Its been almost a year since Ryback departed from WWE, as “The Big Guy” cited creative differences and a dispute with the company over equal pay for talents as his key reasons for deciding to leave. Since his departure, Ryback has been working the independent circuit in addition to launching his new podcast, Conversation With The Big Guy, in which he discusses his time with WWE.
On the latest edition of the show, Ryback discusses his relationship with CM Punk and why “The Cult Of Personality” grew to dislike him so much. He also revealed that one thing he always did that got “The Chairman Of The Board” Vince McMahon hot, was go off-script:
“I got in trouble multiple times for doing things much less… just like, off-the-cuff that got great reactions that Vince would get mad at because that wasn’t verbatim off the page. When people always say, ‘these guys need to go off the script,’ they don’t understand it depends who you are at times. That hurt me more than anything on promo stuff. And he would get furious with me at that. It was disappointing because it was never a lot.”
You can listen to the full episode by clicking this link here.
INFLUX Pictures is working on a documentary featuring Perry Saturn and the highs and lows of the wrestling business. Below are some photos of Saturn in the documentary.
Ryback recently claimed on his podcast that a match between himself and the Ultimate Warrior was scheduled for WrestleMania XXX. Ryback stated that it was WWE’s Mark Carrano that showed him the idea for the card and that he was skeptical of it because he didn’t know what kind of condition Warrior would be in. He are Ryback’s comments on his Conversations With The Big Guy podcast:
“Mark Carrano actually had showed me the WrestleMania card early. They kind of have an idea of what they want to do, obviously, ahead of time, and they had on it Ryback versus Ultimate Warrior. And I just said, ‘cool.’ But, in my head, at the time, it was during my heel deal, that first one, where it probably wasn’t gonna be a favorable position for me as far as all that. But I was excited, because I figured it was his one last moment in WWE. So, I thought it would be really cool. I didn’t think I would necessarily be the right guy for that, because I didn’t know anything… I didn’t know what kind of shape he was in, if he could wrestle or not, but I 100 percent would have done it, because I did everything that they asked me there.”
Dana Warrior denied Ryback’s claims in the following tweet:
Not true. It always saddens me when people tell untruths on a man's grave to promote their lives. Do your OWN work. Dana https://t.co/B4gFSmKljq
Ryback revealed on the latest episode of his Conversations with the Big Guy podcast that he was originally scheduled to face the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 30.
Ryback stated:
“Mark Carrano actually had showed me the WrestleMania card early. They kind of have an idea of what they want to do, obviously, ahead of time, and they had on it Ryback versus Ultimate Warrior. And I just said, ‘cool.’ But, in my head, at the time, it was during my heel deal, that first one, where it probably wasn’t gonna be a favorable position for me as far as all that. But I was excited, because I figured it was his one last moment in WWE. So, I thought it would be really cool. I didn’t think I would necessarily be the right guy for that, because I didn’t know anything about him. I didn’t know what kind of shape he was in, if he could wrestle or not, but I 100 percent would have done it, because I did everything that they asked me there.”
Credit to Wrestlezone for the transcription
Ryback later noted that he loved the Ultimate Warrior growing up but that he had major reservations with the match, mainly that it would be “1 or 2 minute deal” and that it would be of no benefit to his character.
Former WWE Superstar Ryback recently took to his podcast, Conversation With The Big Guy, to talk about his time with the company and revealed a few feuds he had scheduled with the likes of Triple H and Dolph Ziggler, but they never saw the light of day. You can check out what he had to say here:
Feuding with Dolph Ziggler:
“Dolph desperately wants me to talk s–t about him on the podcast all the time because he wants to set up for [an angle]. We always joked about… I got him a ‘Little Guy’ belt made for one match up there. We thought we were going to be a s–tty tag team, ‘The Big Guy’ and ‘The Little Guy’. He’s not even [a little guy]. He’s in phenomenal shape, but I legit had a ‘Little Guy’ belt made for him and we always had a thing of our big tag run, probably no tag titles, but a big tag run, where I eventually turn on him.
“And I would, [Hulk] Hogan-style come out with the weight belt like a guitar and beat the s–t out of him with the weight belt. The whole angle revolves around the weight belt and how I gave him the ‘Little Guy’ weight belt, but I beat the s–t out of him with it eventually, just big bad Ryback again and poor little guy. We would always create stupid f–king scenarios, so he wants me to keep that alive. And I like him so much I can’t even. He’s going to be so mad that I exposed this, so if I ever do start talking s–t, someone can go listen to the archives and realize that I don’t hate him.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-0CB4aX_ow
His scheduled feud with Triple H falling through:
“I had a weird deal with Hunter. Did I ever tell [podcast co-host Pat Buck]? Do you remember that, where they had a thing where it looked like they were teasing a program with me and Hunter? They had us face off in England after I wrestled Kane. I think I broke my finger wrestling Kane one night. We were doing something and our hands hit and my finger went sideways. So I get through this match with Kane. I think it was the main event on SmackDown.
