Former WWE Superstar Ryback was declared that All Elite Wrestling’s “excitement period” is officially over.
Speaking on a recent episode of his podcast, Conversation with the Big Guy, Ryback explained why he thinks people are over the initially boon of interest in AEW’s alternative product.
“The excitement period is over for the new company, essentially. That was going to happen and there was nothing they can do,” he stated. “I think though, as time goes on, and I think as more names become freed up in pro wrestling and other opportunities arise; say, Rusev’s contract is up and the following week he shows up on AEW or whenever he can, that would be a big deal and that would spark some interest because Rusev has a fanbase. That would kick them up a little notch and you would have more angles that you can do with Rusev, or whoever it is, a Luke Harper shows up. That’s another guy now where you just start slowly building that roster up who has name value.”
Several WWE Superstars have openly vented their frustrations with the company in recent months. Ryback noted how WWE has been ensuring talent can’t simply jump over to AEW, doing all they can to entice Superstars in staying.
“[…] the problem is that WWE is really f—g smart. They locked down so many of those guys it’s like, AEW what are you going to do? Because they know how it is to get guys over, you can’t get independent guys over as a group. It is a tough sell so I think as time goes on, I think that AEW is going to continue to try. They have to stay afloat and I think eventually guys will start getting freed up and by then it’s going to create some opportunities for them to be pushing the numbers.”
You can see the latest viewership figures from this past Wednesday’s NXT and AEW shows here.
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.Â
