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

[TheLoneCharles]

Honestly, Ryback is the main reason I watch Smackdown right now. When I was on my laptop bored through Raw, I jumped out of my seat when I saw Ryback was debuting on Raw.

Seriously what is there not to like? They guy is a friggin monster, totally believable, and it's oddly cathartic to watch him just beat the hell out of people.

Unfortunately, he is many past superstars rolled into one and the Ziggler and Rhodes lovers just can't get over that. He is Goldberg-esq with Rhyno's intensity and RVD style tights.

Thank God a few nerds pleasing themselves to thoughts of a Rhodes title run won't get their way: Ryback is getting over with the crowd and by the end of the year he is going to be in the main event.

 

[Mustang Sally]

But Sally - how do you know he isn't really Jewish? His tights were tight but not tight enough to see that he was uncircumcised. I thought he could be.

He just didn't have that "Lost Tribe of Israel" look to him. Not like all the nice Yid boys I knew in high school. A "J.A.P." like myself can usually tell.

Besides, the guys from last night were identified as Kirby Mack and Stoney Hooker. Personally, I'm hoping Mr. Hooker played Arthur Rosenberg; it somehow seems appropriate.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

He just didn't have that "Lost Tribe of Israel" look to him. Not like all the nice Yid boys I knew in high school. A "J.A.P." like myself can usually tell.

I can only imagine the look on your families' faces when you bring Drew McIntyre home for Cedar dinner.

And you're right, no Jewish grandmother would allow their bubula to have that repulsive facial hair.

Besides, the guys from last night were identified as Kirby Mack and Stoney Hooker. Personally, I'm hoping Mr. Hooker played Arthur Rosenberg; it somehow seems appropriate.

That's more wrestling-esc. I'm just really embarassed that they were introduced as being from a Chicago suburb.

 

[Lionheart]

I personally enjoy Ryback. He is just the strong man act in the circus that WWE has become. I equate his matches to the weird attraction people have to watching those fail videos on Youtube where people attempt parkour and fall off roofs or douche bags run into glass doors. People just want to see morons take a big fall and Ryback believably makes it look like he is killing people.

It will be interesting to see how this translates into professional wrestling angles, but for now, it sure is fun to watch.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

His over the topness makes me laugh to be honest. For some reason I'm liking the whole "FINISH HIM" and "FEED ME MORE!" catchphrases Ryback is using.

Sounds and looks like they are trying to make him the next Goldberg. With that said he's not a carbon copy and has some key differences to his personality that sets him apart from Goldberg. The guy is high impact, not exactly pretty but he is actually growing on me. Obviously he will eventually have to start fighting guys who are actually on the WWE roster. Right now what he's doing is fine, he is showing off his dominance and he actually stands apart from the roster which is always a good thing.

I'm wondering how he handles himself when he starts fighting the main roster and actually has a program with an established talent but watching Ryback plow through random rookies has been fun to watch. When he gorilla press slammed that one guy last night was pretty awesome to watch, and he has some pretty sweet moves in his arsenal. I'm not sure how long it will last but Ryback is a good way to kill 5-10 minutes of RAW a week.

I don't see him as a main eventer or anything but he brings a certain brand of entertainment to the table. Most importantly for myself the guy entertains me so as of right now I got nothing bad to say about Ryback. I can understand why some don't like him but for my taste I like him.

 

[WhyTravisFelt]

I don't hate Ryback yet, but he hasn't done anything so far but throw around unknown wrestlers half his size, which is only impressive in the most superficial of terms. OP wanted to leave bias out of the argument, and that just doesn't make sense. I think bias definitely should be part of the conversation: Some people like monster gimmicks. Some people don't. People loved Goldberg despite the fact that, besides his winning streak, there was absolutely nothing interesting about Goldberg. Some people just like big, strong dudes no matter what. Some wrestling fans prefer character development, technical in-ring talent, mic skills and other factors.

