Ryback On If If He Would Want To Work For AEW, Why John Morrison Should Not Join WWE NXT

Ryback has been one of the most outspoken former WWE Superstars and has revealed many of the skeletons in their closet. It would seem that he wouldn't ever want to return there but many other former Superstars have eventually made their way back.

The latest is John Morrison who has officially signed after weeks of rumors. Ryback talked about Morrison's WWE return with Wrestling Inc's Raj Giri on his Big Guy podcast.

"I've been around him and get along with him, but when I came up, I got hurt in Nexus and he was on his way out and then when I came back, he was already gone. But he's friends with me and [Dolph] Ziggler. He's friends with a lot of the guys that I am friends with and I am very happy for him," said Ryback.

"I wish WWE wouldn't announce stuff sometimes and just let it appear as a surprise. I would imagine that it wouldn't be that difficult you would think to bring a guy, send him to Pittsburgh, do all of that on a very low key, keep it private and then put him on a bus and then debut him. Give pro wrestling fans that very big surprise, but now everybody knows. So, even the surprise is not going to be the surprise that could be. The casual audience that doesn't read online doesn't know, but that audience is so small now and most of the hardcore are the internet fans that will watch and are going to be aware of it. I think sometimes they shoot themselves in the foot by announcing this stuff. I just don't understand it."

He then admitted that with all of the wrestling insiders, including Raj, that it's hard to keep this kind news under wraps. So maybe WWE wants to beat those non-WWE people to the punch by announcing it themselves instead of using Morrison's return as a surprise.

"I am happy for him, but one comment he said that I will never be as good as I am in pro wrestling, the only thing with that, and I get it, but it was almost like he was surrendering if that makes sense. That was the only thing when I saw that because he has done great for himself. He is staying so busy, but that is my own personal thing, that is what can happen though. It is how guys go back. It is a weird thing, man," stated Ryback. "He is a phenomenal pro wrestler, and most people are not good at anything their whole lives and he is an exceptionally great pro wrestler and it makes sense to want to go back to the biggest company and financially at this point in his life being married. I am sure he wants to start a family at some point so I am happy for him."

Ryback added that not only is this a great pickup for WWE, but it also prevents Morrison from going to AEW where he would have been a nice fit.

"With AEW that would have been a hell of a pickup for them. He is the perfect guy that could have went over there," said Ryback. "If you see the guys they have over there, there are only a handful of guys like Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, Cody Rhodes and you can throw Kenny Omega in there because he comes off as top-notch to me presentation-wise even though I don't know that much about him. Those four guys can only do so much and work with other guys.

"You see it when Jon Moxley works with Joey Janela, even though Moxley looks really strong, it helps Janela be in the ring with him and get the rub from Moxley, but they can only do so much with these guys and they don't have that many options. You need more guys like [Morrison] that you are still pushing and getting over and helping raise guys that are fresh and new. I think they need another 6-8 guys. I am not saying that they need to be top guys but they have to do a little work on that and he would have been a good pick up for them. But I am not sure if there ever was an offer, I don't know."

Ryback expects Morrison to rejoin the main roster and says it will be a major downgrade if he goes through NXT first.

"I will tell you just straight-up, Raj: there is no WWE in my opinion, once you have been on the main roster and performing in front of all those people I think it is a huge downgrade to go to NXT and perform in front of a small crowd, but that is me personally. Maybe there are others like Finn Balor or Kevin Owens where they came from NXT where there is some loyalty there, but there is nothing like performing in front of a large group of people," said Ryback.

"I will pick thousands over 400 every day of the week. That is not a knock that is just what that environment is. That is what developmental was before. Now it is not developmental but it is still the developmental crowd. I think once you have performed in front of the main roster of Raw and SmackDown, I think you will find ? and AEW is doing large arenas ? I think it is very rare to find another environment like that, energy-wise."

Speaking of AEW, Ryback would certainly be more receptive to talk and work with them than he would be with WWE.

"I'm very open about this, once I am completely healthy and I spoke with Chris Van Vliet about this, that once I am healthy, I am going to make the phone call to Cody Rhodes," revealed Ryback. "I feel that it is a travesty that CM Punk didn't go there because it would have been huge. I look at this in pro wrestling and what that company has done it is really disheartening, and for me personally, I am going to have to do a lot of self-reflecting. Do I go back and get what I want and go there and have some goals that I had and fulfill that or say, look at what this company has done? I have all this s**t that they have done to me personally. The stuff they put out, or I say, you know what, I want to be part of that team that may be part of the future and may become the change in pro wrestling. That is what all talent has to ask themselves when deciding between WWE and AEW.

"Again, AEW is very new and there are some things that they are doing that we may not agree on but they are trying their best. I look at it like we can be part of a major change for the future of human beings to be treated better and I think all wrestlers have to ask themselves that question. So, I am hoping AEW continues to do well because I think it is going to force WWE to change."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Conversations with the Big Guy Ryback with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Peter Bahi contributed to this article.