“Then, they have this big stare [down] with me and Hunter and they teased it for a couple of weeks with different things and then it just went away. It was nothing. And even he came up, ‘the plan was never for us to work, just so you know.’ And I go, ‘oh, okay. I don’t know.’ I’m not in the creative meetings. I don’t know why. I just do what I’m told. He would always explain things weirdly, but, yeah, that never happened. It would’ve been nice, so he could f–king know that I could wrestle.”
Former WWE Superstar and Intercontinental Champion Ryback took to his podcast, Conversation With The Big Guy, to talk about a few different things regarding his time with the WWE; including his ‘demands’ for a return to the company, WWE being Vince McMahon’s ‘playground’, and much more. You can see the highlights here:
His demand for a potential WWE return:
“One of my requests if I ever go back to the WWE, is my opening night back, I call out all three of The Shield members and beat the s–t out of them, just for the ultimate revenge.”
“A little kid came up in a gas station, and this was when I already knew what was going on, and I just didn’t feel like lying to the kid. He goes, he just said, ‘Ryback, when are you going to get revenge on The Shield? They get you every time.’ And I go, ‘sometimes in life, kid, the bad guys just win.’ And he just looked at me just completely defeated and he ran off and ran outside no words.”
WWE storylines having no ‘rhyme or reason’ and the company being Vince McMahon’s ‘playground’:
“Everybody thinks that [in pro] wrestling there’s a rhyme or reason for everything. Vince created this world to live in, this bubble, and it’s his f–king decision. It’s a rib half the time. Half the things, nothing makes sense and he created that. You’ve got to just respect it. There’s not a rhyme or a reason to anything he does.”
Possibly working with Impact Wrestling:
“I like Impact and I want them to have as much success as possible.” Ryback added, “when the time is right. I’m enjoying life right now. I have my priorities in order and I’m not necessarily in a hurry to get back on TV, so I’m taking care of the shoulder, letting the body just [recharge], running my supplement company, my FeedMeMore.com business and making towns every weekend. The money’s great. I’m loving life. So when the time is right, that might be a possibility.”
Hulk Hogan was let go of his WWE deal back in July of 2015 after some extremely racist comments he made were leaked and made public. After nearly two years away from the company, the WWE has been slowly attempting to re-introduce him into the WWE Universe with sporadic appearances on the WWE Network. He has yet to be brought back on WWE TV, however, as officials are still wondering how fans will react to “The Hulkster” after all that has happened.
Recently, former WWE Superstar Ryback took to his podcast, Conversation With The Big Guy, to comment on the situation and offer his thoughts on if Hogan should be brought back to the company. You can read Ryback’s comments here:
“I’m just picturing, they bring him back and you know, like, the Be a STAR campaigns and everything? But they send him out to talk to groups of youths, black kids. They just go overboard trying to shove it down people’s throats. Do you know what I mean? And it backfires. No, I say that all as a joke. It only makes sense for him to go back at some point, or to be involved in some way, shape, or form.”
“I like him a lot, man. I actually had several conversations with him where we talked about The Secret a little bit and positivity. When you meet him in person, he’s such a down-to-earth, nice guy.” Ryback summarized, “he’s a good f–king dude and anyone that questions that has their head up their ass.”
35 year-old Ryan Reeves, better known to wrestling fans as Ryback, has been producing his own podcast since August. Ever the polarizing figure, Ryback gave his thoughts on several controversial subjects during his latest show.
Here are the highlights (via Wrestlezone):
On Rip Rogers and Randy Orton’s “…dive” tweet:
“I think he understands the fundamentals of Wrestling, and he is very old school; I mean, the product does evolve, but he’s pretty right on with everything he said right on. He is 100% right on though. Independent Wrestlers are ruining wrestling. It has carried over to WWE, and Hunter [Triple H] and Vince [McMahon] have allowed it to happen. It’s controlled more up there. This isn’t to say that every independent wrestler, but this is one thing that I have ripped on [John] Cena on personal things for the most part, but Cena always was really good at selling the basics really well. One punch and he would sell it, and that is what Rip [Rogers] was alluding to. If any of those independent guys get punched in the mouth, and I don’t mean that as a knock on independents because I see a lot of it since I am there, it’s running ramped. I was talking to one of our other buddies about this, but these guys are going to kill it for themselves because they are going to shorten their careers too. They are replacing one bump with 5-6 bumps and like, they’re f***ing stupid, which is a nice way to say it. You were throwing out the meaning of one bump for 6-7 bumps that won’t get the same reaction, which I believe is because guys don’t know how to sell accordingly. I think WWE shouldn’t bring guys in there and push them to do that, but they tone it back when they get there because it doesn’t fly there, but they have allowed it on certain extents and that is not a good thing, so I agree with Rip 100%. Don’t get me wrong, all that stuff is cool to do it, you don’t have to do 100 of them but the guys don’t sell anything. I just watched a match the other day where a guy took a Brogue Kick to the face to start the match and then came right back with a dropkick and then it was dive; it’s like, what are you doing? I think Vince Russo said this before, but the game of Baseball and the rules of Baseball were created, then some different rules were added to excite the fans, but they haven’t flat out said f*** you to the psychology of Baseball, which is what wrestlers are doing now, they’re saying, f*** you to psychology because they’ve never been in a real fight.”
