Ryback Reveals His WWE Downside; Talks Vince McMahon, What Went Wrong In WWE, Possible Return
As noted, former WWE Superstar Ryback appeared on Busted Open. During the appearance, Ryback talked about his relationship with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and he reflected on what went wrong in his WWE run.
On his relationship with McMahon, 'The Big Guy' indicated that it was more negative than positive.
"I've had a lot of good conversations with Vince, but he [has] also lied to me time and time again. It's just, he's a business man and he [has] dealt with everybody from top to bottom for how many years now? And he fights to live another day and I just didn't appreciate the lies, personally." Ryback added, "we had some cool moments and I developed a little bit of a relationship with Vince and I talked with him quite a bit, but a lot of it was more negative than positive."
As for what went wrong in his WWE run, the former Skip Sheffield cited mostly creative differences with the company. Notably, Ryback described experiencing a glass ceiling.
"It stems from my ankle injury, that I was never supposed to be there. And I thought that I was able to stay there, have a chance to live my dream, and I was never going to be allowed to have any amount of success there past what they wanted me to have." Ryback said, "and I always asked them just to be honest and respectful with me because I gave them everything that I have. I don't need to be champion all the time. That was never my [modus operandi]. But it was, 'guys, don't throw me out there to lose in two minutes on a SmackDown for no reason, just because I'm not in your little circle of plans for the time being'. Like, 'protect me better than that. Come on!'"
During the interview, the former Rybaxel member claimed that the company would cool off his momentum and would not allow characters and angles to fully develop before changing directions. Also on the subject of being poorly booked, Ryback mentioned that he lost every big match he had in WWE.
"They had me lose in every big match that I was in, essentially, time and time again, and that conditions the crowd. It took a long time, mind you, to do this, but it conditioned them, slowly, [to ask] 'why are we going to cheer this guy? Why are we going to like this guy? He has everything, but he doesn't win when he needs to win.' Like, 'he's a loser'. And, like, that, that subconsciously plays in kids' minds and adults' minds and it didn't happen right away. It didn't happen nearly as quick as they wanted it to happen, but eventually it started happening."
The former WWE Intercontinental Champion took a chance on himself by leaving the world's biggest professional wrestling promotion and he insinuated that he would like to be so successful on his own that he can return to WWE on his own terms.
"I could either stay and let them keep doing what they're doing to me and make my $1.65 million downside for three years [$550,000 / year] or I could say, 'do you know what? I believe in myself. I trust myself. This is my life. I'm a creative human being and I'm going to go out and I'm going to be f–king successful without them. And then, I'm going to go back there and have it my way.' And that's what I'm doing right now and I don't care what anybody think, [or] what anybody says about me. I know the work I put in, the heart and the passion and the desire that I put into that. I gave them everything that I had and for them to s–t on me time and time again, I had the balls and the courage to say, 'do you know what? No thank you. There's more to life than money and I'm going to go prove that to you and the world."
Click here to listen to Ryback's comments. If you use any of the quotes that appear in this article, please credit Busted Open with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Busted Open