Ryback On What Promotion Rusev Should Sign With, Luke Gallows And Karl Anderson Going To Impact
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson were among the many COVID cuts from WWE in April. There was speculation that they would end up in AEW but it appears they are headed to Impact Wrestling and could debut at Slammiversary on July 18.
Ryback discussed his relationship with the Good Brothers and what they could bring to Impact on "Ryback TV Shooting Blanks Wrestling Report With Raj Giri."
"I've talked to Luke a little bit after he left. I started with him in Deep South Wrestling and I met Karl up there in WWE. I wasn't around him a lot but I remember I needed shaving cream one day to shave my head for TV," recalled Ryback. "This was me when I was f***ing fed up but I needed shaving cream as something happened and I lost my shaving cream and Karl Anderson gave me a can of shaving cream. It was right when they were pretty new and I go, 'He seems like a pretty nice guy.' He understood that need to shave your head. I couldn't go on TV without a fresh shaven head as a fellow bald guy. But I think it's a great pickup for Impact.
"It would be nice to see Impact ? and again, it sucks with no crowd ? I want all these guys to wrestle in front of people because that's the cool thing. They're just showing up at another company now with no crowd. It loses its appeal in a lot of ways but in the overall big picture, hopefully once people are back they'll have that moment."
He added that their signings help build the roster and bringing them in could help Impact bring in another big-name free agents.
"Not to say I don't know what Rusev's intentions are. I personally hope it's with AEW. I really think he's gonna be able to bolster that roster and give them another big man that can work with name value and help with the ratings," stated Ryback. "But Impact as well I want to do as well as possible. If there's room for three promotions, then great. It's more money for all the wrestlers and more entertainment for the fans. If the companies are really, really trying then it keeps them all on their toes. So, great pickup for Impact.
"It comes down to money too as they reshuffled everything. What they did is they brought in a lot of independent guys and they're probably not paying them a lot. But in order to grow you can't just have a bunch of independent guys getting over on each other; it makes it really tough. Not to say over time that those guys will get name value like with AEW. You look at Jurassic Express, I look at them entirely differently now than I did a year-and-a-half ago or year ago. They give them that value on TV over time. Hopefully Impact can keep bringing in some names because it helps."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Ryback TV Shooting Blanks Wrestling Report With Raj Giri with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.