Former WWE star Ryback has been in talks over the last week with Bellator MMA about fighting. He teased an announcement on Twitter and Bellator has confirmed there have been talks, but nothing serious.
“Spoke, but nothing close,” said Bellator CEO Scott Coker.
Sources close to the wrestler confirmed to us that he’s interested in fighting and in the end it will come down to money. He spoke about the situation today on Las Vegas radio.
Ryback is nearly 35, and while incredibly strong, has never competed in any fighting sport, but he has done some training in boxing and Jiu Jitsu.
This has little to do with, from his perspective, what happened with C.M. Punk, who he wished well in his UFC debut. Punk was unsuccessful in his first fight after transitioning from the squared circle to the Octagon, losing to Mickey Gall by submission in the first round at UFC 203 earlier this month.
TNA champion Bobby Lashley also fights in Bellator.
Ryback has been unable to go by his former wrestling name since leaving WWE, but that’s something he’s trying to change.
On an episode of his podcast that was released on Monday, Ryback said that he was attempting to change his real name to his wrestling identity.
“It’s not uncharted territory, but it kind of is too in a way. I legally went and changed my name to Ryback, for many reasons, one of which it was one thing that I did not own, and I created and I used before my time with WWE.
And it is something that is associated with my brand and who I am that I am very proud of. So, I went through the proper steps in Clark County in Las Vegas. And it cost a little bit of money, and I go in front of a judge September 1st. But when this airs, you know, hopefully everything is approved and I would be known as Ryback Allen Reeves moving forward.”
As of now, it isn’t known if the attempt was successful. He still goes by “The Big Guy” on Twitter and is still being advertised under that name for his wrestling appearances going forward.
Ryback said the name change was something he felt had to be done because it wasn’t fair that wrestlers spend so much time in one place and then can’t use their brand and identity when they leave. He claimed there’s a big difference in being able to advertise himself as “The Big Guy” Ryback rather than just Ryan Reeves.
On the podcast, co-host Pat Buck noted some of the problems he’s had as a promoter where WWE and other companies have aggressively sent cease and desist letters over advertising material that featured wrestlers who used to work for them.
The full episode of the show is available to listen to below:
On the debut episode of his podcast released on Monday, Ryan “Ryback” Reeves opened up about what led to him leaving WWE.
Reeves said he was thankful for everything WWE gave him and appreciated how it shaped him into who he is, but noted that he didn’t agree with them on a business standpoint on a lot of things. He said that he doesn’t live in fear and that led to him doing things the way that he did.
He said that he was never the company’s guy and wondered why they put the Intercontinental Championship on him in 2015. After winning the title, he was presented with a new contract offer. Reeves said he wasn’t happy with the offer considering what he had done for the company.
But Reeves said he didn’t leave because of monetary value of the offer. “Not about a money issue, just so everybody knows, I walked away from the WWE, the contract offer that I walked away from was a three-year $1.5 million contract.” Reeves said.
Reeves mentioned that there were other things he wasn’t happy about. He said that there were merchandising opportunities that didn’t pan out and noted how expensive travel expenses were, saying the way professional wrestling has always done things isn’t always right.
Reeves said that he had been lied to at many times in his career about booking and other opportunities. He claimed that Vince McMahon told him that he would be the number one heel in the company and have the title put on him if he listened to McMahon and read his promos as they were scripted. Reeves also claimed that he was supposed to face AJ Styles at WrestleMania 32, with McMahon telling him that he would “squash that little twerp.”
Though he was told that by McMahon, Reeves said that he didn’t necessarily believe he would squash Styles given the way he was brought into the company.
That changed and Reeves would go on to face Kalisto on the WrestleMania 32 kickoff show. He said that he was set to sign a new contract but sent a revised offer to the company after not being happy about how he was handled.
On his last day at television, Reeves said he knew that WWE wasn’t going to accept the revised offer and thought the booking of the show was intended to make him look bad before he left. He claimed he told Mark Carrano to take him off television, but didn’t talk to McMahon because he had been lied to too many times before.
He said that he will always be thankful for the WWE, but he’s allowed to feel betrayed about certain things and doesn’t have to go home and not talk about it. He again noted that he doesn’t live in fear, saying he didn’t burn a bridge and was only telling the truth.
He claimed that he was offered magazine covers but WWE wouldn’t let him do them despite allowing other talent to. He said that WWE wanted Roman Reigns to appear on a cover instead of him at one point.
