The Big Guy: Victim of Booking or Victim of Himself?

   In the history of professional wrestling, many times wrestlers have been stymied by the way they were booked, yet many were also their own worst enemies.  It could even be argued that some wrestlers were privy to both.  I'm of the camp that believes this particular set of circumstances happened to WWE's former resident "Big Guy," the man known as Ryback.  While in many ways he sabotaged himself, there were also several times where booking was clearly an issue.

   In 2004, WWE started their fourth season of Tough Enough, a reality show based on potential wrestlers trying to gain a WWE contract.  One of those contestants was Ryan Reeves, the man who would become Ryback years later.  Along with him were others that went on to receive WWE contracts, such as Mitch from the Spirit Squad, and the most successful Tough Enough alumni to date, The Miz.  Meanwhile, winner Daniel Puder didn't work out at all.  Reeves was able to get a contract with WWE's farm system at the time, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW).  In 2007, Reeves was repackaged as Ryback, a Terminator type persona, a machine that felt no pain and would destroy everyone in his path.  In 2008,  he was signed to an official WWE contract and sent to their new farm system, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW).  In FCW, he was repackaged once again as Skip Sheffield, a cowboy gimmick.  

   In early 2010, WWE ended their "ECW" brand and started NXT.  NXT at the time, was designed to be a game show, much like Tough Enough, where the winner would get a full-time WWE main roster contract.  The contestants were deemed as "rookies" and were assigned to WWE wrestlers (pros).  The contestants participated in various elimination contests until there was a winner.  One of those contestants was Reeves, still using the Skip Sheffield name.  His pro was William Regal and he was the third person eliminated from the show.  His cowboy gimmick was obnoxious and did not connect with the audience.

   In June of that year, a week after NXT ended, Sheffield and the other eliminated contestants joined winner Wade Barrett on Raw and attacked John Cena and CM Punk during their match. They attacked several other WWE personnel at ringside and completely destroyed the ring and everything around it.  The next week, they were named the Nexus. Due to how they felt they were treated during NXT, they vowed to stick together and get WWE contracts together and wreak havoc.  That's exactly what the Nexus did.  However, Sheffield was sidelined with an injury months later and was written out of the group. His injury kept him out of the ring until the end of 2011, and by that time, the Nexus had been disbanded.  He started appearing at House Shows upon return but was not used on television yet.

   In April 2012, Reeves reverted back to the Ryback character.  He debuted as a monster babyface.  He ended his matches in mere minutes using his brute strength.  After each match, he would yell out his signature catchphrase "Feed Me More," implying he wanted more competition.  At first, he was taking on preliminary wrestlers, or jobbers, to those in the know.  After a while, he started asking for two-on-one matches and he had no problem dispatching two opponents either.  To end matches, he'd unleash his finisher Shell-Shocked.  It was even more impressive when he did it to two men at once.  He went on to defeat teams like Hunico & Camacho and Curt Hawkins & Tyler Reks.  He progressed very slowly at first, starting with rivals like Jinder Mahal and defeated Intercontinental Champion at the time, The Miz, in several non-title contests.

   By October, Ryback started confronting WWE Champion CM Punk after Punk attacked Mick Foley, threatened Jim Ross, and brawled with Vince McMahon himself.  Ryback was then chosen in favor of John Cena to face CM Punk at Hell In a Cell.  In my opinion, this was the first mistake.  Thrusting him into the spotlight so fast was bad enough, but the events that followed really hurt Ryback.  He was screwed out of winning the Title in the Cell against Punk after a low blow, followed by a fast count by special referee Brad Maddox, destroying his impressive undefeated streak.

   During a Triple Threat Match for the WWE Title against Punk and Cena at Survivor Series, he was attacked by The Shield.  If you're going to push someone into a headliner, you have to either go all in right away or do a progressive push.  By inserting Ryback, WWE backed themselves into a corner. He almost had to win!  However, this was during CM Punk's impressive year-plus long Title reign.  If Cena wasn't available, someone else should have been used in his place before Ryback. Since Ryback was used, I believe he needed big wins.  Brock Lesnar debuted and destroyed opponents and won the WWE Title in mere months and was looked at as a main event wrestler ever since.  Ryback kept losing and by losing significant matches, he was losing momentum.

   After the 2013 Royal Rumble, in which he was last eliminated by winner John Cena, Ryback got into a feud with "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry.  To me, this looked to be Ryback's way of getting his momentum back.  Until that time, Ryback hadn't faced anyone Henry's size before. People wondered if he would be able to perform Shell-Shocked to the 400 lb Henry. That was basically the selling point of their upcoming match at WrestleMania XXIX.  Would Ryback be able to life Henry and defeat him?  During their match, Ryback lifted Henry into position to execute the move that put away many opponents before.  The veteran Henry held onto the ropes and crashed down upon Ryback, ultimately defeating him.  After the match, Ryback did execute his move to Henry but it was too little, too late!  While the site was impressive, the result should have been executing the move and defeating Henry.  Once again, Ryback's booking took him another step back.

   As if I thought this was the worst thing that could happen to Ryback, it got even worse the next night on Raw.  He turned on the one man who at the time, ran through everyone and who's booking protected him against losses, John Cena.  I admire and respect John Cena and I know nothing was his decision, but his opponents rarely got their heat back in a feud with him.  Turning Ryback heel was bad enough, but turning him heel on Cena of all people just dug his own grave.  He went on to three straight defeats by Cena at PPV's.

   That was the end of the line for Ryback and he never recovered.  He began portraying a bully and took advantage of smaller opponents.  He arrogantly started referring to himself as "The Big Guy."  In what I'm sure creative looked at as an effort to bring him back up, he was paired with Paul Heyman. By this time, Heyman had severed ties with CM Punk and was using Ryback as his backup after Brock Lesnar took some time off.  Ryback was defeated several more times by Punk. Heyman teamed Ryback with another client, Curtis Axel and they became known as Rybaxel. They very seldom won matches and this went on until Ryback's hernia surgery in the Summer of 2014.

   When Ryback returned to action, he was a babyface once again, doing the same routine that he started with.  He finally won a Championship in May 2015 in the Elimination Chamber when he won the Intercontinental Title.  Four months later, he lost the Title to Kevin Owens.  By year's end, he turned heel again, by walking out on his partners Kane and the Big Show.  He went back to his bully character and starting picking on the much smaller Kalisto. However, Kalisto defeated Ryback in their match at the WrestleMania XXXII Pre-Show.  A few months later, he was gone from the company.

   While his booking was certainly questionable, many have stated he was not liked backstage.  He was seen as somewhat of a crybaby and arrogant at times.  He was also known for being fairly stiff against opponents and was accused of hurting several other wrestlers.  He was seen as reckless after he gave Dolph Ziggler a concussion due to a botched Clothesline.  Due to this, CM Punk called him unsafe and had a problem with "The Big Guy."  Then again, Punk had problems with many others, but that's neither here nor there.  Since he left WWE, however, all Ryback has done is slander the company.  That certainly hasn't done him any favors!

   While there are several examples of questionable booking for the man, was this why he never became much in the company?  Being a professional wrestler is a job, however, and generally with a job, you do what your boss tells you to do.  Sometimes you just have to ride it out and try not to complain too much.  Were his attitude and "unsafe" label his downfall?  I really think it was a little bit of both!  During Ryback's slow rise in 2012 up until his sudden main event push, I was a fan of the character.  The big push that resulted in losses, his loss to Mark Henry, and heel turn were in my opinion things that stalled his momentum.  However, his attitude may have also been a problem.  So the question remains, was Ryback a victim of booking or a victim of himself?

If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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