On Wrestlers Selling:
“This is not a knock on independents. It all comes down to selling. If you sold you wouldn’t have to do all that stuff because you would be too busy selling. You’re throwing out the art of selling, that is the big issue I feel like, because selling slows everything down. You can still have all the action and things, but you just have to find different ways to get there. It’s not just doing every move in the book, it’s not about that. If you want it to be in style, put it in style, however everyone’s career is going to be much shorter. I look at the ratings and the ratings are telling me everything. Granted, there is a lot more TV out there now, but casual people don’t think that way. That small independent market is not going to pay the bills. People are throwing away the basic fundementals of wrestling. Outdoing your opponent by selling that move to the best of your ability; which guys no longer think that way and it is wrong. There’s a difference between the big leagues and selling to the masses, and it is the way it has always been. It’s nothing against independent wrestling. I am having the time of my life; like, I will throw a suicide dive in there, but I’m not doing it after no-selling 100 things. It’s not a knock on them, but it’s just getting out of hand, so hearing that I agree with Rip 100%. When Jeff Hardy does that high-spot stuff, he’s always sold accordingly; go back and watch Ricky Steamboat and Macho Man; everyone says it’s one of the greatest match of all time—they sold. Young Bucks are smaller guys so they have a similar style, but now you see everyone doing that style and people begin emulating them.”
On Working With Independent Wrestlers:
” I can wrestle independent wrestlers, it’s fine, but I’m not going to go into a match and have them no-sell 20 forearms, it’s not going to happen. Indy wrestlers are super talented, but it doesn’t make you a wrestler. It’s all the little things; the psychology of the original rules of the game, because those who came before us created the game, and I’m not talking about Triple H, but the game of wrestling. It evolves in different areas, but it’s people being disrespectful to the psychology and rules of wrestling. They think because chant ‘This is Awesome,’ they’re throwing themselves away and killing themselves.”
On Wrestlers Currently Being Pushed in WWE:
“WWE is pushing guys that cannot hurt a fly. When did gymnastics make you tough? It doesn’t. It really doesn’t, and I get that it is entertainment, and it has its place, but for that to replace actual toughness, the business was built around being real, that is why you lose casual viewers because they don’t buy into that and they never will. When the Dads and kids tune in, they are not tuned in to watch that gymnastics stuff. It’s not believable; the whole art of it is making it believable, which is my honest take and everyone has their own opinion. It is what it is and I agree with Rip Rogers.”
On the latest episode of former WWE Superstar Ryback’s podcast, Conversation With The Big Guy, Ryback discussed Jinder Mahal’s recent push into the main event picture on SmackDown Live, WWE trying to expand in the Indian market, and much more. Here are the highlights:
Jinder Mahal’s push:
“Yeah, there’s nothing wrong with giving a new guy an opportunity. That’s how you discover if you’ve got guys that can hang or not. The thing with him is it’s going to determine, and, obviously, if he’s given any amount of time on the pay-per-view, that’s his time to show what he can do. And, again, I just think it’s… there’s always a reason. They do what they want. It’s their company and they can get any amount of mileage out of him they want, no matter what the match quality is because if they just want a heel to keep in that position, they’ll find a way to make money with it for a while until they want to dump it, but, like, if he goes out there and performs at a high level, they might keep him there longer. Do you know what I mean? Like, so we’ll see.”
Not understanding why the WWE is trying to expand in India:
“I don’t know why. They have the TV deal, but people don’t have any f–king money out there, so I don’t know why they’re trying to [appeal to that market]. I heard that the merchandise sales out there aren’t good. No s–t! Like, I’ve been to India. They don’t have money. There [are] certain people that do, but the ones that do, I’m pretty sure aren’t f–king watching fake fighting.”
Visiting India making him appreciate living state-side even more:
“Man, I don’t know. I’ve been there. It is a unique place, that’s for sure. You realize how good we have it over here when you go to places like that.” Ryback added, “you realize just how overpopulated the world is and how bad [it is]. It’s bad.”
Not feeling safe in India during a mall appearance:
“I’ve been there for my media appearances years ago for WWE and I had to do a mall appearance, like 13,000, 14,000 people on like a tri-level mall,” Ryback recalled. “They had to run me out of there. When it was over, the people started rushing the barricades and we had only one WWE security guard with me and that was it. I swear to God, it’s the only time I’d been concerned for my safety ever. And they ran me out of there, threw me in a van, and drove me straight to the airport and flew me home.”
You can read the full interview, in which Ryback talks about hating going to places like India and a mishap with the embassy there alongside Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston, here.
During a recent installment of the Conversation With The Big Guy podcast, Ryback claimed that WWE brought back Goldberg to replace him. On the latest episode, Ryback takes credit for creating The Shield’s triple powerbomb.
