What do you think of Rybacks push?

[MartialHorror]

Since his return, they're kind of booking him as the new Roman Reigns...which should be very interesting once Roman Reigns actually returns. I'm not entirely sure I like it, but I do appreciate that the jobbers being fed to Ryback are coming out looking okay.

The Heath Slater bit was kind of funny, Titus O'Neil actually looked very dominant for awhile and Cesaro put up a good fight. You don't see that very often when their job is to merely put Ryback over.

On the other hand, I find it bizarre how much focus he's getting right now. Rusev at least had a slow build, but Ryback is being treated like the next big thing when it wasn't that long ago he was jobbing to Reigns in handicap matches. I struggle buying that.

Furthermore, I thought Ryback was made to look like kind of an asshole during this last RAW. He joins the authority because they're the ones who "sign his checks", meaning he sold out, in total contrast to Ziggler valiantly resisting temptation. Then he turned on them for petty reasons. Yeah, they're annoying and Kane interrupted his match...Those are crappy motivations?

Here is my favorite part: Adam Rose did the EXACT same thing earlier that night and we were supposed to boo him. If anything, Rose seemed more sympathetic because the bunny jumped in for no reason, whereas at least Kane got hit and merely lost his temper.

So...I don't know. Awhile back I complained about how the Fandango-Layla-Summer situation backfired for me because Fandango seemed oddly sympathetic even though we were supposed to boo him. At times, Rusev seems to be the hero based on how he has been booked...But this might even be worse than that and now I kind of want to see Ryback get his ass kicked.

What do you think? Is this current push working for you? I don't mind the idea of a Ryback push, but WWE is bungling it for me...which seems to be a habit of theirs lately.

 

[Its Clobberin' Time]

I like the way they're trying to keep us guessing as to whether he will be face or heel...i just think it feels forced like last time! Keep it simple, have him join team Cena and DONT have him turn on him and the team at Survivor Series.

 

[Mustang Sally]

On the other hand, I find it bizarre how much focus he's getting right now. Rusev at least had a slow build, but Ryback is being treated like the next big thing when it wasn't that long ago he was jobbing to Reigns in handicap matches. I struggle buying that.

I do, too. At first glance, it seems they've gone back to Day One with Ryback; to the very beginning when he was taking on two tomato cans at once and coming off as the most fearsome monster on the planet. But it isn't really the same; his attitude is identical to what we remember when he first started, but his opponents have been tougher. Yes, it's obvious none of the guys in this rejuvenation period are going to beat Ryback, but at least he's not coming off as invincible. Still, you have to wonder how his time off made him so damn scary again.....apparently, a vacation can do wonders for a person's state of mind.

He joins the authority because they're the ones who "sign his checks", meaning he sold out, in total contrast to Ziggler valiantly resisting temptation. Then he turned on them for petty reasons.

While it does sound hypocritical, it's probably not a bad strategy for a heel who's depicted as laying waste to everything in front of him. I wondered what Ryback was doing joining the Authority when he came back as a face. But then, I question whether a character like him could ever fully be a good guy, even if that's his intent. His waffling between the two teams could spell 'tweener status for him, someone who simply can't be trusted, no matter what his stated mission.....and I believe that would be a good direction for Ryback.

 

[No Count Pup]

Ryback is in sync with his character; Roman Reigns is still developing his own. That's why it's easier for Ryback to connect with an audience than Reigns.

Ryback could be a dark horse to win the Royal Rumble. While Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania sounds good, I think Ryback vs. Lesnar could establish Ryback as WWE's next resident beast.

In terms of wrestling characters, Ryback falls in the tradition of menacing muscle heads like The Ultimate Warrior, Goldberg, and Brock Lesnar. I'm not saying Ryback is on their level yet, but he could get there. Reigns isn't menacing, he is more of a "face of the company" type like John Cena and The Rock. I think WWE should book Cena vs. Reigns and Lesnar vs. Ryback at WrestleMania.

WWE needs larger than life figures: Ryback fits the bill. The only thing that can derail WWE’s next cash cow is WWE.

 

[TDFG]

I'd like to see Ryback have a few matches that aren't squashes, his match against Cena was ok, but Ryback needs to be tested to see if his in ring ability has improved and if he won't gas after 5-10 minutes.

They've kind of rebooted the character, if he gets the crowd eating out of the palms of his hands over the next couple of months he might just have to be pushed up the card come RR & WM.

