Steve Carrier on February 12, 2018
Ryback says he’s still dealing with some ankle issues which stem back to a surgery he had while he worked for WWE. He points out that Dr. James Andrews is the best in the world, and that’s who performs most of these surgeries for WWE. In his case, WWE tried to save money and put the surgery in the hands of a “piece of s***” who had no idea what he was doing. He completely botched the surgery and has since been released from the company.
After he returned from the surgery, WWE thought he was “damaged goods” and tried to fire him. He had to get lawyers involved just to save his job. He adds that during basically his entire WWE run, he was working on an ankle that was only at 70%.
A listener writes into the show and mentions that Ryback’s career in WWE seemed to start deteriorating after his WrestleMania 29 match against Mark Henry, when WWE booked him to fall flat on his face and have Henry land on him – completely embarrassing him in the process. Ryback eventually turned heel after this and things appeared to go downhill. The listener asks Ryback if he thinks he would have become WWE Champion if he would have remained a babyface.
Ryback says that WWE pushed him to a certain degree for 7 months, but then completely pulled the rug out from underneath him. They turned him heel but he could feel that people still wanted to react to him as a babyface for a while after his turn. He doesn’t think his push was ever supposed to end in a Title run because WWE never pulled the trigger in terms of pushing him really strong. Nonetheless, he doesn’t care that he never became World Champion because it’s a scripted show and Title holders are determined by writers.
He mentions that fans often ask him if he’d every consider a return to WWE, and at this point he simply can’t see that happening. He doesn’t have a drive or desire to be famous, and he’s very happy in life right now. He’s making good money working on the indies, and he’s able to book his own schedule.
Ryback points out that there’s been a lot of speculation lately that Triple H will soon take on a bigger role in WWE. He believes Triple H’s role has steadily increased over the last couple of years. He also points out that the consensus from people he’s talked to from within the company is that it seems like Vince McMahon is preparing to sell WWE.
Speaking about the negative reaction fans have been giving Jason Jordan recently, Ryback says he thinks it’s wrong for fans to attack Jordan because they perceive him to be undeserving of the position he’s been given in WWE. He thinks Jordan’s injury came at an unfortunate time, and he advises Jordan to ensure he’s completely healed before returning. He points out that if Jordan rushes back and re-injures himself, WWE won’t take care of him.
Ryback comments on the dwindling viewership numbers for WWE’s Mixed Match Challenge. He points out that the numbers might not be great, but WWE is still getting new eyes on the product each week and that might lead to new Network subscribers. In that sense, he’s sure WWE’s happy with it.
Dolph Ziggler made his return to WWE recently, entering the Royal Rumble at number 30 a couple of weeks ago. Ryback is good friends with Ziggler and he wishes Ziggler would leave WWE altogether, at least for a couple of years. He points out that Ziggler would make great money on indies, and he’d be able to devote some of his time to his other interests such as comedy.
He understands that Ziggler continues to stay with WWE because they pay him well, but Ryback thinks it’d be beneficial for him to get away from the spotlight of WWE for a while.
That sums up today’s episode of Conversation With the Big Guy. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya next week for another recap!
February 12, 2018 11:34 pm
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