I think the Ryback case has finally driven a well-overdue final nail into the coffin for me. Before anybody says anything, I'll go on record of saying that I'm not an IWC mark. I'm not some blindly loyal TNA mark looking for any chance I can get to urinate on any one product. I am a fan of professional wrestling, period - and I do understand that the 'E' is just that...Entertainment, and not even a shadow of the industry to which it used to be part and parcel. Also, this isn't a matter of "hey, just change the channel or turn it off". For me, this is me being tired of watching something I love dearly fail night after night because one man doesn't know when to shit or get off the pot or he just doesn't care anymore (if indeed he ever did).
What's happened to Ryback is terrible. It's absolutely disgusting to me. Sure, we could chalk it up to 'right place, wrong time', as that seems to be what's happened to him for the most part. The problem is, it's more than that. His start (as the Ryback character) was done right, in my opinion. He got to take his time and let the proverbial 'fish in the sea' grow acclimated to his presence and before long they started swimming with him. Before we knew it Ryback was over...and he was over HUGE. Before long, he was a reason for tuning in and a reason for shilling out the funds to pay for tickets and PPVs. In other words, he was putting asses in seats.
Then, the unthinkable happened. Cena had to take a shelf for a little bit and Ryback got to catch a rocket to the main event level and into a feud with CM Punk. His ovations were thunderous by this time and he was over on a level that hadn't been seen for a long time in the 'E'. One reason is because he was something different, something new. He was a much-needed change of pace in a time where 'the pace' was having to choke down Hulk Cena night after night along with every other fan in the building/living room/bar over the age of 10.
He was a welcome change, and we as fans let him know it every time he showed up to deliver the Shellshock. His only words in the rare cases he took a mic were the only words he ever needed: "Feed...me...MORE!". People on here can say what they want, but Ryback was RIDICULOUSLY over during that time, and he kept it up for a while. But here's where the problems start.
Some of you may agree with me, some of you may not...and some of you will certainly balk at the idea...but Ryback was screwed over. Not just by the Shield on-screen either. I believe that he was so over at that time that people over the age of 10 probably weren't going to care when John Cena made his imminent return. Of course not, and why should we have cared? We had Ryback now. But in the end, what Vince giveth, Vince taketh away. Ryback wasn't just knocked back down a few pegs like some who have entered the same kind of situation. No no no. He was buried. He was so hopelessly cast down, losing every single PPV match he ever participated in. No one has more big-match losses than this man. No one. They couldn't even let him go over Mark Henry at Mania 29. WTF.
In all actuality, he could have been just relegated back to the upper mid-card and continued his momentum there. Nope. Vince destroyed him. Say what you want about Vince being 'high' on him, but he has irreparably ruined Ryback. They made him a joke. Ryback is at a point now (especially with the whole Cryback thing) that I don't even think a 6 month vacation/reboot will save him. That means that there might be only one thing left for him...contractual release. I don't know about you, but if I like a guy as a wrestler and want to see him to good things, I certainly don't treat him like that.
I read an article not too long ago about Good Ol' JR 'dispelling' the talk about why people are/are not pushed. It may be JR (legitimately one of my favorite people in the industry and one of my inspirations for wanting to be a part of it) who said that stuff, but I don't believe it. He said it was all about things like: "Some people just don't have 'it'", "Some people just don't work hard enough", and other things too. My problem with this thesis is that there are some WRESTLERS who work for that company who have 55-gallon drums of 'it' and who bust their asses night in and night out, "paying their dues", and still end up languishing in obscurity for all their troubles.
Ryback was a prime case for this. And you know something, there's something I believe in more than what anybody writing an article can presume to tell me - the fans. The proverbial 'asses in seats'. The people who paid money to be in those arenas night after night. Listen to their reactions to things sometime. We as fans are the measuring stick of what's good to us and what isn't. We always have been. The 'E' forgot that and now their ratings are actually declining and I'm pretty sure things may or may not be slowing down in others areas as well. I don't know, maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm just old school.
A lot of really good talent gets released yearly. Some get released for legit problems like causing scenes on airplane trips and drug problems and other issues. My problem is that some people get released simply because the 'E' just doesn't have anything for them to do. No stories to participate in. I fear that's what's in store for Ryback.
At the end of the day, these guys are just men and women trying to hold down a job and support a family like you or me. Vince's 'creative A.D.D.' comes at the costs of those jobs. That's something that, as a blue-collar man myself, pisses me off. This is made even worse by the 'monopoly', meaning there's not many other places where these guys can take their craft and there skill. It's tragic and I hope it doesn't happen to Ryback. That guy deserves a title run, at least one good one.
Sorry that was a long rant, but it needed to be said. Just something I'm tired of seeing. Maybe Ryback is the guy Vince isn't seeing money in.