 

[Stan Hansen]

Ryback has all the potential in the world to be a top face if booked properly. Yes he does lack some mic skills but he doesn't need them with his current character and the character has been over once before. I firmly believe it could be even more over this time if they do it right. He needs to be booked more similar to how Reigns was pre-injury. He's a big, strong powerful guy. Book him that way and to support those strengths. He connects with the fans in different ways and that's more important than cutting some stupid scripted promo.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I think one big reason why Ryback is getting pushed towards what will ultimately be a babyface role is because WWE needs strong babyfaces right now. John Cena's obviously a strong babyface, Dean Ambrose is a tweener as Orton will be upon his return. With Reigns on the shelf and Bryan out until sometime next year, they need a guy with some momentum with fans heading into Survivor Series. WWE went back to square one with Ryback and, thus far, it's paying off.

Now whether or not Ryback will sustain momentum is another thing entirely. If the reports are true, Ryback's push was stopped because of his poor representation of the company during autograph sessions, general unwillingness to go out & promote WWE to local media and that he continued to injure other wrestlers despite being asked to be more careful.

 

[The Samoan Heritage]

I enjoyed how they booked Ryback on Monday. In 2012, Ryback was booked as this "cyborg" like person that just came out chanted 3 words over and over and demolished his opponents. When Ryback went heel (mainly when he join Heyman and Axel) Ryback showed personality, and was actually pretty entertaining as a heel. I'm glad that ryback is getting a second chance, and that even though wwe basically pushed the redo button they are allowing Ryback to keep his personality that he had as a heel.
Honestly if wwe books Ryback right I could actually seem him becoming the face of the wwe with the help of the fans. Reigns is going to be pushed as the next face no matter what, but if he dont learn how to interact with the crowd, I could easily see the fans forcing Ryback into Reigns's place.
If Ryback and reigns are going to get pushed as the top faces with Cena(and Orton) they need to get a major win at Wrestlemania. This is how I see it:
Orton vs Lesnar
Cena vs Reigns
Ryback vs Rusev

 

[L@RISANO]

Like JH, I feel as though this is a temporary push for Ryback and his place will most likely be on the Upper MidCard....say he is in line to take over the role held by the likes of Mark Henry, Kane and the Big Show. The fact that he has the "Feed Me More" chants to feed off of, and also how quickly fans have taken to him given he was jobbing hard a few months ago, means that he will be a handy guy to have on the roster as the likes of the Miz and Dolph Ziggler are.


Ultimately I might be wrong, and the WWE might see him as a true Main Event talent, but I think that will be clearer by the time the year ends and the Royal Rumble is upon us.

 

[Navi]

Like JH, I feel as though this is a temporary push for Ryback and his place will most likely be on the Upper MidCard....say he is in line to take over the role held by the likes of Mark Henry, Kane and the Big Show. The fact that he has the "Feed Me More" chants to feed off of, and also how quickly fans have taken to him given he was jobbing hard a few months ago, means that he will be a handy guy to have on the roster as the likes of the Miz and Dolph Ziggler are.

Ultimately I might be wrong, and the WWE might see him as a true Main Event talent, but I think that will be clearer by the time the year ends and the Royal Rumble is upon us.

I kinda feel the same way as the above. With the injuries to Bryan, Reigns and now Orton out filming a movie, the WWE is in desperate need of faces. That wasn't more apparent on Monday when my friends and I were struggling to find a fifth person for Team Cena. We have lots of heels, not enough faces of note on the roster.

Once Reigns and Bryan return, I think you'll see him dropped back down a peg or two. And depending on the back stage antics, that will go a long way in determining how he is treated.

Interesting though, he is back, but Curtis Axle is still MIA. I thought he was out because his tag team partner was, which didn't make a lot of sense. Now Ryback is back and still no sign of Axle.

 

[L@RISANO]

I kinda feel the same way as the above. With the injuries to Bryan, Reigns and now Orton out filming a movie, the WWE is in desperate need of faces. That wasn't more apparent on Monday when my friends and I were struggling to find a fifth person for Team Cena. We have lots of heels, not enough faces of note on the roster.

Once Reigns and Bryan return, I think you'll see him dropped back down a peg or two. And depending on the back stage antics, that will go a long way in determining how he is treated.

Interesting though, he is back, but Curtis Axle is still MIA. I thought he was out because his tag team partner was, which didn't make a lot of sense. Now Ryback is back and still no sign of Axle.

Indeed.