I seriously doubt I'll end up liking Ryback, but I don't think I'll end up hating him as much as I hated Goldberg, because I don't see him rising to anywhere near the level of success. The crowd's only interest in Ryback seems to be just chanting "Goldberg" at him. If he does make it big, then good for him; it's not like I don't fast forward through half of Monday Night Raw anyway.

 

[Aidg]

I don't get what the hate is about, like most have said he cant control who he faces and the only similarities I see he has with Goldberg are him being booked in a dominant way, sure his face may look slightly like Goldberg but that's not his fault. he wears a completely different attire to him. just because Goldberg came out and destroyed people doesnt mean no one else can't do it just my opinion.

 

[Piss Bucket]

I don't like Ryback, like Tensai he's just another generic "Wee! Look at me! I know 2 moves!" hoss who only ever squashes jobbers to make himself look hard and give Vince McMahon a hard on.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I don't like Ryback, like Tensai he's just another generic "Wee! Look at me! I know 2 moves!" hoss who only ever squashes jobbers to make himself look hard and give Vince McMahon a hard on.

Big difference between Tensai and Ryback. Ryback actually has some personality to his gimmick, Tensai doesn't. Ryback actually can bring some excitement to what he is doing in the ring, Tensai doesn't.

This is why Vince likes the guy and doesn't like Tensai. American Pro Wrestling isn't about how many moves you know its how you can take those moves, be entertaining and tell a story with them. That's why guys like Cena who have often been criticized about their 5 moves are better than your most technically sound wrestler. He may not use as much moves but he does more with 5 than most do with 1000.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Yeah, I totally hate Ryback, he totally sucks!

You know why he sucks? Because as a professional wrestling fan whenever a wrestler has something comparable to a wrestler of old, like say for this example, Goldberg, I must vindicate it or I'm not cool. God forbid I don't come across as "cool" to other fans of professional wrestling. I mean look at how many things he has in common with Bill. He is bald. He is big. He beats jobbers. He is undefeated. He likes his sandwiches without the crusts, instead of with.

Then lets take into account how much airtime he is wasting. Ryback wastes an entire five minutes every Friday night. I could take a piss, brush my teeth, get a bowl of cereal, eat that and then brush my teeth again, come back and Ryback would be finishing off these two unknown's. Instead I'm going to whine and complain about it because WWE fucking sucks cause they don't have any "attitude." Attitude 4 Lyf.

Beating unknowns is another reason I don't like him. I mean, come on, who are these guys? Stan Stansky? Who the fuck was Stan Stansky? What they should do is feed Ryback people we do know, sure that might gives people another reason to whine, bitch and complain about insignifcant things due to the fact they must always have a hatred for something on WWE television, God forbid they be satisfied with the product, but at least if he buries people we know instead of enhancement to get over the fact he is an absolute beast, we could make a list of the people hes beaten.

Oh and a new one I just got out of my ever growing brain, "he only has two moves," yeah, he only has two, the "Two Moves of Doom." He has his Powerbomb, Marching Samoan Suplex Slam and we'll just ignore the Big Boot, Fall Away Throw, Backpack Stunner and Running Lariat cause the amount of moves a wrestler has really decides if they can make the cut or not.

Yeah, I hate Ryback, that is why he's my signature.

 

[boywithbluehanger]

You could call me simple because I like Ryback but I generally like visually believable tough guy character gimmicks. They're easier to buy into and overall more convincing. They're more about presence and letting their fighting do the talking. Think of all the past characters that worked for in the past. Goldberg, APA, Lesnar, Sheamus' first run, etc all played sizable tough guys who you could actually believe were people you wouldn't want to cross based on attitudes of real people we've seen.

