Can You Tell Me About: Ryback

[Grievous 3D]

Hello my fellow members...and how is life treating you?

Now...this may a first in a series of question-like threads posted by myself
to gain some insight and information about the many years of WWE action
I have missed.

Now I've missed a lot...from the entire career of John Cena, the Rise of
Randy Orton, The "Yes" chants for Daniel Bryan and some other guy named
CM Punk...and I have many questions about former and current WWE performers.

The first cab off the rank being...The Big Guy...Ryback.

Now I know very little about Ryback...apart from the following:

~ Looks kind of like Goldberg...dressed as RVD...
~ FEED ME MORE!!!
~ Decided to leave WWE last year...
~ An Unsafe worker? (According to that CM Punk guy)

Now I have listened to a few episodes of his podcast...and I have to
say he seems intelligent and well-spoken for the most part...but...
he clearly had issues with the WWE creative team and may have
been pushed too far, too fast and the wrong way.

I have watched a few clips on youtube...and he seemed to be
"super over" at one point...and I guess I'm just curious about what
happened to that momentum he had.

He claims WWE dialed back his character and turned him into a
pay per view jobber...but again...his words not mine.

So...I was just hoping to get you all to post your thoughts and
opinions on Ryback...whether they be positive or negative.

 

[Snowman1]

Here's a small clip of him Goldberging the shit out of Chase Owens of the Bullet Club and Cortez Castro of Lucha Underground. This got him over...



Long post later yo

 

[The Phenom]

Well when Ryback hit the scene he was running thru jobbers like Goldberg was running thru the entire WCW roster! It went on for weeks so long it got dry and boring so WWE decided to have him face 2 jobbers at once......After a few weeks of that WWE creative said "Hey let's have him face 3 jobbers at once" Like that changed anything. After a while he was over with a percentage of the WWE universe chanting "Feed me more" but the majority of fans were chanting GOLDBERG GOLDBERG GOLDBERG every time he wrestled. He eventually turned into a PPV jobber and THE Big Guy was created to get him off the Goldberg type gimmick......and you know the rest.

He could have been good WWE Creative fucked that all up!

 

[The Phenom]

 

[Grievous 3D]

Here's a small clip of him Goldberging the shit out of Chase Owens of the Bullet Club and Cortez Castro of Lucha Underground. This got him over...

Didn't they take the exact same approach with Strowman recently?

He could have been good WWE Creative fucked that all up!

That's what he claims on his podcast...

I'm not surprised people would chant Goldberg at the guy...but...and I know this
sounds silly...but I dig the "Feed Me More" Chant...gets the crowd to engage and
enhances the atmosphere for television.

I guess it doesn't really matter now as he's gone...but still...perhaps if he'd been
drafted to SmackDown during the brand split...they may have given him a focused
storyline and a greater purpose.

 

[Mr. Roman Empire]

I watched from 1998-2004 and then picked up again in 2015. And ive hated Ryback foe as long as I been watching again. He's a huge waste of time and space. He had a hilariously bad IC title runs coming off one of the worst Elimination Chamber matches of all time.

 

[Snowman1]

The main thing to say about Ryback (and if you want to compare him to Strowman, feel free) is simply that he felt different. Having this muscled up dude crushing 2 guys was fun TV, and different from most segments on Raw/SD at the time.

I'd say the biggest difference between Ryback and Strowman is there was a big difference in the audience then. People were PASSIONATE about the creation of new stars, as ever since they lost Edge/Batista/Undertaker full-time/Jericho/Michaels and SO many others around this time and had just been coasting off just Cena and Orton for the 3 years prior, people were begging for someone new. WWE tried so hard to make guys and was randomly giving Jack Swagger world championships after random MITB wins. And eventually this dude comes around and starts crushing guys...

The fans were kind of split on this... the optimists just happy for someone new who had more upside than Sheamus or Del Rio who they've been pushing, the pessimists just didn't think of him as being good enough in the ring.