As for Axel; apparently they broke up in a 'good' manner and have decided to go their seperate ways. Ryback is obviously being pushed because he had a handy fall-back option to get over again, Axel on the other hand has nothing and is thus off TV for now at least until they find some use for him.

 

[Mudlup50]

I like it and really am glad for the injury(which is a sad thing to say). Before he left he was a jobber, he'd job to tag teams and singles guys in handicap matches. Now he comes back and he's this monster. While I think his promo at the start needed a little work, it was great seeing them push somebody new in that spot as they have been for the last month or so. This week Ryback, couple weeks back Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins before that and regardless it makes me glad that Lesnar is gone. Ryback was the main attraction on Raw, you could argue it was team Cena v team Authority but they were fighting over Ryback! This guy who was a jobber a season ago.

Anyway, I liked when he said but I don't see John Cena's name on the bottom of my paychecks. It's a very good point to be made, why should he fight against the authority? Like seriously? Because John Cena said so? How many of us would fight our boss if a coworker did, especially if that coworker only has 2 guys in his corner. Ryback was being smart siding with the Authority! But then later on we had his little promos with guys like Kane saying "Ryback, you're under me!" Ryback doesn't need to be under somebody else, especially when they pushed Rollins over Kane a few months back.

Throughout the night he was given reasons to dislike his teammates and again, it makes sense. Why should he team with the guy who embarrassed him a year and a half ago at Wrestlemania? People complain about Rusev joining team Authority, yet Ryback had history with just about everyone of his partners. Then when they interrupted his match, Triple H had said that tonight was about Ryback doing what Ryback does best, not about the Authority yet who came out? Who cost him the match?!

In theory it makes sense, Ryback wanted to prove himself as the Big Guy by beating the number one contender, yet the Authority who have been badmouthing him all night, cost him that chance. So I'm all for this, I'm so glad to see he's doing something and I was pleasantly surprised with his in ring work on Raw! Ryback's character makes sense because now he's a lone gun! The complete opposite of what he was before with Axel. Now he fights who he wants! Great job on the WWE's part here, you had me interested all Raw

 

[MCMG]

It's a reboot for Ryback but it has worked. His absence magically made people miss him. He has received great reactions since his return and the main thing is keeping up the momentum.

I understand why he is getting a push. While they do need tag-teams, I think it is fair to say that both Axel and Ryback have uses elsewhere. Ryback getting a push makes sense. His character doesn't suit being a mid-carder.

Ultimately, in the short-term it will provide us with short yet entertaining matches. In the medium-term Ryback can show some of his in ring skills and hopefully some of his personality. In the long-term: someone gets to beat him. That might be a cynical way of looking at it but I'd be fine with them building him up only for someone like Rusev beating him.

Ryback is capable. He CAN have good matches with the right opponent. Not the Mark Henry and Big Show's of this world. Give him good opponents for his longer matches and he will be fine. The key, I think, that will separate this run with his others is hopefully the chance for him to show some personality. He has done a few entertaining things in the past through various mediums: lets see if he can do it on TV and then the WWE will have a legit main-event babyface on their roster.

 

[WimpyKid4Life]

I kind of wish it was Cesaro in Ryback's spot right now. He is the King of Wrestling and one of my favorite superstars on the roster. His matches are just fun to watch and its as simple as that. Cesaro can swing John Cena like a rag-doll and get a huge ovation! Or he could hit Kane with his UFO move and it would get an even bigger reaction!!! Realistically speaking, both teams should want Cesaro's services because he is a BEAST, but instead we got Kane telling him he was expecting for Ryback and Cena hasn't even pitched an offer. He is an international superstar who can speak 5 languages. Could you imagine if last Monday's Raw in the UK was built around Cesaro instead of Ryback?! The crowd would go WIIILLLDDD!!!! But its still entertaining with Ryback, so I'm not really bothered by it. At least it lets us know that the WWE isn't afraid to give Superstars a second chance. Hopefully that means that in 2015 we could see Big E battling Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Title or Kofi Kingston roaming around with the Money In The Bank contract on his hands.#FeedMeMore

 

[kadroan]

I'm fine with the push. I'm so glad they're capitalizing on Ryback's new found popularity when they were cheering for him in his hometown a couple of weeks ago.

I see they're thin on main event faces so turning him was smart to do. I just hope he doesn't be another transitional guy in the main event, holding a spot down in the main event until the guy they want to push returns (Cena in 2012, Reigns in 2014?).