Co-host Pat Buck asked Reeves if he felt it was a personal decision by WWE, but Reeves said it happened to others as well. Reeves felt like WWE’s goal should be making sure that every wrestler’s brand is as strong as possible.
The full almost hour-long conversation with Reeves and Buck is available to listen to below:
Here’s some notes of interest from Thursday’s Northeast Wrestling show submitted by Patrick Tobin.
– The “Rumble in Rockland” show was heled at Palisades Credit Union Park in Pomona, NY, and was a make-up date from July.
Caleb Konley vs. Kamaitachi vs. Travis “Flip” Gordon
Everyone took turns getting cool moves in. The finish came when Kamaitachi was on the top rope to do something to Konley, who was on the mat. Gordon springboarded up, stood on the top rope and superkicked Kamaitachi off the turnbuckle, then Gordon hit a corkscrew moonsault onto Konley for the pin. Crowd liked Kamaitachi, who carried himself like a big deal.
– Ryback!
The next match was announced as a tag match, but Kenny Bengal came out. He complained that NEW told him they didn’t have an opponent for him, and his partner wasn’t there either. He put out an open challenge and Ryback’s WWE music hit. “The Big Guy” came out in gym clothes, gave Bengal a meathook and a Shellshock, and then left.
– Mandy Leon pinned Sumie Sakai with a running unprettier
Sakai did every heel trick she could to try and get heat, but the crowd mostly just did “USA” chants instead of actually booing. After the match, Sakai offered a handshake to Leon, and then it looked like she pulled her in for a kiss, which made Leon flip out.
– Broken Matt Hardy pinned Vinny Marseglia with a twist of fate.
– NEW Champion War King Hanson (ROH’s Hanson) def. Donovan Dijak
Hanson looked like Erick Rowan cosplaying as Triple H’s Conan entrance. He won with a spinning heel kick. This was the best match on the show as the crowd was really into the power moves and near falls.
– Cody Rhodes submitted Brian Anthony with the American Nightmare
Ricky Steamboat was the guest referee, and the single biggest pop of the night was for him chopping Anthony after Anthony tried to deck him with a foreign object.
– Jushin Thunder Liger and Jeff Hardy beat Mike Bennett and TK O’Ryan
Liger hit O’Ryan with a brainbuster, followed by a Hardy swanton bomb. Hardy played the face-in-peril throughout the match, and both heels acted scared of Liger.
The Big Guy will compete for the New York area-based Wrestlepro promotion on October 14th in Cresskill, NJ and on October 15th in Brooklyn, NY.
Ryback noted on Twitter that he is taking bookings and claimed that his calendar is filling up faster than a 2012 Ryback squash match. He will also appear at WrestleCade in Winston-Salem, NC in November, and was billed as “The Big Guy” for the appearance.
WWE officially announced that Ryback was no longer under contract with the company yesterday. The announcement followed Ryback wishing the WWE well in their future endeavors in an Instagram video last week.
Ryback’s WWE departure had been expected for some time as he hasn’t competed for the promotion since May amidst a dispute with the company over the state of his contract negotiations and his place on the card.
WWE announced that The Big Guy is officially no longer under contract with the company as of today.
Ryback vowed last week to continue wrestling and said that he would work a full schedule. He also promoted a new website that he will soon be launching.
The WWE statement said:
“Effective today, Aug. 8, 2016, WWE has parted ways with Ryback and he is no longer under contract. WWE wishes Ryback the best in all his future endeavors.”
Ryback’s departure from the company has been expected for some time. He last worked in a WWE ring when he challenged Kalisto for the United States Championship at Payback in May. Ryback left the company soon after amidst a contract dispute.
Dave Meltzer reported in the May 9th edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Ryback was on hiatus with the company after disagreements with WWE about the state of their contract negotiations and his position on the card.
The Big Guy has wished WWE the best in their future endeavors.
Ryback announced on his Instagram this afternoon that he is officially done with WWE from this point forward. He thanked all of the wrestlers he has been in the ring with, and announced that he is launching a website and will continue working a full wrestling schedule.
Ryback last competed inside of a WWE ring earlier this year in a match against Kalisto for the United States Championship at Payback on May 1st.
Dave Meltzer reported in the May 9th edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Ryback was on hiatus with the company after disagreements with WWE about the state of their contract negotiations and his position on the card.
Meltzer noted that Ryback openly expressed his dissatisfaction with WWE and thought he should have been one of the top guys in the company. Ryback has since been open on social media about his unhappiness with WWE, and wrote a post on his Tumblr about many of the grievances he had.
