During the inaugural episode of Ryan Reeves’ (Ryback) podcast Conversation with The Big Guy, the former WWE Superstar discussed the fact that some believe he failed when put into the main event slot against CM Punk after John Cena was forced out with an injury:
“That always kind of upset me too, when people say I failed in the main event. I thoroughly succeeded in the main event and I proved myself. I was not put in the main event though to be the man. I was booked into an unfortunate situation where I’m pulled, I’m put into Cena’s spot, who Cena at the time was supposed to work Punk to put Punk over with all that. Put in that situation, where you take the undefeated streak and you put me in there. And also, at that point, I’d not had long matches and I could. I wrestled in developmental for years. That was never an issue. It was the image we’re creating on TV is this guy kills people and then you’re taking that and going against these local guys and whatnot, and then you’re putting me in the ring with a guy like Punk. And no offense to Punk, Punk was extremely talented and he’s a hell of a wrestler. And despite what people might think, I do respect him for his wrestling ability and the things that he did in the WWE. But you take me and how I look and you’re putting me in the ring with him after doing all that and now you’re asking us to do a whole different style and the people were not conditioned to that. And it was also horrible booking from that point on in my career. I think I lost the next seven pay-per-view matches or the next six. And during that time, I was the number two merchandise seller in the WWE, which a lot of people don’t know about.”
Ryback went on to state that the WWE should attempt to make all of it’s talents look strong and try and put them over:
“The WWE’s mission and goal should be, from top to bottom, from the lowest Superstar on the totem pole to the highest Superstar on the totem pole, is to go out there and make sure that each individual Superstar’s brand is as strong as possible. They should be invested from the lowest guy to the top guy. Everybody is f–king important in that company and it’s not fair. And you have your guys who are making your money because that is the way you’re portraying it and I get that, but everybody is important and for a guy to be limited and told no he can’t have outside opportunities, that only hurts your own brand from a company standpoint. The stronger your individual brands are, the stronger your company is. And I don’t think they understand that or they do and they just don’t care and it’s frustrating. And I’m not the only guy.”
While Ryback admitted he will continue to wrestle he claims he only continues to compete for the pure love of the sport, as he no longer needs the money:
“I don’t have to wrestle anymore. I am fine financially, very well off, and I’ve done [well] for myself. I’m doing this because I love this and I absolutely want to go out and prove to everybody I didn’t agree with WWE’s business model and where they had me throughout my career there. I’m going to go out, and I can’t control how much time I’m given when I show up, I can only show up and do what I’m allowed. Now, I have full control and I’m going to go out and show all these doubters and prove to everybody how good I am, like I did there.” Reeves continued, “I’m going to go out there and prove [to] them all that I am the number one big guy out there and they’re going to see it firsthand.”
(All transcribed quotes courtesy of Wrestling Inc.)