But the main issue came about with a moment Ryback talked about quite a bit. CM Punk was going into the Hell in a Cell PPV, and was scheduled to battle John Cena... but Cena's ankle was injured. He needed time off, and there was nobody else who can fill those shoes. The two other faces, Orton and Sheamus, were BEYOND stale at the time, plus this was right after the end of the brand extension and someone had to fill the World Heavyweight Championship match. So of these options Ryback seemed like an infinitely better, fresher, more exciting option. So here you go, brand new face facing CM Punk in the main event of a PPV...

...but you didn't want to end the 434 day reign and damn sure couldn't afford to let Ryback look vulnerable... so referee Brad Maddox stopped Ryback when doing his finish, then low-blowed him, Punk grabbed the tights, Maddox fast-counted for the 1-2-3, and Ryback beat both guys up to end the night.

The next month, Ryback faced Punk AND Cena in a triple-threat... and speaking of creating new stars, three flak-jacketed mercenaries jumped the railing and Triple Powerbombed their way into our hearts via Ryback's back splatting through the announce table... Then this group known as the Shield faced Ryback and Team Hell No - pinning Bryan of course...

IMO, the biggest problem he ran into was in early 2013, where there was a point... especially one Raw... where I remember the newly face Alberto Del Rio, Randy Orton, John Cena, Ryback, and Sheamus were all crushing random midcarders on the same show. Part of the issue with that was that these guys were nowhere NEAR as over as the Shield trio of Ambrose, Reigns, and Rollins, but mostly he didn't feel like this unique killing machine anymore. He was yet another WWE overpushed superface they can't make look weak under any circumstances... see Reigns, Roman... So Ryback didn't feel special anymore.

Anyway they built up to the Royal Rumble where Ryback eliminated 5 guys and was an effective wrecking machine for a short run, then Cena threw him out en route to his victory... Then there was the Elimination Chamber six-man tag as the Shield faced the super team of Ryback, Sheamus, and Cena... and shockingly the young upstarts defeated these overpushed obnoxious superfaces. Pinning Cena, even. Nobody did that back then. He had an out with an injury but STILL omg. This was part of the PPV loss streak, and losing Rumbles and putting over the freaking SHIELD was hardly something to complain about... Then Wrestlemania 29 happened.

Guess how his match with Mark Henry ended? He lifted him up for a Shellshocked then... the big fat fatty fell on the guy and PINNED him. This... many point to as the end of Ryback, even though what happened next night??....... He turned heel on Cena and got a title shot. And... if you want to recap the RYBACK RULES vs John Cena feud... a quick google can handle that. That memory is gladly long since repressed...

All in all if there's one lesson to be learned at this time, it's that WWE tried so hard with the Big Five Superfaces this time of the year that... there were two guys who got the biggest reactions on the roster. MITB winner Dolph Ziggler, who was always waiting in the wings as the crowd chanted LETS GO ZIGGLER so he could end this god-awful ADR vs Sheamus (then Those Two vs Big Show feud, then throw in Jack Swagger since there's no other heels we haven't beat to death), where there was light at the end of the tunnel and we just WAITED to watch him succeed... also in the ever-so entertaining Team Hell No, where Daniel Bryan and Kane started on a pretty big losing streak in 2013 when Daniel Bryan took many pinfall losses (mostly to the Shield), and exclaimed to Kane that HE IS NOT THE WEAK LINK louder and louder until he SNAPPED with frustration... and was the first person to take out the entire Shield all by himself to a chorus of excited Smackdown fans a month before Summerslam 2013... because at the end of the day, this kind of stuff gets an entertaining, athletic performer over.

 

[Grievous 3D]

Wow...Thank you for the epic knowledge drop Snowman...

So basically they push Ryback too much too early...
Too many faces at one time...
The Shield arrives and changes everything...
A terrible Wrestlemania loss to Mark Henry...
Heel turn; a terrible feud with Cena...
Ziggler and Daniel Bryan become fan favourites...