According to Ryback, Reigns, Rollins and Ambrose were looking for a move that the three of them could perform together.
“They needed a move, I remember, to put me down early on. I think it was that first… the pay-per-view before in Indianapolis, the triple threat [match] with me, [John] Cena, and [CM] Punk. And I had been powerbombing a lot of guys up till that point in different variations of powerbombs. And I said to them, ‘why don’t you do a triple powerbomb?’ because they wanted a move they all three could could do.”
The triple powerbomb wound up being The Shield’s signature move, but Ryback regrets suggesting it because he wound up on the receiving end of the triple powerbomb on multiple occasions.
“Goddamnit did I regret ever f–king saying that because I received more triple powerbombs than anybody on the roster at that point. And they were all fine, but they triple powerbombed me through the table at the end of that one. And then, they did it in the match at TLC.”
Visit Audio Boom to check out Ryback’s podcast. Thanks to our friends at WrestlingINC for the transcribed quotes.
Posted March 21st, 2017 in WWE, News. Tagged: Ryback.
Ryback is promoting an upcoming match against Colt Cabana on Twitter. The Big Guy will be battling Cabana in a “CM Punk action figure on a pole” match.
Big Show did a Q&A with Yahoo Sports! and was asked about his potential match with Shaq at Wrestlemania and how much longer he plans to wrestle.
His Match With Shaq At Wrestlemania:
Well, as far as I know on my end, I’m ready to go. It’s a situation that Shaq and the WWE have to work out. I don’t know if he chickened out, has other commitments … I don’t know. That’s above my pay grade. I like to think personally that Shaq got scared. He saw the six-pack and realized if he faced me at WrestleMania, he was going to be Fat Shaq.
Shaq is a busy dude and he’s got a lot of business going on so we’ll see. Hopefully he will be able to work it out and get the courage to show up. Personally, I don’t think it’s a business complication thing. Flat-out, I just think he’s scared. I get it. I’ve made a lot of changes in the past year and if I were sitting in Shaq’s shoes, I would probably be pretty nervous too to face me at WrestleMania.
How Long He Plans To Wrestle:
I know I’m done February 2018. That’s when my contract ends as a full-time, live event guy. We’ll see what happens after that, whether I roll into an ambassador role or what WWE has for me. I know I’ve been with them for a long time and I have a great relationship with them. I also understand there’s a time for me to step aside and for other guys to step up. We got a lot of great new athletic talent that will probably be coming up at WrestleMania to be introduced. I don’t have any regrets or any shoulda, coulda, wouldas in my career. I’ve had a very blessed career with the greatest superstars this business has ever seen. And for me, it’s about giving that space up to those guys that are there to do it and me finding new challenges to help inspire and motivate me. That’s what I’ll be doing. Anything to keep from having to get a real job.
Former WWE Superstar Ryback recently appeared on Jim Ross’ weekly Ross Report podcast, which you can listen to over at PodcastOne.com. They touched upon a number of topics, including the possibility of working with TNA or New Japan, his history with steroids and what got him to stop using them. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Working for TNA or New Japan: “Obviously with TNA, or Impact Wrestling, and they made a great offer a while back, and it’s just that I have no interest in going anywhere right now with everything that I’ve got going on. New Japan, I know a few guys over there. They expressed that there was a lot of interest, but I don’t know who is in charge of making decisions. There has been zero contact in terms of a phone call, or an email, or anything of that nature outside of just me hearing, ‘They’d like to work with you.’ I would love to go over there and work Kenny Omega, go over there for two or three days at a time, here and there. I would be totally for that.”
Being introduced to steroids: “I was a guy that never thought in a million years, Jim, that would touch steroids, or human growth hormone, or anything like that … I was 19 years old and working the front desk. I was in school full-time and I was working at the gym to have some money to support myself … And we would get some of the pro bodybuilders in there as well. They kind of started putting it in my head a little bit.
I know it was my choice and my adolescent mindset where I’m comparing myself to other people rather than being the best version of myself. It was what it was and guys were doing it and I saw the guys that I liked growing up and they’ve openly admitted that they used them in the past. And if they do it and I like these guys, maybe I need to do this in order to be noticed and I did them for a period of probably three or four years off and on.”
What got him to quit steroids: [WWE’s Wellness Policy] forced me to stop. And because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to do what I love to do. But for me, I suffered severe consequences for using them where it had shut down my naturaltestosterone production.”
Visit FeedMeMore.com to learn more about Ryback’s new motivational book and line of nutritional supplements.
Posted March 3rd, 2017 in WWE, News. Tagged: Ryback.
