I write a professional wrestling column every Monday and Friday for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Today, I wrote about the situation of Ryback, the tweets he's been sending out and his career. The following is an excerpt:
Ryback is quickly becoming WWE's light version of Charlie Sheen circa 2011.
His goofy catchphrases and random rambles are grabbing attention. The difference is Charlie Sheen was in demand. Even when CBS fired him, people couldn't live without him, hence why he had no problem finding new employment that paid him top dollar.
The same can't be said for Ryback. The independent wrestling scenes paydays for “The Big Guy” will only last so long.
Over the past few days, he's had numerous tweets on his Twitter page which he then deletes soon after.
Tweets such as:
• “Forearm gave The Showoff a concussion. Excessive hand grip use n rock hard muscle is reported 2 have been the cause n has been disciplined”
• “Not only have you the internet community praised me for my power and strength, but you have taken notice of my technical abilities.”
• “You chant past World Champions names at me as I am a Champion of Champions in all your hearts so thank you. 2014 is our year.”
• “Did you know 1 in 3 online internet wrestling reporters go on to work for acclaimed establishments like Wall Street and Money Magazine.”
• “Internet BREAKING NEWS alert the dirt sheets ASAP Ryback was born a human and has a real name of Ryan Reeves! It is even on his twitter. WOW”
• “Ryback Fact: The Big Guy is a believer in Tweet n Delete. Nobody has ever deleted more tweets than the Human Wrecking Ball!”
• “Rumors circulating Ryback is being discussed to be the new Terminator in 2015. His ring entrance will soon include electricity and nudity.”
• “Stay tuned NEW Ryback The Big Guy t shirt coming soon! Ryback Rules shirt sold 750 thousand shirts in 2013. Thank you for making me rich.”
This is all after months of Ryback's booking on television declining in relevance. He started 2013 as the top babyface behind John Cena. He lost every big match he had, turned heel, lost some more, had rumors of being dangerous in the ring, became a Paul Heyman guy for a few weeks before being dropped and now is struggling to get television time to challenge the Intercontinental Champion who we know he won't beat.
The most recent headline was Ryback giving Dolph Ziggler a concussion last week via a clothesline.
Ryback is an example of a guy who is passionate about the business and isn't as good as he or WWE wishes he was. That's it. That's how you summarize it. He wants to defy the odds as does WWE, but he just can't cut it. Remember, this is a guy who was released once already from the company.
I've interviewed him and can say he's not in it just for the money. He's a wrestling fan and wants to be successful. WWE loved him because of his size. However, there's been no disguising his flaws and no disguising the fact WWE deep down knows he's not worth the long-term investment.
If WWE fully believed in him, why has he not won one world title in all of his main event matches? Not even the World Heavyweight Championship. WWE never went all the way with him because it knew something wasn't right.
Read the rest of the column for how Paul Heyman played into all of this and what's left for Ryback.
