**MERGED** All Ryback Discussion (Keep all of it in here!!)

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

Since Ryback seems to like fighting 2 guys, why do you have him make his way through the Tag division and eventually win the Tag-Team Titles. The GM or whatever could make a rule change allowing Ryback to compete for the Tag-Team Titles on his own, call it the "Ryback Rule". He would be first the first solo guy to carry and defend the Tag Titles on a regular basis (at least to my knowledge).

For those of you who say this will weaken the prestige of the Tag Titles... first of all what prestige? Second of all, at least it would do something different and interesting with the Titles that people would take notice of. I personally think it would be hilarious to see some guy walking around carrying both Tag-Team belts screaming "FEED ME MORE".

 

[MikeJames]

I made a thread about how a feud with Tensai could be interesting,

This feud would be great is they played it right........I mean, they have long matches, beat the hell out of each other for long periods of time and build each other up. It could probably turn into one of the greatest feuds of all time. I know, give me crap for saying that with where they are now, but these two big guys could probably give a hell of a show. Have them talk a lot of crap back and forth, just go ballz out. No pansy ass stuff, just hard hitting all the way for a few months and build it up to either summer slam or a later ppv. Big guy on big guy is cool if done right, big guy on little guy.........BORING.......

 

[ScottishBlood]

Im actualy a big fan of this guys although he is needing more than just the jobbers to beat every week
why not even have him run out in lower card or midcard matches jsut to destroy the 2 ?
he is going about shouting feed me more and gettin fed CRAP weekly
have him go out and pick his own to beat up and eventualy feud with 1 of the talent he took out
the crowd chanting Goldberg doesnt bother me infact it shows they also see something in this guy as a bad ass in the ring .. hell better than chanting gilberg...

have him feud with mason ryan once he gets any better in the ring and develop into a mutual respect the become a team .... maybe vicky scouts them in

BUT no more jobbers is always a plus

 

[Irig]

Swagger is single now w/o Dolph so IMO Vikie should get Ryback to be his tag team partner. They should go on and win some matches as a team. After that due to over influence of Vikie they broke up and his first feud will be w/swagger . I'll go this way as he'll get some kind of establishment with the crowd.

 

[neildittmar]

Today, right now... Lesnar would be too much, too soon. Khali would be a good opponent as a one-off I think. There isn't too much of a feud to build there, as has been the case with nearly everyone put up against Khali. They just don't come off well in my opinion. Khali should be a stepping stone for Ryback, not a breakout.

Ezekiel Jackson is the name that comes to mind when I think first big feud for Ryback. Ryback is a big powerful guy... so is Jackson. Both have made a WWE career out of shoving guys around and battering them with power moves. Either would conceivably have a difficult time doing that to the other. It makes for an intriguing matchup from that standpoint. Storyline going in is simple, but effective. Ryback has been destroying guys half his size for a month or more... Jackson contends that Ryback only looks invincible because of that fact. Big Zeke challenges him to try pushing him around like that. Ryback is more than up for the challenge.

I don't see Ryback/Jackson as a long feud... maybe a month or two into the following PPV with a hard earned, yet clear-cut win for Ryback. Jackson is put there to show that when up against better competition, Ryback can pull something off and get the job done... even if his opponent rivals his power aresenal. It would serve as Ryback's entry into the mid-card scene, setting up some better/tougher matches and leading to a mid-card title shot/run in the near future.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

It may be awhile till we get a meaningfull partner for Ryback. After his match on Raw you could here him shout give me 3. Now he says alot of stuff during his matches some of which is just downright funny. But maybe they want him to run through 3 jobbers at a time before he begins a real program.

 

[Ithil]

Today, right now... Lesnar would be too much, too soon. Khali would be a good opponent as a one-off I think. There isn't too much of a feud to build there, as has been the case with nearly everyone put up against Khali. They just don't come off well in my opinion. Khali should be a stepping stone for Ryback, not a breakout.