Former WWE Superstar Ryback was a guest on the Ross Report podcast. The Big Guy spoke with WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross about Paul Heyman’s relationship with CM Punk screwing him over, Punk in UFC, life after WWE and much more. Here are some highlights of what Ryback said about:
Working with Paul Heyman & why Heyman’s relationship with CM Punk was screwing him over:
“I respect Paul [Heyman] a lot, and he’s lasted in this business a very long time, but we didn’t see eye to eye. Paul and CM Punk were really, really good friends. Heyman was supposed to be, from a creative standpoint, working with me. And he was with Punk all day and they were discussing business, and what they were going on to do, and it wasn’t doing me any favors and I knew that. We were overseas on an England tour [when] I finally had enough. Paul knew he had to get away from me, because I was gonna kill him at the time. He had went to Vince, him and Punk, and they didn’t do me any favors in there talking to Vince. I talked to Paul that night at catering at the hotel,” … “I had one last discussion with Paul at the catering table, in which he bought me beers for about two hours, as I cut a two-hour promo on him on everything, and what I thought of him, and how he did his business with me. He held a butter knife in his hand, twirling it the entire two hours. I kid you not, CM Punk walked around in circles the entire time, acting like he was gonna try to do something, while I was talking to Paul cutting this promo on him.”
CM Punk’s negative comments about him on Colt Cabana’s podcast:
“Not to say Punk gets along with everyone to begin with – he’s kind of his own individual, and a self-admitted asshole at times, but he was always friendly with me. But you gotta remember, when you’re dealing at the WWE level, and you’re dealing with those top slots, you’re dealing with millions of dollars. The two guys I had all my problems with, and everyone else there I’d get alone with just fine, was John Cena and CM Punk. There’s only a certain amount of slots there, and those guys have those slots, and they wanted to keep them. I do think Punk, he was really beat up during the periods that we worked together, physically, and he complained about other guys when he was there that are notorious for being good workers. I just think he was physically beat up, and he was frustrated, and he lumped that all in.” … “He had his issues with WWE, I think I just got lumped into all that. It is what it is. I don’t hate him, not at all.”
Punk pursing a professional MMA career with UFC:
“I’m happy for him, as far as the UFC. I know the fight didn’t go the way that he wanted it to go, or have the performance that he probably felt that he could have had. But having the courage to just take that chance, and anybody who knocks him for that, they have no idea the courage that it takes to be able to go out there and fight in front of the world. Essentially it’s being a modern day gladiator.” … “I think it’s cool. I wish him the best in everything that he’s doing going forward.”
Punk’s frustrations with WWE and how the “WWE machine” affects wrestlers:
“He was never the stereotypical WWE guy. He always had to eat shit, so to speak, from day one. He broke a lot of doors down up there for a lot of the independent guys. He kinda had to live through that first hand, where guys now are getting opportunities from the independents, he didn’t necessarily get all of those right off the bat, probably like he felt like he should have.” …
“Vince and the WWE, they’re a business. They essentially whore you out and run you into the ground, and then they replace you. Because there are so many guys who want those spots, and the brand is so strong now, that they can do that and get away with it. It gives you a negative feeling on wrestling at times. I feel like Punk had a lot on his shoulders, with the creative and the injuries, where it kind of makes you resent the job a little bit. And I think that’s where you can become a little bitter, and a little angry. Even though he had a lot of success, I feel like at times, but in his mind probably not the level that he wanted. And I can understand that because I know the level of success that I wanted, and wasn’t happy with that. And for him I think it was main-eventing WrestleMania. I think for him, after experiencing the struggles that he did early on just to get there, and then getting there and having success finally, and finally breaking through, and then still not actually truly getting that spot that he really wanted – his goal, so to speak – I think it was just a culmination of everything.”
How life on the road helped to prepare him for his post-WWE career:
“I’m very thankful for everything wrestling related, and my time in WWE. I always talked about how I rode alone. On those car rides, I look at that as very valuable time to myself. Anywhere from three to six hours on a lot of nights, where I could listen to audio books and learn about anything I wanted to learn about, and get a free education on the road while still doing what I love to do.”
Vince McMahon and why it’s important for wrestlers to communicate with management when they have issues:
“It’s a creative business. It’s his world, and if he doesn’t like you – and I know there’s guys there now that he’s sour on – and I always wondered why haven’t they gone in there and communicated? They’re just living week to week. In this day and age, a lot of guys walk on egg shells, and that’s what I’m proudest about myself. I’ve always stood up for myself, and I’ve gone and communicated. When I thought Hunter was against me on things, I’ve gone and I’ve talked to him. Do I think he was always honest with me? No, but I always approached him and I tried to talk to him, and gain ground, because if I don’t nothing’s gonna change. So I had nothing to lose. You gotta get rid of that fear mindset very early on, and most of the guys won’t. The ones that do, will do themselves the biggest favor, and helping themselves as they get to the main roster.”
Visit FeedMeMore.com to learn more about Ryback’s latest projects, including his new book and his line of nutritional supplements.
Posted February 24th, 2017 in WWE, News. Tagged: Ryback.
Former WWE star Ryback recently took part in a Q & A with fans for North East Online Wrestling, where he says he feels he was ready to be given a WWE Championship run back in 2012. The question and answer session was broadcast on The Buzzards Wrestling Podcast, and we hear Ryback discuss what was going on behind-the-scenes during his on-sceen feud with CM Punk. He also claims that sometimes his merchandise outsold John Cena’s.
