 

[Rysenberg]

Del Rio was one month after his debut. Del Rio beat Mysterio in his debut, and Ryback went through jobbers. People actually give Ryback a reaction and the only opportunity Ryback had was his WWE championship shots, where as Del Rio had countless shots as well as a Royal Rumble win and a MITB win.

Ryback is being pushed equivalent to his skills and popularity, Del Rio was not. WWE is actually doing good with his push.

Let's be honest though: Ryback was getting pushed whether he was over or not. You could tell as soon as he debuted the guy was gonna go far. Ryback does get a reaction but is it anything more than fans just playing along with a catchphrase? Because if you ignore the 'Feed me more!' chants the guy isn't exactly mega over. And even if he was, that doesn't change the fact that WWE are doing too much with him too fast. As Lockard says he could have easily slipped down to the midcard again after HIAC which would have been a lot more beneficial for him in the long run. Instead, he's getting put in numerous main events and many fans seem to be feeling that he is being forced upon them.

Oh and Del Rio is a lot more talented than Ryback is, but it's almost impossible for him to get even slightly over with that god awful gimmick.

 

[Dat Kid1]

Let's be honest though: Ryback was getting pushed whether he was over or not. You could tell as soon as he debuted the guy was gonna go far. Ryback does get a reaction but is it anything more than fans just playing along with a catchphrase? Because if you ignore the 'Feed me more!' chants the guy isn't exactly mega over. And even if he was, that doesn't change the fact that WWE are doing too much with him too fast. As Lockard says he could have easily slipped down to the midcard again after HIAC which would have been a lot more beneficial for him in the long run. Instead, he's getting put in numerous main events and many fans seem to be feeling that he is being forced upon them.

Oh and Del Rio is a lot more talented than Ryback is, but it's almost impossible for him to get even slightly over with that god awful gimmick.

Yes, Ryback was getting a push whether he was over or not, he's technically been with the company since what, tough enough if i'm correct, so I'm sure the guy is more than polished in the ring.

He also had a quick midcard thing with Miz and that is when he got over with the fans. The addition of him being a big guy, made him an obvious choice to get pushed into the main event because WWE loves big guys.

Yes, Ryback could have slipped back into midcard, but he has the support of the fans, even if it is only for chants...but lets be honest who really gets over with the fans now a days other than Cena and maybe Vickie Guerrero...and lets not say CM Punk because he's been getting cheap heat for a bit of time recently.

As far as talent goes yeah del rio is more skillful, but it's not by leaps and bounds. You have to be conscious of the fact that both use entirely different wrestling styles, one is a powerhouse, the other is more technical. Mic wise I'd put both of them on the same level at least, accept when Ryback speaks he gets an actual reaction, and I'm not talking about chants. Recently Ryback's mic work has got good crowd reaction.

Anyway, Ryback isn't going to remain in the title picture much longer after TLC. He'll probably be feuding with Shield leading up to WM, which isn't exactly what I would call main event material, but the exact spot where Ryback and Shield both need to be.

 

[Cloud]

Del Rio was one month after his debut. Del Rio beat Mysterio in his debut, and Ryback went through jobbers. People actually give Ryback a reaction and the only opportunity Ryback had was his WWE championship shots, where as Del Rio had countless shots as well as a Royal Rumble win and a MITB win.

Ryback is being pushed equivalent to his skills and popularity, Del Rio was not. WWE is actually doing good with his push.

The only reason Ryback went thro jobbers was to build the monster character. It was still an is far too soon an the majority dont care.