Ezekiel Jackson is the name that comes to mind when I think first big feud for Ryback. Ryback is a big powerful guy... so is Jackson. Both have made a WWE career out of shoving guys around and battering them with power moves. Either would conceivably have a difficult time doing that to the other. It makes for an intriguing matchup from that standpoint. Storyline going in is simple, but effective. Ryback has been destroying guys half his size for a month or more... Jackson contends that Ryback only looks invincible because of that fact. Big Zeke challenges him to try pushing him around like that. Ryback is more than up for the challenge.

I don't see Ryback/Jackson as a long feud... maybe a month or two into the following PPV with a hard earned, yet clear-cut win for Ryback. Jackson is put there to show that when up against better competition, Ryback can pull something off and get the job done... even if his opponent rivals his power aresenal. It would serve as Ryback's entry into the mid-card scene, setting up some better/tougher matches and leading to a mid-card title shot/run in the near future.

Zeke is a terrible wrestler, though, and has zero heat (and always has, even when they have him a push last year). On paper it's neat to have Ryback meet another huge guy in the wrong, but it would be a terrible match.

 

[Johnny Scumm]

Since Ryback seems to like fighting 2 guys, why do you have him make his way through the Tag division and eventually win the Tag-Team Titles. The GM or whatever could make a rule change allowing Ryback to compete for the Tag-Team Titles on his own, call it the "Ryback Rule". He would be first the first solo guy to carry and defend the Tag Titles on a regular basis (at least to my knowledge).

For those of you who say this will weaken the prestige of the Tag Titles... first of all what prestige? Second of all, at least it would do something different and interesting with the Titles that people would take notice of. I personally think it would be hilarious to see some guy walking around carrying both Tag-Team belts screaming "FEED ME MORE".

To be honest, I think this is a damn good idea, BUT, you need to put the Tag Titles on a slightly lesser tag team, Hawkins/Reks or Young/O'Neil status first. Then we could get Ryback to destroy them and possible we then see him defend them against some Jobbers, then maybe Uso's/Air Truth. Obviously, he would have to lose them eventually and it might bring aroudn the KoW or a "Big" Tag Team to take him down, letting him go off into singles competition.

I do like your idea though, well thought.

 

[neildittmar]

Zeke is a terrible wrestler, though, and has zero heat (and always has, even when they have him a push last year). On paper it's neat to have Ryback meet another huge guy in the wrong, but it would be a terrible match.

Fair point. I equate this to the Warrior/Hercules feud in the 80's, but hopefully with a bit better timing and ring presence from both competitors. I wouldn't expect a 30 minute "epic" between these two worthy of 5 stars, but they should both be capable enough to get the point across that I outlined prior.

Ryback's biggest criticism (from me included) is that he's beating up guys half his size. Yes, it makes him look super-dominant and provides a showcase for his power arsenal. That wears thin though when you're feeding him jobbers. In another few weeks, it would be quite easy to turn Ryback's "feed me" line into a farce of sorts, since that's exactly what WWE is/would be doing.

Ryback needs to step up in competition pretty soon, particularly with a power wrestler who can (at least somewhat) match him hold-for-hold to extinguish the "he only looks good against jobbers" persona that may be starting to develop. Zeke doesn't have to "be the heel" here... he just has to challenge Ryback, call him out, present a greater challenge than what he's accustomed to.

Ryback doesn't need a long-term feud yet in my opinion. He's still in the process of establishing his character, exactly like Goldberg did in the 90's. Zeke is a "challenge" for him to go up a step, not his big money program. That's at least a few months off I think, even if they're hot-shotting him.

 

[Jerichoholic8894]

I think the best option is to bring Mark Henry back (when healthy) and have him challenge Ryback. but I think Kane is defanitly a feud that needs to happen after Ryback has an established feud rather than just beating local jobbers

 

[Jerichoholic8894]

Since Ryback seems to like fighting 2 guys, why do you have him make his way through the Tag division and eventually win the Tag-Team Titles. The GM or whatever could make a rule change allowing Ryback to compete for the Tag-Team Titles on his own, call it the "Ryback Rule". He would be first the first solo guy to carry and defend the Tag Titles on a regular basis (at least to my knowledge).