“I absolutely was ready [for a WWE Title run] and we would’ve created a new star right then and there but with the ankle injury, WWE were never going to let that happen,” Ryback said of the company limiting his push. “If people knew the merchandise numbers and how well we were doing on everything and I was sometimes beating John Cena. I had to fight to get all the merchandise that I had and I still had a core of what John had at the time, or half of what he had, and they wouldn’t let it go anymore, whereas now, they can’t make enough stuff for people. They were not allowing me that opportunity when the numbers were there and the crowd support was there.”
Ryback says he lost out on a lot of those merchandise sales because Vince McMahon doesn’t want heels to sell as much merchandise as the babyfaces. He says when WWE turned him heel after WrestleMania 29, McMahon gave the order for the company to stop prominently displaying his merchandise.
“Vince personally came up to me and told me ‘I want your merchandise to tank’ and they quit promoting it,” Ryback claims. “So, from a business standpoint, he told me ‘I don’t want you selling merchandise as a heel.’ Kevin Owens is a heel, Seth Rollins was a heel and all their other heels all have merchandise, so explain that. It all goes back to my ankle situation.”
You can listen to the whole thing via The Buzzards Wrestling Podcast at AudioBoom.com.
Posted January 28th, 2017 in News, WWE. Tagged: Ryback.
On the latest installment of his Conversation With The Big Guy podcast, former WWE Superstar Ryback went off on John Cena, calling him a “piece of sh*t” and “poison” to the wrestling business.
“He’s been a piece of sh*t to me since Day One. I was nothing but nice and respectful to him and I know Alex Riley just came out and [admitted he had issues with Cena] and when people hear what really happened with that, they’re going to lose their sh-t. Like, and I know, I have a pretty good idea of what happened with that and the guys in WWE. And, one, it’s f-cking hilarious. And, two, it’s hilarious what people will find out about John.”
Ryback says Cena would regularly bury him and Alex Riley when they were in the ring and blames Cena for ruining Alex Riley’s WWE career.
“Because of John Cena and I swear to God, I swear to f–king God, because of John Cena, his career is over in the WWE for no f–king reason outside of John and his personal issues. Unbelievable.”
Despite his contributions to the wrestling business, Ryback considers John Cena a “poison” that holds people back if he deems them to be a threat. He went so far as to claim Triple H might be using NXT as a way to shield up and coming talent from John Cena’s influence.
“He has been poison to the wrestling industry. I told [co-host Pat Buck] this before. We talked about this before. And again, this is my opinion, but I think I’m pretty accurate on this is I think he’s done so much harm for so long to new talent to getting over, breaking out, over there.
You can listen to the full episode of Conversation With The Big Guy by clicking here.
Former WWE Superstar Ryback has released his book today. Ryback is still wrestling in the independent scene and has had a lot of interesting things to say about his time in the WWE on his podcast. You can purchase the book by clicking here.
Xavier Woods and Neville faced off in a game of FIFA on Woods’ Youtube channel, UpUpDownDown.
A fan on Twitter suggested that “the list” gimmick was being wasted on Jericho and should have been put on a younger wrestler. Jericho fired back at the fan in a tweet of his own.
Ryback has had a few things to say about the WWE since he parted ways with the company. On his podcast, Conversation with the Big Guy, Ryback reflected on a conversation he had with Triple H during his first contract negations. Ryback claimed that Triple H told him this that the WWE “never wants another marquee name” and that the they “are never going to have another John Cena”. This was during episode 17 of his show and you can listen to it by clicking the link above.
The WWE released a new video entitled 7 Things We Want To See In 2017. It was narrated by Corey Graves there were a couple of notable suggestions. Graves stated that John Cena has never been Intercontinental Champion and has never even competed for that title on television. Graves went on to say that thankfully John Cena is one Smackdown, the home of the IC Title. Graves also suggested that this may be the year that Daniel Bryan is inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. You can check out the rest of the list in the video below.
The WWE released another video recently about their new signee, Tommy End. In the video, Tommy End discusses his skills and why he is dangerous.
On the latest edition of Ryback’s Conversation With The Big Guy podcast, Ryback theorizes that WWE hasn’t cancelled his free WWE Network subscription in hopes that he’ll one day return to the company. “No I won’t,” Ryback said of going back to WWE. “I want them to [cancel the subscription.] They won’t.”
The former WWE star also talked about his formre boss, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. Ryback shared that McMahon would prank the wrestlers by sneaking up behind them and putting them in submission holds. Ryback brought up that Titus O’Neil was suspended for similar roughhousing, but said that Titus took it too far.
“Vince was like that. He’d try to come behind people and try to f***ing get them, like, legitimately,” Ryback said. “There were many times he’d come up behind me and bump me and I’d turn around, like, f***ing pissed. I know Titus O’Neil took it too far and would come and tackle him sometimes.”
