Ryback News: CM Punk Reaction, HHH Program Canceled, Survivor Series Match Changed

News

What’s up with the Big Guy’s push?

Ryback was in the midst of a major renewed push as a babyface, with a buildup before Survivor Series that ultimately made him a key part of Team Cena.

On the Monday Night Raw prior to Survivor Series, Ryback had a lengthy match against Cesaro that was very much a long, back and forth WWE style match. Ryback shines in shorter, squash matches, but has had troubles adjusting to the full length matches expected from main eventers.

The push for Ryback included a staredown with HHH, and there were reportedly plans to feature a Ryback/HHH program either at Royal Rumble 2015 or Wrestlemania 31.

This led to a reported change in the booking for the Elimination Tag match at Survivor Series, where Ryback was eliminated very early and quickly, and Dolph Ziggler survived to the end and ending up winning the match. Some say that Ryback was originally booked for the Ziggler slot and they were flip-flopped.

The push seemed to be back on the following Raw, as Ryback was booked to squash Mark Henry.

Then Ryback was buried by CM Punk on the “Art of Wrestling” podcast interview with Colt Cabana. Since then, Ryback made comments on Twitter that were later removed:

For the record if I quit for being fragile and insecure I would make up excuses too. Things didn’t go my way for a long time and I kept… Going day in and out. Slander is a powerful thing and to state complete made up nonsense for no reason shows his insecurities. I will… Continue to bust my ass study matches every chance I get, cut promos when driving and push myself for hours on end even when hurt. Thank you — The Big Guy (@Ryback22) November 28, 2014

Ryback still kept up a tweet showing a hilarious pic of multiple Ryback action figures taking out a CM Punk figure:
https://twitter.com/Ryback22/status/538068948278083584

His push remains up in the air. There are some indications that WWE is moving away from a Ryback/HHH program, and one has to wonder if that is because HHH is concerned about the injuries CM Punk sustained when facing off against Ryback.

Jonathan Widro is the owner and founder of Inside Pulse. Over a decade ago he burst onto the scene with a pro-WCW reporting style that earned him the nickname WCWidro. Check him out on Twitter for mostly inane non sequiturs