For those of you who say this will weaken the prestige of the Tag Titles... first of all what prestige? Second of all, at least it would do something different and interesting with the Titles that people would take notice of. I personally think it would be hilarious to see some guy walking around carrying both Tag-Team belts screaming "FEED ME MORE".

As said earlier, that's a damn good idea. And I do believe it would make the Tag Titles at least interesting for a while. I honestly forgot who the tag champs were until last night during the R-Truth segment (When did they win it anyway? Ah who cares)

Really good idea though

 

[Klown_Karnage]

There are many possibilities for a first feud for Ryback. Drew McIntyre comes to mind. The WWE seems pretty determined to shut him down, so he'd be a good established wrestler to feed to Ryback over the course of a few matches. I like the idea of Ryback taking on the tag-team division by himself and holding the tag titles on his own. That would be a fun and entertaining idea. Another possibility would be to have him go after his old tag-team partner Otunga.

Still, there is one person I'd like to see Ryback do an extended program with: Kane. I'm not certain just how good Ryback is on the mic, and a verbal confrontation might well be necessary for an extended feud with Kane, but these two could have some epic matches largely due to the fact that both of them are so damn big and yet able to move as quickly and athletically as they can. Kane could well be the first one that Ryback loses to and therefore become his "greatest challenge". Kane could also benefit as being the one who helped Ryback break out of the simple "fighting machine" into a more complex character. Eventually, the two of them might be on the same side with Ryback as a sort of "monster's apprentice". Either way, I'd like to see Ryback have an extended history with the Big Red Machine...maybe even being the one to retire him when the time comes...

 

[SinCityBlitz]

He needs to come out and take out someone who is really hated. He needs to do something HUGE. Fueds with guys like Ziggler or McIntyre are not going to do much to get him over. Imagine Ryback showing up at the main event of NWO and taking out Kane right when Kane is going to win the title from Punk. That is how he is going to get over.

Good call Klown!!

 

[boywithbluehanger]

A feud with another newer guy could be the start of an ongoing rivalry for Ryback. But I think that he'll need to be chasing some sort of title simply because his character is over in that he's believably threatening. I think the IC title would look good on him so perhaps after they've tested the water with him in a non-title feud with someone like Barret or Henry (whenever he returns), they could have him battle it out with Christian or whoever will be the next IC champion.

On an side note, why don't the commentators shut-up when Ryback is wrestling?! It's been three weeks since he's said "FINISH HIM!". Now he says "FINISH IT!" and it's very noticeable. Plus, while they were yapping away on the last RAW, they completely missed that instead of saying "FEED. ME. MORE!!" he said "FEED. ME. THREE!!!". Indicating that he wants to try facing three opponents instead of his usual 2. And they were also running their mouths about nonsense when he yelled "I. HIT. HARRRD!!!!"

You'd think by now they'd learn to pay attention to when he speaks since I'm sure that by now it's a part of his character gimmick that he's desperately trying to get over.

 

[vthokie8]

I have two that make the most sense to me:

1) Mark Henry- When he does come back, there is really nobody on the roster for him to fued with unless they throw him into the main event shuffle with Sheamus. Mark is a big, established guy who could work for putting Ryback over. Henry isn't getting any younger and really isn't a huge draw as a main eventer so it would make sense.

2) Primo & Epico- I like the slow build of a superstar, and much like Brock Lesnar a fued with two guys would make him look that much more powerful and you could play off the fact he has been destroying two people for weeks now. I'm not saying Primo & Epico are the Hardys by any means, but a fued with Ryback could only boost their stock while still making Ryback look like a monster. You also have Rosa as the wildcard, that could try and distract Ryback Slater & Gabrial would also make sense if they were still a team, due to the history with Ryback and the fact that they are doing little to nothing anyway it would be a good way to get them more exposure.