You can check out all of Ryback’s podcasts at AudioBoom.com.
Posted November 29th, 2016 in News, WWE. Tagged: Ryback.
– Ryback continues to fight WWE over the trademark of his “Feed Me More” phrase. The Big Guy attempted to trademark the phrase back on August 1st, 2016, however WWE had already filed for the mark back in January.
– Stephanie McMahon recently signed a “wrestling contract extension” according to a recent 10-Q filing from WWE. Stephanie will remain with the company through October 7th, 2019, at which point her deal will be extended on an annual basis until either party gives a 90-day notice prior to the auto-renewal date.
– Former WCW President Eric Bischoff shared his thoughts on Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar’s segment from Monday’s RAW on the latest episode of his Bischoff On Wrestling podcast. “Unless you are there in the moment and are a part of the process you really don’t have a 360 degree view of anything,” Bischoff said. “With that acknowledged and said, I have to question whoever’s decision it was to set the story up in Minneapolis. I’m not going to suggest that I ever sat down and tried to create a structure for a story or a time line for a story and asked somebody to tell me where we were going to be playing this story out. In which city. I never did that. I wasn’t that smart and didn’t have that vision if you will. I was smart enough to know that there are occasions because every city has it’s own personality. It really does.”
He continued, There were occasions like if we knew we were going to Philadelphia in three or five months for TV or PPV we created our format because we knew we were going to be in front of an audience with a certain type of personality that was going to react a certain type of way. It was kind of predictable.”
Former WWE Superstar Ryback appeared on the Busted Open radio show this week to discuss his departure from the company, his relationship with WWE Chariman Vince McMahon and what’s next for him.
Regarding Vince McMahon, The Big Guy says they had some cool moments, but Vince lied to him repeatedly and considers the relationship more negative than positive. “I’ve had a lot of good conversations with Vince, but he also lied to me time and time again,” Ryback said. “It’s just, he’s a business man and he [has] dealt with everybody from top to bottom for how many years now? And he fights to live another day and I just didn’t appreciate the lies, personally. We had some cool moments and I developed a little bit of a relationship with Vince and I talked with him quite a bit, but a lot of it was more negative than positive.”
Ryback understands that WWE has a creative process and he didn’t expect to be a champion all the time, but he got very frustrated when WWE didn’t support his character or would kill his momentum by having him lose short matches with no consequence.
“They had me lose in every big match that I was in, essentially, time and time again, and that conditions the crowd. It took a long time, mind you, to do this, but it conditioned them, slowly, [to wonder] ‘Why are we going to cheer this guy? Why are we going to like this guy? He has everything, but he doesn’t win when he needs to win.’ Like, ‘he’s a loser’. And, like, that, that subconsciously plays in kids’ minds and adults’ minds and it didn’t happen right away. It didn’t happen nearly as quick as they wanted it to happen, but eventually it started happening.”
Eventually, the writing was on the wall and Ryback decided the frustration he experienced wasn’t worth his 3-year, $1.65 million downside contract. He could have stayed with WWE and mentally checked out, but he believes himself, trusts himself and wants to be successful on his own.
“And that’s what I’m doing right now and I don’t care what anybody think, what anybody says about me. I know the work I put in, the heart and the passion and the desire that I put into that. I gave them everything that I had and for them to s–t on me time and time again, I had the balls and the courage to say, ‘do you know what? No thank you. There’s more to life than money and I’m going to go prove that to you and the world.”
You can listen to Ryback’s appearance on Busted Open below. Thanks to William Windsor of Wrestling Inc for the transcribed quotes.
Outspoken former WWE star Ryback recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio where he discussed steroids and the highly-anticipated rematch between Brock Lesnar and Goldberg.
During the interview, Ryback admits to experimenting with steroids early on in his caeer. Ryback says he hasn’t used them in some time and is proud of what he’s achieved with his body “naturally.” He says he isn’t taking any kinds of PEDs, and could pass testing for something like an MMA fight. Ryback noted that he’s working on his own line of nutritional supplements.
When asked about Goldberg vs. Lesnar, Ryback said that he thinks he should be the one to face Goldberg. Ryback says he grew up watching Goldberg and is a huge fan of the former WCW Champion. Ryback says that fans already saw Goldberg vs. Lesnar 13 years ago, and that the current generation would rather see him and Goldberg mix it up.
Ryback made it clear that the thinks Lesnar, Goldberg, and any other part-time performers should be tested just like the full-time performers. “Anyone who steps foot in a WWE ring, whether it’s one a year or 300 days a year, should be f**king tested,” Ryback said.
Ryback, who has legally changed his name to that from Ryan Reeves, recently spoke out about his past issues with CM Punk in an interview with Sports Illustrated. Back in 2014, CM Punk made it known on a podcast that he didn’t like Ryback and thought he was an unsafe worker. Ryback feels that Punk’s comments were untrue and hurt his career.