I'd rather for them to use Ryback to elevate the US Championship division since Rusev doesn't really have any legit competitors going forth once he beats Sheamus again.

 

[GeminiGarlord]

Not a fan

I don't like him as a character (We never needed a shittier Goldberg, as much as we never needed a regular Goldberg), I find him quite boring in the ring, and on top of that I'm seriously afraid he could end up hurting someone.

 

[MartialHorror]

I do feel Ryback tries too hard to do catch phrases. I'm fine with "Feed Me More", but I feel he says it too often in his matches and "Finish it" is unnecessary.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

What do you think of Rybacks push?

Time will tell, but dont think it will hold. They had chance to get that push right 2 years ago and didnt do it right. He was booked week and lost every PPV he could lose. After that he lost heat and kinda depushed. Dont blame them, guy was bit stiff and he was "thrown to fire" and kinda burned out and didnt rose as phoenix.

Now he gets kinda second chance, but dont think it will hold. As soon as Reigns, Bryan, Orton and others come back he will be back to midcard. Plus, watched RAW this monday. His reaction(even when he did swerve) was laughable. Partially due to WWE because you cant just put someone and say to audience "cheer him" if audience isnt behind him and wasnt given time for some build were auidence would stand behind him, and partially because of Ryback himself because eventhough he was thrown in fire he didnt hold that good.

 

[Aquaman6686]

Ryback as a top babyface is just a sad joke. He has no talent and no charisma. As a midcard heel he served a purpose, and he was actually learning from working with Curtis Axel. Now it looks like WWE is going to re-make the same mistake they made two years ago, by pushing Ryback to the top and trying to make him a credible main eventer. The only way to salvage Ryback is to have him make a double turn. Keep teasing his allegiance for the next few weeks, then on the RAW or SmackDown before Survivor Series, have him take out the entire Authority and join Team Cena, only to betray Cena at Survivor Series and join the Authority after assuring their victory.

 

[MartialHorror]

I actually think Ryback has a lot of charisma....Although admittedly being next to Curtis Axel for so long helps...I personally think they should've done something where Axel and Ryback enter some sort of feud. Axel's absence is a bit too strange.

 

[Terry Silver]

problem with ryback is he is super ugly. he is obviously on juice and i dont care what the wellness policy says, he looks like he is gonna stroke out.

actually i liked juiced up wrestlers, im old school.

 

[kumarjtk]

last time ryback push was disaster, bcoz they already made punk vs rock for wwe title. Even his mainevent push came bcoz of cena injury. So wwe didnt have any plan for ryback unless he loss. More than that he heavily used by sheild story. He is the one who takes more triple powerbomb than others.
But now he repackaged and immediately put in mainevent spot. My idea is he never go against top face.

 

[HeroForHire]

They are trying to tease Ryback as a heel or face and they are trying to get him over as a face. With a lack of babyfaces the WWE is hurting for them right now. I think they are trying to recreate the magic they first had with him when they dropped the ball with him.

It isn't looking good for him though if you ask me. If he joins Team Cena I am expecting them to drop a L to Team Authority. So far you have Cena, Ziggler, Big Show and Sheamus. Team Authority as Rollins, Rusev, Kane, and Mark Henry. Team Authority has more time invested in their wrestlers. Rusev has yet to be pinned and Rollins has been a big roll lately. They might throw Luke Harper in the mix. If they do then I see those three being the last three standing.

I think they are building up Rybac now so they can use him to build up those guys.

 

[blueskyy]

I'm unsure. His matches have being good so far, especially the one with Titus O'Neil and Kane. I wonder if anyone is coaching him backstage. Character wise, he's pretty much an asshole. I don't know how that's supposed to work when he's a face.

 

[Im4Ryback]

Ryback as a top babyface is just a sad joke. He has no talent and no charisma. As a midcard heel he served a purpose, and he was actually learning from working with Curtis Axel. Now it looks like WWE is going to re-make the same mistake they made two years ago, by pushing Ryback to the top and trying to make him a credible main eventer. The only way to salvage Ryback is to have him make a double turn. Keep teasing his allegiance for the next few weeks, then on the RAW or SmackDown before Survivor Series, have him take out the entire Authority and join Team Cena, only to betray Cena at Survivor Series and join the Authority after assuring their victory.

What do you mean he had a purpose as a mid card heel what purpose that he could lose everything, he is a much better face and should stay that way. They shouldn't turn him heel again because Ryback as heel just sucks. He is way tougher as a face.