A fun mix of classic and current talk on the show this week! Les gives us the latest on his friend and great wrestler back in the day Billy Wicks to start us off. From there, we’ll tackle a question sent to us regarding a match from the Memphis territory (9:31) featuring two very inexperienced guys and the way it was laid out. We’ll segue into a little talk about WWE Payback (16:05) with some thoughts Vic shares that come from a very new, pretty casual wrestling fan who has the kind of background that gives her views a unique perspective. Of course, the missive that Ryback fired off this week (33:12) gets a going over, as does the comments Yoshi Tatsu recently made (55:48) about WWE in a Japanese magazine. We’ll close the show looking at the powerbomb AJ Styles took to end Raw and whether or not AJ should have a gripe with Roman Reigns (72:10) for the way he was tossed onto the announcer’s table on Monday night. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!
Ryan “Ryback” Reeves released a lengthy statement on his Tumblr account Tuesday night that details his current situation and his current feelings on the wrestling business that are fueling his frustrations.
Reeves said that he requested to be taken off WWE TV until he and the company can get a new deal done, something he said has been in the works since his Intercontinental title run began. “I was told to head home until we agree or not agree to specific terms and contrary to reports it isn’t over money or a bus that stuff was settled a while ago.”
He then went into his main issue which is the discrepancy in pay between “the winners” and “the losers” and how in a pre-determined sport, it doesn’t make any sense to him why that is still the case.
“Why is it a guy who is told he is going to go out and lose and does everything he is told be paid not only less, but much less than said winner over a period of time. Every single performer for WWE sacrifices the same amount of time from home and their families and every single man or women goes out and does what they are told. Looking at this formula though losers turn into what fans like to call jobbers and their value decreases in the companies eyes and before you know it they get released. For what? For doing exactly as they are told!”
“Why not pay the talent equally? The winners have more MERCH as it is or are supposed to anyways so they get that extra perk, but why make the guy who is told to and agrees to lose earn less and sacrifice spots in big pay per view match ups etc. This is one of the major problems with wrestling and WWE today. Most guys take great satisfaction in helping making other talent, the bitching and the moaning we always hear about stems from the fact they know they are ultimately over time going to make less and live in fear of being released.”
He goes on to cite how merch and other factors are affected by losing, thus money is affected by losing. He’s got no issue with losing, but he is frustrated about the compensation level for doing so.
Reeves then ended with a few interesting lines:
“WWE may very well release me, which if it is the case so be it. If we can work things out a lot needs to change as I am not living in fear and creatively cannot continue to live a life that limits me creatively. I have many other interests and passions and have been very smart with my finances over the years.”
Several sources have noted that there is an issue with Ryan “Ryback” Reeves and WWE, originally scheduled for Monday’s RAW battle royal but absent, with reports of a contract dispute going around.
Ryback was in Dubai recently for a tour and flat out said he wasn’t happy with his role at WrestleMania and being in a preshow match. While privately people talk like that all the time, it’s not something considered good for your WWE career unless you are an untouchable level star.
At Sunday’s Payback in Chicago, Ryback did a C.M. Punk-esque ring entrance, likely mocking Punk who blamed Ryback for injuring him. In Punk’s infamous interviews on Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling podcast, Ryback was one of the people he made fun of for carelessness with his body.
He also wore a weight belt Sunday with the wording “The Pre-Show Stopper” after being in the pre-show for a WWE event for the second straight month.
We will discuss this more tonight on Wrestling Observer Radio.
First off, my deepest apologies to my tens of fans for my failure to file over the last fortnight. But, worry not; my difficulties in accessing the show in a timely manner (or, indeed, at all) have been resolved.
Unfortunately, my return to casting a critical eye over Main Event is marked by a show that is over 80% Wrestlemania hype. Video packages were aired on the Reigns/Authority, Shane/Taker (two) and Dean/Brock storylines. One match was taped before RAW in Brooklyn on Monday night, featuring Sunday’s US title challenger The Ryback against the one-time conqueror of Chris Jericho, Fandango.
Ryback def. Fandango by pinfall
Jerry Lawler troubles me with his depth of knowledge on Ryback by insisting that “everything about The Big Guy is bigger”. Yeesh.
Rich Brennan repeats Monday night’s faux-pas by reminding us all that the company once chose to put Fandango over Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania. I guess it’s less dumb when Jericho isn’t in the segment, but it’s still never a fantastic idea to remind your viewers exactly how amateurish you are at judging talent.