“Those Punk comments did a lot of damage to me,” he said. “CM Punk has a tremendous following. When you have as many followers as he has, and you say something about somebody, they’re going to believe everything you say. To this day, I don’t know why Punk tied me in with his whole thing against the WWE. I feel like part of it was he was his unhappiest with the company when he was working with me, and I kind of got tied into all of it.”
With CM Punk’s large fan base turned against him, Ryback felt that WWE management didn’t have his back. While Ryback got support from his peers, he says WWE should have told fans that Punk’s comments were untrue.
“I was always upset that the WWE never went out of its way to say, ‘That’s not true about this guy,’” said Ryback. “Guys like Jericho, who have been in the ring with me, went to bat for me, and I can’t thank them enough for that – but why couldn’t the company do that, especially when I took the hit on that? That always bothered me that they never tried to clear that up.”
Ryback noted that his imitation of CM Punk’s entrance at Payback in Chicago was to get more heat from the crowd, and he felt it worked. Ryback noted that management was “furious” at him for the imitation.
“Punk and I are two entirely different human beings, but I think we shared some of the same viewpoints toward the WWE as far as business,” Ryback concluded.
– Eva Marie has been training at The Brian Kendrick School of Pro Wrestling at Santino Bros. Wrestling Academy in Bell Gardens, CA this week. She is eligible to return from her WWE Wellness Policy suspension on 9/18.
Eva Marie will begin filming scenes for the Nicolas Cage movie Inconceivable next month. Click here for more on that project.
– A fan on Twitter told Bubba Ray Dudley that its a shame we never got to see his Bully Ray character in WWE. He replied:
ESPN has published an article looking at CM Punk’s upcoming UFC debut. The feature includes quotes from several pro wrestling personalities, including Seth Rollins, Ryback, Paul Heyman and more. Here are some highlights of what they said:
Seth Rollins: “He’s a guy who led the charge for a long time. He’s one of the first indie guys in a long, long time to really shake [up] the main roster in WWE and he paved the way for Daniel Bryan, for myself, Dean Ambrose, Cesaro, and those guys…Say what you will about his attitude and his relationship with the company right now, but I wish him the best and I hope that he is successful — win, lose or draw.”
Ryback: “From a basic human being standpoint, he is showing courage doing something the majority of people on this planet will never do and that is step in a cage and fight in front of millions of people. I respect he wants to test himself and has the courage to do so. For that reason alone, while I don’t condone him saying the things he said about me, I want to him do well. Any man can beat another man on any given night, so I just hope he achieves what he is looking for in this and I will leave it at that.”
Paul Heyman: “Any conversation that I had with CM Punk dating back, even when he was still in WWE and was dreaming of getting involved in mixed martial arts, is that he was doing a switchover of careers from becoming a sports entertainer to becoming a full-time, career-oriented mixed martial artist.
Punk will face Mickey Gall (2-0) this Saturday night at UFC 203 from Cleveland, Ohio.
Both men were at Thursday’s UFC 203 media event from Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Here’s footage of their first official stare down:
A lot of people on social media have been commenting on Punk’s appearance. The weight cut has not been very forgiving to Punk and Gall looks a lot healthier at this weight than the former WWE Champion. The weigh-ins take place tomorrow from the Quicken Loans Arena.
Ryback released the premiere episode of his podcast on Monday and opened up about his departure from WWE. Ryback revealed that after winning the Intercontinental Championship in 2015, he was offered a new contract that he wasn’t happy with. Ryback says the money wasn’t necessarily the issue, and the contract would have paid out $1.5 million over three years.
Ryback said he feels the way things have “always been done” in pro wrestling aren’t always right, and specifically mentioned that talent having to pay their own travel expenses can become very pricey. Ryback claims that dishonesty from WWE management about booking and merchandising opportunities lead to him being disgruntled. He says that magazines had offered him covers, but WWE nixed them in favor of Roman Reigns.
The now-former WWE star claimed that company Chairman Vince McMahon himself told Ryback that he would be the top heel in the company if he listened to McMahon’s instructions and delivered his promos exactly as scripted. Ryback also claimed that he was told he would face AJ Styles at WrestleMania 32, and that McMahon’s exact words were he would “squash that little twerp.” Ryback ended up facing Kalisto on the WrestleMania pre-show instead.
He says towards the end of his run he stopped communicating with McMahon because he had been lied to and “betrayed” too many times, and that he isn’t worried about burning his bridge with the company.
Ryback says these issues aren’t exclusive to him and that other talent goes through the same thing. Ryback feels like WWE’s goal should be making sure that all of their wrestlers’ brands are as strong as possible.
– The Dudley Boyz’s first post-WWE appearance has been announced. Once again competing as Team 3D, pro wrestling’s most decorated tag team of all time are booked for Insane Championship Wrestling’s Fear & Loathing IX event on November 20th from Glasgow, Scotland.
– The first episode of Ryback’s new podcast “Conversation with The Big Guy” drops on Monday. The former WWE Superstar says he will use the platform to explain why he left the company. The Big Guy also announced that he’ll be appearing at Revolution Pro’s October 30th event from Hampshire, England.