 

[Workrate]

I like Ryback. I can totally understand the comparisons to Goldberg, but at the same time, Goldberg debuted 15 years ago. He left the WWE -- what? -- eight years ago? I mean, at some point you have to let go of the past. Should I hate Ken Griffey Jr. because he plays the game too much like Willie Mays? Or is the bitterness because wrestling is scripted and so we want to blame the writers and developers for not being creative enough? Because, if you really think about it, the original blueprint for Goldberg wasn't all that creative either. Big, strong dude dominates everyone. That was it. If you aren't willing to let go of the characters that roamed the ring 15-20 years ago, you may as well stop watching altogether.

All that said, I'm curious where Ryback goes. Right now he's obviously just a circus attraction, annihilating jobbers and putting on feats of strength. I quite enjoyed the double suplexes and stuff like that, if only because it's something a little different. But eventually he's going to have to elevate and I'm starting to wonder if he'll get a concrete feud or if he'll just keep tearing through guys whose names we know. He could pummel guys like Ezekial Jackson and Drew McIntyre for weeks without carrying on a legitimate feud.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

If you don't like Ryback, you're dumb or you don't know much about him.

Watch some of his older matches, prior to his latest run. The guy can go. They're establishing him as a dominant guy right now. Eventually, he'll move on to actual competition.

Of course the IWC was going to hate this guy. He's big, athletic and looks like he's going to make some money. He's not a greasy, skinny-fat prick (I love Punk, too). He's already a more experienced wrestler than Goldberg, and could be better when it's all over with.

Stop whining and give Skip a chance. He's really good at what he does.

 

[The Eighties]

They need to work out some of the goofier mannerisms but he executes his power moves really well and he has agility and a marketable look.

One of the things I find odd is they seem to be looking for the scrawniest jobbers possible and then try to sell him throwing these string-beans around as amazing feats of strength, almost like an in-joke.

At any rate the word seems to be that Vince unsurprisingly likes him and I am interested to see how he develops over the rest of the year.

 

[Uncle Sam]

The majority of what I've read about Ryback has actually been complimentary. I don't know - maybe they were being ironic. Fucking internet hipsters.

I'm intrigued to see what he can do when he stops just squashing guys. He's a freak of nature and everything he does looks painful with a side of agonizing. I'll not hold anything against him just because he's not Harley Race and El Canek's love child. I've not seen anything of him outside of WWE - I remember him dropping Mark Henry (I think) with a clothesline, which was pretty impressive - and so the proof that this guy is for real will be when they take the leash off and let him show off what he can do on guys that don't weigh, well, as much as I do. 'Real' matches and 'real' feuds, that's what I'm looking forward to.

Until then, I'll remain optimistic.

 

[gasM]

A common complaint on here is the lack of a fued for Ryback to show off his selling, work on his promos, and develop an actual character.

The character of "Tensai" had flopped in WWE. No real fueds, random appearances, and now a momentum-halting loss to John Cena has taken his situation from bad to worse, as no matter how WWE try to re-tool him, he just isn't connecting with the audience - or at least no more than he did when he debuted.

So do you think these two should feud against one another?

I do. Ryback looks great, and he desperately needs to be on the underdog side in order to show some vulnerability, so that if and when he overcomes his opponent, it pleases the crowd and gains some affection for him.

This is how I'd do it:

Have The Miz call Ryback out on Raw. Have him cut a promo saying he's the number one star in WWE and he can beat anyone, even the unbeatable Ryback. You could even have Miz pick up several count-out victories when Ryback doesn't show up, as he's a SmackDown guy (I know this kind of contradicts the SuperShow concept, but it avoids over-exposing Ryback on two shows).

Then, Ryback vs Miz is advertised as finally happening, maybe even at a PPV. Ryback is waiting for Miz when he appears on the ramp with a mic - "I don't need to face Ryback, I already beat him several times" etc. Then JL comes out and makes it a No countout, no DQ match "In the name of People Power". This gets the crowd behind Ryback and eagerly anticipating seeing Miz get his ass well and truly handed to him.