Sounds like a rough run for the Big Guy...

WWE tried so hard to make guys and was randomly giving Jack Swagger world championships after random MITB wins.

I've heard about that...I mean I've heard Swagger has great in-ring skills
and he won the big title at least once...May-be the WWE wanted a Kurt Angle 2.0?

The fans were kind of split on this... the optimists just happy for someone new who had more upside than Sheamus or Del Rio who they've been pushing, the pessimists just didn't think of him as being good enough in the ring.

Which side were you on? Was he really that bad in the ring?
And...did you ever like/rate Ryback?

 

[Zardnaar]

I missed him as well. 1st I knew about him was when he left WWE and read about it online. Who is this Rybak guy lol.

 

[Snowman1]

Wow...Thank you for the epic knowledge drop Snowman...

So basically they push Ryback too much too early...
Too many faces at one time...
The Shield arrives and changes everything...
A terrible Wrestlemania loss to Mark Henry...
Heel turn; a terrible feud with Cena...
Ziggler and Daniel Bryan become fan favourites...

Yeah, that's a nice gist of what happened in that run. Honestly after the Cena feud nothing he did really mattered... Except that time he wore that belt that said THE PRE-SHOW STOPPER. That mattered. A lot.

I've heard about that...I mean I've heard Swagger has great in-ring skills
and he won the big title at least once...May-be the WWE wanted a Kurt Angle 2.0?

I'd ask @Stopspot for more on that, he's much bigger of a Swagger fan.

Which side were you on? Was he really that bad in the ring?
And...did you ever like/rate Ryback?

I actually really liked the guy. He's not a "five-star worker" but... hell, not everyone on the roster can be AJ Styles. As a powerhouse dude who had a different style of match in the midcard I really enjoyed watching him.
Often it seemed like he had issues with sequences and working well with others and all that, and he had virtually no "technical" ability, especially at first, but... when getting his shit in he was fun.

Of course there were a few infamous moments like when he was supposed to throw Punk off the stage onto a car but overshot him and threw the dude onto concrete. Many people just remember those lol

 

[Grievous 3D]

I actually really liked the guy. He's not a "five-star worker" but... hell, not everyone on the roster can be A.J Styles. As a powerhouse dude who had a different style of match in the mid-card I really enjoyed watching him. Often it seemed like he had issues with sequences and working well with others and all that, and he had virtually no "technical" ability, especially at first, but...when getting his shit in he was fun.

From what I've watched...he seemed like a "throwback" to the big guys of
the late 80's and early 90's...kind of like if you took the Ultimate Warrior's
"skills" put them in Goldberg's body and dressed him like RVD.

I kind of like the fact he could get the crowd chanting by simply standing
in the corner and moving his arm slightly. That is pretty cool and shows
a connection with the audience...and it doesn't really matter how you get
over...as long as you get over (And its tastefully done)

I have to honest and state that after listening to his podcast...he seems
like a cool guy...and like you said not everyone can be like Styles, Owens
or Balor.

The fact he had a problem with CM Punk makes me laugh...mainly because
I can't stand CM Punk and all the stupid assholes who still chant his name.

Now granted...accidents happen with even the best "workers" (Seth Rollins
being the prime example) but perhaps a big, brute of a guy with a basic
powerhouse style should not have been feuding/fighting a "smaller" guy
like Punk in the first place.

I mean...when you book Big Show vs. Kalisto...what do you think might
happen?

Again...thanks for the knowledge and opinions Snowman...been an
interesting read.

 

[Aids Johnson]

Don't forget his Twitter trolls. WWE tried him as a face or tweener when bully Ryback was working perfectly.

 

[Prince Bálor]

I like Ryback.

Shame he got pushed too hard, too fast and it just didn't end well.

Check out his fun little match (although not in its entirety) against Kalisto:

 

[edge4ever]

All you need to know is right below: