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

[Mr. Artistic guy]

Yes and no. It's always an extreme risk putting a short build guy really high up on your roster, sometimes it pays tremendous dividend and other times it will prove disastrous, there's rarely middle ground on this matter. Ryback is a big guy that will prove to be very good at what he does as soon as he's locked into a story people care about, but the candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long. Guys like Goldberg, Lesnar, Warrior generally get over huge and then can never get restarted again once they hit a hitch. Once their initial mystique disappears it's very difficult to get them on anything like the same sort of level. Look at Goldberg pre and post streak, Warrior pre and post 92. Ryback is a potentially large cash cow for the WWE if they handle him well, but will only be so for a limited time.

But Ryback is different from all of the guys mentioned. Lesnar never really loved wrestling, he knew with his ability and build he could move into things he enjoyed more and thus did. Lesnar was never destined to stay in wrestling. Goldberg was never a wrestling fan either and had no issue staying away from the business when he did, and still not to this day. Warrior was more of a fan, but not as big a fan of himself and he couldn't put aside his issues for the things that were more important, such as business. Ryback is, in real life, a wrestling fan through and through. And what that means is that even when they exhaust all of his imminent momentum and his unstoppable schtick begins to bore people, he's going to be around for longer besides; putting people over or merely providing that veteran presence backstage. Whilst the character of Ryback can only exist for a limited amount of time before it loses it's appeal, it will have a few good prosperous years and after which Ryback will still be around long after the Goldbergs or Lesnar have disappeared.

 

[PowerHouse]

I wouldn't say he is destined for disaster, but as much as I think a program between him and Punk is cool it just happened way to quick. He should have been given a mid card title like the Intercontinental or U.S Title. I think a program between him and Cesaro could have made for some interesting matches. Ryback's streak could have continued and he would have gotten some match time in the ring with a very good worker in Cesaro. He beat no actually he crushed Miz and that was it. The fued was over. That was WWE's chance put him in a program. He isn't heading for disaster cause the fans want him in the spot he is in right now. Lets face it the pop he got when Cena announced it was going to be him facing CM Punk and not Cena was unbelievable. The fans don't really wanna see CM Punk vs Cena AGAIN!!!!! With Cena's injury the real question is what are WWE's plans for this match. To keep Ryback relavent he has to win this match and take the title. CM Punk at this point doesnt need the title to be in a Main Event. If you have CM go over and end his streak you take away Rybacks entire gimmick. While I know at some point he has to lose his first loss can't come clean to CM Punk at Hell in A Cell. If you are gonna have CM Punk win this match while still keeping Ryback relavent and his character intact Heyman has to bring in Lesnar to help or aid CM Punk and Ryback has to put up a fight against both befor going down. Vince is very high on Ryback so we will see how he has this match booked.

 

[LegendKiller716]

The only way Ryback will end in disaster is if he lets the character fail. WWE will give him every opportunity to succeed, it's his job to overcome all the challenges WWE throws at him.

Should Ryback be feuding with Punk? No, but if Ryback steps up to the plate and keeps upping his game, he'll show he belongs there.

 

[barclayteo]

But Ryback is different from all of the guys mentioned. Lesnar never really loved wrestling, he knew with his ability and build he could move into things he enjoyed more and thus did. Lesnar was never destined to stay in wrestling. Goldberg was never a wrestling fan either and had no issue staying away from the business when he did, and still not to this day. Warrior was more of a fan, but not as big a fan of himself and he couldn't put aside his issues for the things that were more important, such as business. Ryback is, in real life, a wrestling fan through and through. And what that means is that even when they exhaust all of his imminent momentum and his unstoppable schtick begins to bore people, he's going to be around for longer besides; putting people over or merely providing that veteran presence backstage. Whilst the character of Ryback can only exist for a limited amount of time before it loses it's appeal, it will have a few good prosperous years and after which Ryback will still be around long after the Goldbergs or Lesnar have disappeared.[/QUOTE]



Ryback may be a big wrestling fan, and he is like goldberg, and the warrior when it comes to being a powerhouse. However no matter how big of a fan of wrestling he is that won't save him from being in the same category as the others.

Vince, and the writing staff won't care how big of a fan of the sport he is. If fans start to lose interest in him it wont stop him from being thrown into superstars, or the lower midcard.

 

[Firewall_Philip_Hanan]

Yes, just like Goldberg, the second he loses, he will no longer be looked at as credible as he was.

 

[Kelso1ftw]

Well the fact that Ryback has come and even said that he isn't in it for the money, he is in it because he loves it. And the WWE knows that big names can just walk away and go do different things like Lesner, The Rock, and Goldberg. They had other careers and opportunities that they wanted to explore. Ryback will have the same opportunities but the question more or less lies on if he would want to give up what he gets in the WWE and make an attempt to make a life else where. He obviously could do a mixture like Jericho and The Rock did for a little bit, but in my opinion the more time you take off the less you will want to get back up and do it all over again. The WWE just needs to groom and find superstars that want to live and breathe the business like Cena, Austin, Hogan, and many other legends and current superstars.

 

[XXJJ]

Yeah I'm looking forward to this too. I cant imagine it being a squash match. It has to be at least 10 minutes long. It will be interesting to see how Ryback does. Ziggler overselling Ryback's power move will be fun to watch.

 

[drobs85]

The only way Ryback will end in disaster is if he lets the character fail. WWE will give him every opportunity to succeed, it's his job to overcome all the challenges WWE throws at him.

Should Ryback be feuding with Punk? No, but if Ryback steps up to the plate and keeps upping his game, he'll show he belongs there.

How do you figure it's his job or if he let's the character fail? He didn't invent the character nor does he write the weekly script for that character, so if it fails its WWE fault. That's like saying Tensai failed because Albert didn't do his job. Ryback will fail when he is fed to string bean Punk. Or as Triple H says " skinny fat ass punk".

 

[drobs85]

But Ryback is different from all of the guys mentioned. Lesnar never really loved wrestling, he knew with his ability and build he could move into things he enjoyed more and thus did. Lesnar was never destined to stay in wrestling. Goldberg was never a wrestling fan either and had no issue staying away from the business when he did, and still not to this day. Warrior was more of a fan, but not as big a fan of himself and he couldn't put aside his issues for the things that were more important, such as business. Ryback is, in real life, a wrestling fan through and through. And what that means is that even when they exhaust all of his imminent momentum and his unstoppable schtick begins to bore people, he's going to be around for longer besides; putting people over or merely providing that veteran presence backstage. Whilst the character of Ryback can only exist for a limited amount of time before it loses it's appeal, it will have a few good prosperous years and after which Ryback will still be around long after the Goldbergs or Lesnar have disappeared.

Ryback may be a big wrestling fan, and he is like goldberg, and the warrior when it comes to being a powerhouse. However no matter how big of a fan of wrestling he is that won't save him from being in the same category as the others.

Vince, and the writing staff won't care how big of a fan of the sport he is. If fans start to lose interest in him it wont stop him from being thrown into superstars, or the lower midcard.[/QUOTE]

How do you know all these things about these different wrestlers, do you know them personally or something? Ryback will go as far as Vince takes him. Remember it's Vince company. I just hope Ryback doesn't become an afterthought especially considering his streak and some of the guys he dominated.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

While there are several signs that would point to Ryback being here for the long hall, besides the fact that VKM seems to love being "fed more", I agree with you.

While I personally enjoy Ryan Reeves/Skip Sheffield/Ryback, I for some reason have always seen him either being stuck at that mid-card Tensai level or a Lesnar "Get in to Get Out" deal where he makes a quick impact & leaves.

At this point if he does even get over & manages to stay somewhat over, I feel like he will end up having a situation like Sheamus where he achieves too much, too fast & get's extremely stale & becomes boring to the adult fans & so called "IWC".

Ryback has no real character, personality, or persona besides wearing RVD-esque clothing, being a monster in the ring like Goldberg, & a catchphrase that is goofy & funny at best. I haven't seen much progress or development in Ryback the character or the performer.

So hopefully I am proved wrong & Ryback has an incredible match at HiaC, doesn't win but goes on to advance & becomes even more compelling before earning a World Title. But at this point I either see him being a complete flop & VKM throwing in the chips or more likely Ryback achieveing much more success than he is worth extremely fast & he becomes an even less interesting Sheamus creating a line of guys after John Cena that they push too fast & become dull quicker & quicker.

 

[LegendKiller716]

How do you figure it's his job or if he let's the character fail? He didn't invent the character nor does he write the weekly script for that character, so if it fails its WWE fault. That's like saying Tensai failed because Albert didn't do his job. Ryback will fail when he is fed to string bean Punk. Or as Triple H says " skinny fat ass punk".

Tensai did fail because Albert didn't do his job. Tensai got the same exact push as Ryback, except Tensai squashed credible opponents. Tensai failed to get over with the fans, Ryback is excelling in that area. All WWE can do is provide opportunity. The cream will rise to the top.

 

[HBsam31]

I have been thinking about this since Monday's Raw, and I am one that is leaning towards thinking Vince is going to go all in and put Ryback over for the title. I think it is too much too soon for Ryback. When Goldberg finally lost to Kevin Nash there was outside interference from Hall using the cattle prod, and Goldberg still lost his steam. To tell you the truth I don't remember anything he did after the steak except for kicking Bret Hart in the head. It didn't have anything to do with his lack of love for the business. He had his streak he lost it was over. His run in WWE is where you could really see he wasn't in it for the long haul. My point is even if Lesner interferes and Punk pins him for the 3 he is still going to lose some steam at which point they would need to start adding to his character to keep him over. Another poster said Vince won't care about his love for the business if he is drawing, and I agree with that. I agree with the Op in that he definitely will need to start adding to the character because even if he does beat Punk he has to lose sometime, and when he does it will hurt him.

 

[Redemption-2012]

Well, I wouldn't say the Ryback character will be a complete disaster. I would say that he has every opportunity being put in the main event so fast. If he keeps building the momentum and the creative team don't drop the ball, then, in theory he should be a huge star.
He just needs to keep on going, he is here for the long haul. He is only 30 years old, goldberg was like 37 when he came to the WWE. The point is that, WWE are lacking in main event talent, the only 2 guys they have right now, are John Cena and CM Punk. Those are the 2 guys who can truly talk on the mic.

Who else do they have, they seriously need to think about the future. Building guys like Ryback up is atleast a start. They have a good crop of talent and if they invest in these guys, they will get somewhere. There is no way that Most of these future main event guys are anywhere near Main event level. They still have MUCH to proof.

Dolph Ziggler has been buried in recent memory and if WWE are high on him, then they need to start building him up.

 

[Rowdy Robby Piper]

To me Ryback is a combination of Goldberg and Ultimate Warrior.

If I were booking (and I'm echoing a comment I posted elsewhere - either here on the forums or in a comment), I'd have him winning the US and Intercontinental Titles first. Not necessarily merging them, but defending BOTH belts as a sign of dominance/his potential. Then come Royal Rumble have him win it, claiming he's "hungry for more/still hungry." Have him chasing both the WHC/WWE Titles after that, starting with the WHC belt first then going after the WWE Title (Goldberg in WCW). Let him dominate/win all of the titles (a'la Ultimate Warrior-Hulk Hogan Wrestlemania VI IC/WWF Title match). But then again this is WWE, where they are hotshotting storylines for the quick payoff instead of having a slow-build...

 

[vampirek]

Tensai did fail because Albert didn't do his job. Tensai got the same exact push as Ryback, except Tensai squashed credible opponents. Tensai failed to get over with the fans, Ryback is excelling in that area. All WWE can do is provide opportunity. The cream will rise to the top.

You can hardily blame the Tensai gimmick on Matt, it just wasn't ever going to relate to the audience for them to care about no matter what he did.

Ryback gets over because there is a gap for someone like Ryback. Like it or not the fans like to see a big guy who just destorys what is in front of him. I don't like how people compare him to Goldberg (mainly just for the streak) or Warrior (because they deem it will fail) when you could compare him to someone like Batista, which did work. What makes it better, is that Ryan has been given a gimmick that is basically him. A man who just can't stop eating and is huge because of it, given the years and injuries it has taken him to get here at last he must have been angry too. Combine those two together and in essence you have Ryback. Ryan being back.

So will he fail? It comes down to one thing, the creative team. Ryback is over with the fans and the fans want to see him. A lot of wrestlers have had winning streaks when starting, some fail after the first loss and whilst others later went on to win the title again (Sheamus for example)

 

[Барбоса]

I think WWE has tread somewhat carefully with regards Ryback. Sure, he has been propelled to the main event in rather rapid order but they have shied away from building him solely on his undefeated streak, at least not to the extent that Goldberg became about the Streak. Ryback has been more about the utter destruction he has wrought. It has been more about how he has won, not how many times he has won.

Because of that, I think that his first defeat will not be as big a momentum killer for Ryback as it was for Goldberg. WWE just has to make sure that it is done correctly. In a way, Punk, HiaC and the potential of Lesnar interference is perhaps the perfect opportunity to beat Ryback but not have him suffer any long term damage. Essentially do a retake of the end of the first Hell in a Cell - Punk/HBK is in absolute ruins; Ryback/Taker is about to deliver the coup de grace; Lesnar/Kane interferes (you could even throw in a backfiring Cena save); Punk/HBK gets the 1-2-3 but has to be dragged out of the ring by Heyman and Lesnar/Chyna and HHH. The final shot is Ryback up and looking mad while Punk can barely manage to carry his WWE title or even register a smirk.

Rather than compare him to Goldberg, I see Ryback as more like the Ultimate Warrior. His career was hardly ruined by losing to Rick Rude at Wrestlemania V.

 

[sdelfin]

I agree with you, Asiatic, that WWE is in a tough spot. The Ryback character is based on being completely dominant and not selling much at all. Losing, or even being in a hard-fought match might do damage to the character. And let's say he wins the title. Does the Ryback keep on squashing his opponents, meaning WWE will be selling short main events? Or will the Ryback have to wrestle longer and more competitive matches? He might not be able to do that, and that could hurt the character. I do want to say that I think the WWE would be better off basing the Ryback's push more on the Ultimate Warrior than Goldberg. What I mean is that Goldberg just ran through everyone for a while. Warrior often would sell for a while before making his big comeback.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The Ryback character was never destined for disaster, however he may be headed in the direction of a disaster though, unfortunately. When you run an undefeated streak angle there are a number of ways to mess it up along the way. The wrestler needs to maintain constant momentum and work his way up the card slowly. Ryback has jumped past the midcard entirely and will now be challenging Punk for his WWE Championship. That booking has caused WWE to end up in a bit of a trap where there are more bad potential outcomes than good. Changing his promo style or turning him heel are not going to do much to change that at this point. They have long term plans for him at this point and with a push like this one that is entirely obvious. Those plans will never play out if they ruin the push while it is still ongoing.

The way they handle the PPV match and the aftermath will be incredibly crucial. If Punk ends the undefeated streak, then where does Ryback go from there? Look at Kozlov or Crimson. Kozlov never recovered from his first loss (being Santino's sidekick is hardly a recovery in my opinion) and Crimson vanished off the face of the earth. Ryback would risk getting lost in the shuffle and much like Crimson or Kozlov's streaks the angle would have been for nothing. WWE has done a great job of making Ryback look like a big deal, something TNA needed to do a far better job with concerning Crimson. It comes down to what the result of Hell In a Cell will be, and how he is booked afterwards.

I hope that there will be some type of complicated finish to where Ryback can still claim within kayfabe to be undefeated yet Punk still walks out as WWE Champion. Punk shouldn't lose the title yet, not with a potential dream match against The Rock coming up in January; plus Ryback may not be ready to hold the title yet. I am a believer in working through the midcard first to help establish you. Otherwise that title reign will make or break you. Del Rio never quite regained his momentum after losing his WWE Championship and I'd hate for Ryback to suffer a similar fate. WWE booked themselves into a corner and they really need to be careful about how they proceed. Ryback is not DESTINED for disaster, but he's headed that way if they mess things up.

 

[RicSpade]

Ok wait, Ryback is much more workable in a ring compared to Warrior by far and this is coming from a guy who as a kid idolized The Ultimate One, and as far as what you said your basing his limits in the ring, and his lack of charisma to the 5 minutes of wrestling time he gets on TV if that? This is honestly where Cena ended up getting the accolades of being the most over guy since Hogan to only have 5 moves in his arsenal. You get the Clotheslines, the Jaw Breaker, the shell shock because that is what the fans pop for, but Ryback if you have watched lately has shown more and more of his arsenal each week, Cena was the same way until he had a 60 minute match with HBK on Raw, I give the devil his due, because when given the time you don't get the same BS. Warrior now watching while had great charisma he was very sloppy looking in the ring, look at clotheslines with Andre if guys like Hogan, Duggan, Roberts can do it right so can he. And in terms of Goldberg, Goldberg had intensity, but honestly as soon as he was on the mic he was horrible, and no offense cause I liked Goldberg, but when you expand someone with a lack of mic skills it takes away from the intensity.
Now look at Ryback, the man barely says 2 words with the exception of the excerpt in the latest WWE magazine which honestly I take with a grain of salt at this point cause WWE usually fabricates interviews in there anyways. but keep him on this role, and limit mic time to just a few short and sweet words and he will be gold for a while. When he is more comfortable on the mic give it to him, and he'll continue to be the draw VKM wants him to be.

 

[multiverseman.com]

Ryback will be fine as long as they build the character right.

Give him mic time in backstage interviews to get people used to seeing him talk. Carefully script those backstage promos so he sounds good. Then finally let him address the crowd on RAW after almost winning at the PPV.

Have him carefully increase his arsenal. Then let him look more vulnerable than ever in the ring against Punk, but still not lose. Let him have to pull out more moves than we've ever seen to almost beat Punk, yet Punk gets the DQ and keeps his title.

By the way, Барбоса love that sig. No Country was great.

 

[gb1119]

I think one thing is certainly right and that is that guys in the WWE that are built as invincible usually don't last. Look at Umaga, Earthquake, Zeus even Kane. In the beginning of these guys careers they looked like no one could stop them. For Zeus not even Hulk Hogan could stop him. They were "monsters" that were built as unbeatable even at the time by the top faces of the time. As time came big events would happen between these guys and the top faces and finally after a while they would be defeated and eventually show how beatable they are. Umaga succumbed to John Cena and after that he was not as intimidating or as much of a road block for others. Back in the day it took longer than today when it comes to number of matches. Back then you could start a feud from Survivor Series lets say where the two guys would meet by chance on opposite sides of the survivor series teams and then Royal Rumble they might eliminate each other and by Wrestlemania or Summer Slam they would meet finally and that match would show that the face could slay the monster and end up turning the monster into just one of the wrestlers. Even Kane succumbed to this though he is still a somewhat dominant wrestler today and has lasted in popularity he hasn't really kept that feeling of invincibility he had when he first came out and showed himself as the brother of the Undertaker. The one exception to this rule has been the Undertaker. When he first came in he was invincible and intimidating. His first arrival was legendary especially since back in those days even if someone knew who he was and knew he had come from WCW his character was really built up so well and his character was so mysterious that he became popular very fast. Then as time went on in his career he continued to reinvent himself so well and in such a way that he never really became stale and also his character though it lost some feeling of that invincibility he was always a character with intimidation and now respect.

 

[zakkdreamz]

I don't like the thought of Ryback beating Ziggler here. I'm aware that Ryback is going to face CM Punk at HIAC and could even win, but Ryback isn't the only one they're working on. WWE seems to forget they have a potential mega star in Ziggler as well, NOT just Ryback. Not only has he won the MITB, but he's also gone out to say that he'll be WHC at the end of the PPV. So if he were to cash in after losing to Ryback a few days early, I don't think his reign would start off on the best of terms.

With Ryback now, he's a runaway freight train going into Sunday, but the feud betwen Punk and him seems lackluster to me. So Ryback's interrupted Punk's attempts a humiliating JR and Mick Foley. So what? He's slapped Punk around a little. So what? That's not enough for a good feud. There's not been enough interaction between the two.

So why not have Punk cause a DQ during the match? Progress the feuds, stop making Ziggs look pathetic, and Ryback will still be a runaway freight train. It will simply add more fuel to the fire for their match at HIAC.

Of course, I still fully expect Ryback to pin Ziggler, but I don't like the notion when there are other things that can be done to keep everyone's momentum going, not increasing one who is already on fire, and slowing down the other even more, despite the fact that Ziggler is supposed to be WHC in the coming months. It'll be a decent match, I have little doubt, and worth watching.

 

[Mike D]

Ryback is, in real life, a wrestling fan through and through. .

What makes you say that , his picture in hart glasses in the 90's like every other kid ? The fact is that Ryback was 25 years old when he registered for million dollar tough enough . I never saw him in a wrestling school before that . If one truly wanted to pro wrestle they would have pursued it way before 25 years old . And if they did wait until 25 they wouldn't go through Tough Enough . WWE's Million Dollar promotion had everyone signing up . It's not like it is 30 years ago and schools were hard to come by . In the late 90's through 04 Tough Enough Schools were everywhere and people were signing up every day ...business was good and Ryback was no where to be seen , so I don't think that is a good measuring stick . Take The Miz , or that guy with the top hat on Million Dollar Tough Enough ..they both were in Wrestling School long before TE

As for his future, I think we just have to let it play out . He also has a couple wellness failures on his record . That is not a good starting point . Otherwise he is ok . Not a Goldberg or Warrior of course but not too bad for the current WWE .

 

[Boourns]

I'm not a huge fan of Ryback, I'll get that of the way now but, I'm quickly coming around to him. Remarkably, I like him marginally more than I did a week ago... which says a lot about him. I'm actually just about to watch Smackdown from Friday so... by the end of that I might actually fully be converted. (He's gone from like a 2 or a 3 in my book to a 6 in a week.)

However, I think that since he's someone who doesn't talk and hasn't got a manager that he could benefit a great deal from a more impressive entrance, think about guys like The Undertaker, Goldberg, Batista and Bobby Lashley - The Undertaker couldn't talk because of his character but, his entrance when he didn't have a manager and only talked in short sentences was always and still is impressive, you know he is the Phenom as soon as the gong hits.

With guys like Goldberg, Batista and Bobby Lashley these were guys who were undoubtedly impressive in the ring but, they were never great on the mic however, they all had great pyro and entrances. Batista had great music that actually sounded like it was done by a real band unlike half the roster and then he had that unique way of acting out like a machine gun or something when his pyro went off so you knew he was a bad ass straight away. Lashley's entrance was also impressive but, Goldberg's entrance has to be one of the best entrances in the history of WWE just the way you would see him leave his locker room and then the way he reacted to his pyro it was just awe -inspiring he only ever needed to say "You're Next!" ("Feed Me More!" ) and hit a spear and that would be enough because his entrance was fantastic.

However, Ryback's entrance to me (although is a lot better than it was...) needs a lot of work he needs his own lighting and some pyro. I know Ryan Reeves has like pyrophobia or whatever it is called because I've seen a lot of different superstars say it interviews for example Heath Slater but, they could have pyro go off when he's not near it like behind him as he walks down like an action hero walking away from an explosion without looking back or something. He just needs that extra bit of (for want of a better word) gumption behind him because him awkwardly banging his arms down on an invisible dinner table for more food at the moment looks just that in his entrance - awkward. I'd like to see him get the Sting or Undertaker treatment and get his own lighting or something because I know pyro would be difficult but, they should experiment with it and see if they can get him an improved entrance so he looks as good as possible for Sunday. Remember, this is a guy who is very likely not to say much more than the same three words until after Sunday he needs to look as impressive, give him a better entrance - Feed Me More.


ps. This is my first thread, I hope it works out... I like forward to hearing from people, I hope I do... I'll check back later on tonight. (I'm on UK time it's currently 9AM here...We've got some great fog on the go. Oh and we're all drinking tea with the Queen, I'm sure you were all wondering...) PPS... Sorry... For All... The Ellipses... and Parentheses.

 

[Leakee]

I think the greatest entrance of all time has to be Triple H just for the lighting, nowadays its just green but when he spurts out the water it flashes different colours. Every wrestler who is going to be propelled into the main event needs a good entrance. Not necessarily pyro but; most big guys have pyros; like you mentioned before: Goldberg, Lashley, Batista. Every superstar that does have pyro is unique. My favourite entrance with pyro is Kofi Kingston. So yeah I do believe Ryback would benefit from having pyro.