 

[OldSchoolGradNB]

I admit I was entertained when he first came out and started squashing no-name jobbers. I was pretty taken back by how strong Ryberg was. The problem is that he's been doing the same thing for months now. He's only ever gone up against one actual member of the roster that I know of (Slater). Every match he wrestles is the same, with the only change coming in the form of how many guys he wrestles at once.

They can't even at least give him big-size no-namers, either. They always give him these guys who barely weigh more than an abstract thought. My mother could beat these guys for crying out loud. Now he wants to start taking on three at a time. They'll probably be even smaller so as to keep the combined weight around the same number. Feed him more? No. Feed him legitimacy. I'm tired of watching this guy go out wrestle Ken dolls (and I'm sure I'm not the only one).

That being said, what I really really wanted to see was this: it seemed like they were building up an unbeatable monster on each show - Ryberg on SD! and Lord Albert on RAW. I thought it would've been inevitable that these two would clash one day with their respective streaks still intact to determine which one of them is the true dominant force. That would've been really cool to see, and I feel like the match would've been pretty good too.

That obviously can't happen now (at least not the streak part) because Tensai was so wrongly used on night and subsequently defeated and cast aside all for the purpose of furthering someone else's storyline. That really kind of broke my heart. Tensai was at least facing legit guys (whenever he did wrestle) and he was believable as an unconquerable force in the ring. Instead he got a momentary push and then he got thrown under the proverbial bus.

Someone on here mentioned Ryberg going for the tag straps by himself. That would actually be amazing. I would love to see that. It would make the titles mean something again (no disrespect to Kofi) and it would give folks a reason to watch him go out and destroy people again.

I would've have loved to have seen him go up against Big Zeke...the problem is that they just had him lose CLEAN to Easter Bunny. That was heartbreaking too. The fact that a big powerhouse like Zeke got straight dominated by a little guy like Sandow is just terrible.

Finally, while I won't say that I don't like his finisher (it is pretty impactful and gets the job done), I will agree that it's pretty much a Samoan Drop. The opponents might get up onto his shoulders in different ways, but the fall and the impact are the fundamental ingredients of a glorified Samoan Drop. I still like it though. I love his backpack stunner. That one should have been his primary game-ender, in my opinion.

 

[asiatic7]

Usually I start threads to provoke thought-laced discussion, but this time, I gotta express some dis-interest. I notice lots of people on these threads approve of the Ryback character... I am not one of those people. So I just want to know, is there anyone else out there who has a lack of interest in Ryback?
Is he all hype?
Are these squash matches covering up for him being limited in the ring and on the mic?
Will he be exposed in his first real feud and end up like Mason Ryan and Tensai, a beefy jobber?

Please express and embrace the hate here...

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I think you're forgetting that Ryback was originally Skip Sheffield. He was part of the original season of NXT and later a part of Nexus. He broke his ankle at a house show that kept him out of action for quite a while. As far as his in-ring ability & mic work went during that time, the man had talent. I'm not saying he's a Kurt Angle or a Shawn Michaels but he's better than the vast majority of guys in his size range that I've seen.

As far as his current character goes, I agree that we need to see more before ultimately just jumping on the band wagon. I've heard some call him the next big thing and I do roll my eyes at that. The squash matches are getting old and I think it's time to put him in an actual feud with someone. They've done well at establishing Ryback as a big, physically impressive & intense guy but I think it's time that we see what he's really capable against actual opponents and in cutting actual promos.

 

[hatehabsforever]

If we are going to assess Ryback, I think we only need to look at comparable guys who debuted (or were repackaged) around the same time, namely Brodus Clay and Tensai. And it's not even close which of the three is the best. Ryback is astronomically better than the other two guys. He doesn't have a gimmick which got old a matter of weeks after it began, and he doesn't have a gimmick which is absolutely ridiculous. He's better in the ring, has generated more interest (in terms of wrestling), and has the far brightest future.

I would agree, however, that it's time to graduate beyond the squash matches with anonymous jobbers. it's time to see him face some true competition, and exert his supposed dominance over them.

 

[JaylisJayP]

The nice potential for Ryback's gimmick is that he doesn't need mic skills to get over with it...but he does need a feud already. Creative absolutely sucks and I unfortunately have no faith in their ability to not fuck up his potential completely.