The match is Ryback's most competitive to date, but he is still by far the most dominant party. He's shouting "Finish him!", Miz is in trouble...when Tensai's music hits. He and Sakamoto appear on the ramp, but don't come any closer. This gives Miz the opportunity to hit Ryback with a chair from behind and pin him to win, giving him something to brag about, building heat for Tensai and sympathy for Ryback.

Then have Tensai attempt to take Ryback down, but a furious Ryback picks up the chair, and Sakamoto drags an angry Tensai away.

Over the next few weeks, have Tensai and Ryback exchange staredowns and try to ambush each other, but NO PHYSICAL CONTACT. (If you need a motive, have Tensai targeting Ryback to prove he's the big bad man and Cena's win was a fluke). The match is made for a PPV and it truly is a mystery as to who will win, with both being booked as unstoppable and ready to fight each other ASAP. Then at the last show before the PPV, I'd have Tensai surprise Ryback with green mist and that nasty clawhold slam, giving him an edge right before the PPV and hyping him as an insurmountable task for Ryback.

Then I'd have Ryback go over after a tough match, or Tensai cheat somehow, depending on the success of the angle and if it gets over with the audience.

In my opinion, this would build Tensai back up as a monster heel, progress Ryback's character and get him over as a face, provide an interesting and unique angle, AND give Miz something significant to do and an achievement to brag about.

Thought's on my armchair booking? Do you think Tensai-Ryback would sell? And if you could book it, how would you book it?

 

[3:16]

I mean i like ryback. Sure he is beating up jobbers and reminds me of a Goldberg on overdrive but I think he fits in with today's style. Someone who can get the crowd hyped and on their feet. Someone who can come to the ring and entertain people. I am pretty sure that they will start developing him more and putting him in matches with notable people in a couple of months.

 

[R.K.O]

I'm okay with Ryback at the moment, he has a great look, his matches are entertaining and his moveset is pretty good. But I hope he gets several tweaks in the coming weeks because beating unknowns get old really fast.

I find his lifting arm taunt and shouting really cheeky. His intense look at the entrance ramp is really good but all the lifting arm and shouting make him look like a joke. I mean, "Finish Him" really? How are we suppose to take a guy that uses a Mortal Kombat phrase seriously?

Also, from what I've heard about the Ryback gimmick it's supposed to be a terminator type character. His current goofy antics is far from what I imaged the character would be. He would be better off looking like an unstoppable machine if he's going with the gimmick.

Lastly, not that important yet, will be his entrance music. His current music sound too much like a generic jobber music. One of the most important aspect in Goldberg would be his war music as it pumps everyone up when it starts playing. If WWE is serious about making him their Goldberg they better find one that suits him.

 

[ABMorales787]

Hate? Ryback? Why? It's not his fault WWE wants to make him literally a Goldberg look-a-like. My question is how is he still flatlining people while freakin' Prince Albert is messing around with John Cena? The only thing people want out of Ryback is a feud. Why not do that?

 

[Workrate]

They need to work out some of the goofier mannerisms

I will say that I hate that thing he does where he lifts a single arm, then the other, then both. He looks like some kind of weird wind up action figure.

 

[willross]

Contradicting the SuperShow concept kills the feud immediately.

Tensai and Ryback won't sell because Tensai and Cena doesn't sell. Do you think Ryback sells tickets and PPV buys better than Cena?

I wouldn't book Tensai against Ryback. Ryback's should not have a feud until he is ready for the champ. Just let him run over the roster for a year, put over a heel champion who seemingly can't be beat at the same time and make their meeting inevitable. Straight out of the Goldberg handbook except you announce a month in advance and put it on PPV, rather than 4 days in advance and put it on free TV.

 

[WrestlingGod101]

willross
Ryback's should not have a feud until he is ready for the champ. Just let him run over the roster for a year, put over a heel champion who seemingly can't be beat at the same time and make their meeting inevitable. Straight out of the Goldberg handbook except you announce a month in advance and put it on PPV, rather than 4 days in advance and put it on free TV.




