Why Ryback Seems Unlikely To Be The Next Goldberg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few weeks back after the debut of Ryback I joked that he was Brock Lesnar, and I wasn’t too far off.

 

As Addie and I sat watching Extreme Rules Ryback made his way down to the ring in an unadvertised match against two jobbers and something hit me. He had been on screen less than 2 seconds when I turned to Addie and said simply “Goldberg”. I don’t know why it suddenly hit me, but I guess I wasn’t the only one as once Ryback was in the ring the Chicago crowd started chanting “Goldberg…Goldberg…Goldberg…” mockingly at Ryback much to Addie’s and my amusement. Lesnar had some Goldberg chants directed at him during the early parts of his initial WWE run

 

But it is ok for the WWE to package someone and give him the Goldberg mannerisms and push, after all Goldberg’s last match anyone truly saw was at WrestleMania XX on March 14, 2004, which is just over 8 years now. Before that he was last in action in WCW in January of 2001, so he has only been active in the public eye one full calendar year out of the last eleven. In fact when you consider he started in 1997, he only had a total of 5 years ring time in between the WWE and WCW since he 1^st appeared on our screens 15 years ago.

 

So there is nothing wrong with Ryback getting a Goldberg type push in every single way or wrestling a similar style, in fact it’s actually a smart thing to do. And the fact that Goldberg chants have started following Ryback around (they’ve showed up since Extreme Rules as well) is less a shot at him and more a statement of just how powerful a character Goldberg was with such a short career and what a remarkable long lasting impression he made (I remember suggesting on a show last year Goldberg vs Undertaker, the 2 men with the most renowned streaks in wrestling history would be money at a Wrestlemania. My co-host said he doubts many would remember him. I think we see now that may not be the case). So I’m not saying don’t do it, I’m saying I think I know why it won’t work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Addie wrote a blog last year, and he suggested giving someone a Goldberg like push, and laid out how he would do it. I’m going to try and find the blog to put up again, but unfortunately it may be lost in the annals of WTW history, still we’ll see what we can do because after laying out how he’d build a new star Addie said who he’d use was the then injured Skip Sheffield of Nexus, now known as Ryback. So this isn’t a new idea for us over at WTW. I liked the idea then, and I like the idea now.

 

It’s just that I don’t think it will make for a new main eventer this time around. 15 years is a long time and a lot has changed in both the world (Universe?) of the WWE as well as in sports and culture, and it’s reflected in the fans. The perception of who’s going to win a fight has shifted, largely thanks to mma giant UFC. It’s no longer the strongest guy we think will win, but the most athletic and skilled. Almost everyone expected the much smaller Cain Velasquez to have his way with the much larger Brock Lesnar, except those in the WWE who couldn’t believe the result as Cain did away with Brock with no trouble at all. And that shift in perception means a guy like Ryback no longer carries the same mystique just with his look.

 

 

Goldberg was a huge muscled man, but there was even more jacked up guys in WCW who didn’t get over to nearly the same level, so it wasn’t just that at all, though it certainly contributed. Ryback I’d say is even more muscled than Goldberg, but Goldberg looked muscled while still managing to appear lean and athletic to some degree. Goldberg was quick and agile along with powerful for a man his size, Ryback just appears powerful. Goldberg had a few submission manoeuvres giving him the appearance of a more varied attack that had a real snap to it, Ryback has standard power moves. Goldberg’s timing was poor while he was green but improved to decent fairly quickly, while his instincts in front of a crowd and how to work them were natural. Ryback does the right things in front of the crowd for his character but seems very aware of what he is supposed to be doing all the time. Goldberg had a great look, incredible intensity and amazing charisma that helped with a fantastically booked push to get him over, while Ryback has a great look, strong intensity and the current WWE creative to get him over. Good luck.

 

So we’ve determined that Ryback isn’t as good a prospect as Goldberg. Fine. The Goldberg’s in this industry come along very rarely, I still think Ryback has great potential. But I think there’s something else holding him back that most don’t notice is becoming more of a hindrance

 

No one thinks Ryback is clean.

 

I know there’s a wellness policy in place in the WWE, which is more than can be said for TNA, but no one gets busted for it for anything other than painkillers.

 

 

Don’t get me wrong, painkillers are dangerous, but how many years has it been since a suspension has happened for something along the line of steroids? It’s a joke.

 

Even people we suspect may be on steroids in other sports don’t look like Ryback. Think about it. The most dangerous men on the planet are considered to be in the UFC, and only one of their heavyweights, Alistair Overeem, looks anything like Ryback. And surprise surprise, Overeem’s just been busted for steroids, and is hated for it.

 

It’s not 1997 anymore, when people weren’t as sensitive to the effects of steroids yet, and a lot has changed. The recent suicide of NFL great Junior Seau who competed in another high impact industry where the perception of the athletes taking performance enhancing drugs is suspected I think will shed the light on this even more. And I think Seau may not be the last of his age who we will see in such a tragedy. Hockey had a couple of enforcers who’s jobs it was just to fight take their own life recently as well.

 

 

So I believe the public perception of what the culture wants to see has changed. There’s been tons of jacked up guys in the wrestling industry who’ve failed to get over in the last few years, with only Batista really being the exception, and to a large degree he got over in 03/04 before issues came to light increasing awareness, while not being at his biggest when he was drawing the most money. Even John Cena, a massively muscled man, doesn’t have a build like Mason Ryan, Ezekiel Jackson or Ryback. Sheamus either. Sure the idea of David Otunga being clean smells about as nice as the south end of a donkey heading north but at least his gimmick is a lying cheating lawyer, and he’s not really that over anyway. I really just don’t think fans want to see this look any more, but  that the people in the WWE think they do.

 

At one time we would look at a jacked up guy and admire it much more than society does now, when we often think it just looks gross. We want to see a guy who looks like he works hard and is in great shape, but in a different way. And no I’m not foolish enough to think a leaner more athletic looking guy may not be doing things to enhance himself, but at least it’s not as bad as it is with many of the names I’ve put in this blog.

 

And I think that many wrestling fans are especially sensitive to the horror of what these performance enhancers do to ones body, much more so than any company they work for are. That’s highlighted by the death of he who shall not be named, as well as his best friend Eddie Guerrero, but also by the many other deaths in the business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll never forget the WWE crowd chanting steroids at Andrew “Test” Martin and him being released shortly after. He passed his wellness policy, and the chants weren’t the only reason he was let go, but it showed the audience was aware of what a joke the WWE testing was. He died not long after. Accidental overdose of oxycodone was said to be the cause, and his numerous concussions appeared to only add to it. He was just days from his 34^th birthday, and we can only speculate what else he ingested over the course of his life that helped to contribute to it.

So I really don’t believe it’s just being a Goldberg clone that hurts Ryback, I think it’s too obvious that he comes off like he’s suffering from roid rage in the ring, and that many fans are uncomfortable with that. I honestly wish that every time a Ryback or Mason Ryan or someone looking just so unnaturally jacked up entered the ring that the entire arena would erupt in chants of “steroids…steroids…”. More than anything else maybe then the higher ups would finally pay attention.