 

[DForce]

I don't have a problem with the Ryback character, but as someone posted, he used to be Skip Sheffield--and he was pretty good on the mic and pretty intense in-ring. At the same time, because he was Skip Sheffield, who got beat up by Cena and was hardly a threat, I'm finding it hard to suspend my previously suspended reality and accept this guy as legit. I mean, I think he's doing a great job as Ryback, but like I said, I can't get over him being Skip, and that's WWE's fault.

He needs some type of back story: like, show footage of him hitting the gym, training, lifting weights, flipping tires, and beating tires with a sledgehammer. Show footage of him squashing training partners. Let him say that after breaking his ankle and losing NXT to Barrett, he decided to work hard to be the best. Don't just repackage him like we just started watching wrestling yesterday, or like he's been gone for 7 years or something.

In the time they do all of those squash matches they can at least show a few video packages. I like the character, but I hate the story telling. It's like Christian: why the sudden change of heart? When will they explain that?

 

[DirtyD79]

As far as his current character goes, I agree that we need to see more before ultimately just jumping on the band wagon. I've heard some call him the next big thing and I do roll my eyes at that. The squash matches are getting old and I think it's time to put him in an actual feud with someone. They've done well at establishing Ryback as a big, physically impressive & intense guy but I think it's time that we see what he's really capable against actual opponents and in cutting actual promos.

To me that's gonna be the true test. When he's actually wrestling in a real feud and not just squashing "ham n' eggers" as Bobby Heenan would call them.

 

[CotterHavok]

I like the overall character of Ryback but the RVD look needs to go, along with his weird arm motions when he comes out because he just looks like a goof. I would also give him a different finisher. The samoan drop thing he does isn't very impressive even with two guys. I do enjoy the Goldberg like qualities he has shown though. That may just be because I'm a WCW guy...

 

[Kiwwe]

Ive got no problem with Ryback as he is at the moment. Hes Intense, looks like a beast, has catchy intro music, and dominates in the ring. Even if its against unusually vocal jobbers. His move set isnt the most technical out there but he tries to add a new power move in each match, which are always impressive and im sure the jobbers are in genuine pain most of the time. His unnamed finisher is pretty cool with 2 guys on his back, but I dont think it would get a believable pin on say Cena or Punk. How cools it gonna be when he gets Big Show up on his shoulders and marches round the ring.

Hes obviously going to have a lengthy undefeated run, thats the reason why hes facing 2 jobbers at a time, so when they eventually get around to releasing his win loss record it will be an extremely high number. As winning a handicap match counts for 2 wins. Ask Undertaker.

At No Way Out I wouldnt mind seeing him in a huge handicap match with say 5 or 6 jobbers, making a huge pile of bodies in the centre of the ring and getting the pin. Then maybe start a feud from there, I think he should be put against Santino for the us title at a PPV, and have Santino staining his undies every week on raw until hes put out of his misery. Santino would play it up extremely well. Ryback holds onto us title, defeating every mid carder all the way to royal rumble, wins, defeats champ at Wrestlemania. I know its a big call but Vince has already said numerous times that Skip Sheffield is the future of the wwe. But what does he know, ask Drew McIntyre.

 

[PowerHouse]

The funniest thing about this whole thing is that people call him Goldberg. Yea Vince wants him to become WWE's version of what Goldberg was but as an in ring performer he is FAR FAR better than Goldberg ever was. I like ,but i am sick of seeing him beat on two guys who's combined weight is barely more than what Ryback himself weights. He needs to small program even if its after one of these squash matches somebody from the back comes out and tries jumping him. Or comes out hits him and runs.

With Ryback now on RAW and Brodus on Smackdown i think the WWE wants to try to get Ryback the same type of popularity as Brodus was getting being on Raw. Plus IMO Ryback to me has more main event potential than Brodus or Tensai or at least more than they do with their current gimmicks. Tensai is a great in ring Worker but his character never got over cause he never said anything.