I like this idea but if it was me i would have Ryback win it on Raw like Goldberg did on Nitro and I would keep it a surprise i would make the heel champion go out the cut a promo saying he will defend the title right now against anybody nobody can beat him wait for it wait for it then have Ryback music hit (Heel Cena as champ for a year) this would be epic Ryback destory Cena 1-2-3 new champion new champion

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Most of the complaints I've read about Ryback, in my view, are just your standard IWC bitching about anything and everything.

I'm not saying that Ryback is great or anything, the jury is still out for me until we actually do get him into feuds & matches beyond the squash matches. However, Ryback's doing just fine in his current role thus far. Sure it's a Goldberg inspired character, but so what. He's got the size, he's got the look, he's got the intensity and the strength to pull it off. To top it off, he continues to get good responses. Last night, if I'm not mistaken, was his first time on Raw since debuting as Ryback and fans were popping, ooohing & aaahing as he was showing off by decimating those two jobbers. The live crowd liked it and Ryback does look impressive. I do think it's time that we see more from him, however.

As far as a feud with Tensai goes, I could see the feud as a means of just further getting Ryback over. I don't think it should be a lengthy feud, maybe just a few matches. It would be a good start to Ryback as it would give him a program against someone that has been booked to be a dominant guy for a while. Tensai does hold wins over Cena & CM Punk after all. Tensai could be Ryback's first real match and winning in a dominant fashion will push him further along.

At the same time, I don't think there'd be much interest in this feud. Tensai just isn't getting over and I have a feeling he's already heading down the same road as Umaga did. What that means is that he's started out strong and dominant, but he isn't getting over so his push is probably going to be stopped and he'll be jobbed out to the top guys before being relegated to Superstars or the character is dropped altogether.

 

[Headman]

Hate is a strong word. It would be more fair to say I just don't care about him. Squashing midgets is not impressive. Having a name that sounds like some kind of bread isn't cool. Add in the fact that the way he's being pushed is exactly what WCW did with Goldberg and that = zZzzZZzzZZzzZZZ.

 

[silrock316]

Seriously, all I'm seeing from the IWC is hate on Ryback. What exactly is "wrong" with him? Are you all mad he keeps getting compared to Goldberg? Because seriously, even though VKM thinks he could be WWE's Goldberg, who the hell says he can't be? It's be over a decade since Goldberg was at the height of his push....since then we haven't had "an unstoppable force" such as him. You do realize how hard it actually is to make intriguing storylines after all these years? Or how hard it is to find guys like Ryback who have the potential. We've seen Ryback in all these squash matches, the jobbers MAKE Ryback look like a beast. Tell me you don't cringe a little and think to yourself, ok yeah that would probably hurt. Ryback is great at what he does and has the potential to be Goldberg 2.0. You may not like it, but I guarantee in a year or so he'll be over, he'll be pushed, and if VKM is serious, he WILL be the WWE's version of Goldberg. Ryback is not bad at all, you're all hating because you're all still stuck in the Attitude Era. My question to you guys is for any SENSIBLE fan here to tell me what exactly is wrong with Ryback. I don't want blatant biased hate, just logical reasoning. Seriously from what I've seen, he's a beast, and he will be around for awhile granted he doesn't mess up backstage.

this topic bothers me SO much because Ryback reminds me NOTHING of Goldberg. As a part of the 'IWC' i dislike the fact that many members are not buying into him because Ryback has a bald head. If he had hair no one would mention Goldberg.

For me he is making a nice name for himself. As a 25 year fan of wrestling, not much excites me like it did when i was younger but i find myself pumped up for him.

Also, though it maybe a small sign but most times when a wrestler gets repackaged if they are no good, fans wont let him forget his original character but he is CLEARLY Ryback now and not Skip and to me thats a small big deal. In the world of around the horn and buy or sell... i buy Ryback as a stud who isnt a Goldberg ripoff.