Speaking of bad ideas, someone thought it would be pretty gravy to have their monster heel, who is challenging for a belt on Sunday, take over ten minutes to put away a guy who hasn’t won a televised match since mid-December. Solid logic there and no mistake.
Fandango therefore got plenty of offence in this one, including a high knee from the apron to the outside to grab the advantage leading into an early commercial break. Ryback’s heat is that of a man who hasn’t worked heel in a while; painfully dull, including an excruciatingly long chinlock.
Fandango dodges a corner charge and follows up with a baseball slide to initiate his comeback. He even sidesteps Ryback’s first attempt at the Meathook clothesline with a school boy roll-up for two-and-a-half. Ryback immediately pops up and connects with said Meathook however, followed by the Shellshock for the win. Only six minutes of this aired, but it felt longer as it was dull, disjointed and heatless throughout.
Final Thoughts
Not much to add really. Join me again tomorrow for a similarly attenuated edition of Smackdown and be sure to check out my – and the rest of the team’s – Wrestlemania predictions later in the week.
Paige, Natalya and Brie Bella def. Summer Rae and Team B.A.D. by submission
Some rare six-diva tag action to kick off this week’s Main Event. Jerry Lawler, the star of the show most weeks, responds to a Rich Brennan call by asking “Basement dropkick!? Who do you think you are, Mauro Ranallo?!”
The entrance music of Lana interrupts this match early on, as her new-found foe Brie goes at it with Summer Rae. Lana sits on the announce desk to take in proceedings; Lawler accuses Brennan of being “sweaty” in response.
The heel divas get the heat on Nattie (who else?), before she makes a quick, and therefore underwhelming, lukewarm tag to Brie. Brie delivers her husband’s kicks to Naomi to piped in “Yes!” chants, before Tamina interferes and the match breaks down. All the girls hit various moves on each other, before the fog clears and Brie reverses a Naomi high cross into the Yes Lock for the submission victory. Is there anything else of Daniel’s she can co-opt to compensate for being the worst babyface ever?
After the match, the victors stare at Lana, who just stands there and applauds. Well, at least we didn’t get any shitty, Oscars reference-laden dialogue. Small mercies.
Ryback def. Heath Slater w/ Social Outcasts by pinfall
The Outcasts get in-ring promo time before the match, in which they acknowledge Adam Rose’s mauling at the hands of Big Guy (thanks, Granny!) on RAW. Rose says that tonight it’s going to be Legends with The Crimson Werewolf, instead of JBL. Hilarious. Axel cuts in, admonishing Rose for his nicknaming. He says he knows Ryback and that it’s time to get serious. He then goes insane, chopping the air and screaming. The other three join in. Jerry Lawler: “Well, I’m glad we were all part of that little experience!”. Quite.
The actual match is wrapped inside three minutes. Ryback repeated the spot from RAW where he grounds and pounds his opponent; although this time the ref’s credibility was spared as Slater made the ropes. Slater ate the Shellshock moments later.
Lucha Dragons def. The Ascension by pinfall
At this point, I noticed that NXT’s Greg Hamilton was announcing in Eden Stiles’ stead. I also noticed that Kalisto was STILL the US Champion, despite being slotted back into tags and completely de-emphasised on television since Fastlane.
This was another three minute match. The heels got the heat on Sin Cara, leading into the usual Kalisto hot tag stuff. Finish was cool however, with Sin Cara doing a suicide dive through Kalisto’s legs. Kalisto then reversed Viktor’s electric chair into a ‘rana, before hitting the SDS. Sin Cara followed up with the Swanton Bomb for the pin.
– Stardust is backstage in the Star Room, rambling about dealing with Zack Ryder on the road to Wrestlemania. I think. Presumably he’s comfortable cutting promos in the ol’ Star Room again now that Vince’s roughhouser has been suspended.
Stardust def. Zack Ryder by pinfall
These guys have been feuding on Superstars of late, with Cody up 2-1 thus far. This win-loss record was not mentioned on commentary, of course. Perish the thought.
Good match here, eight minutes of which was televised either side of the commercial break. The nearfall segment of it was particularly good, with some nice reversals; including Ryder smoothly countering a suplex into a neckbreaker for two. Ryder also hit a nice looking top rope elbow for two after foiling a Stardust superplex attempt.
The finish saw Ryder attempt the go-behind off a whip to the corner, only for Stardust to scout him, take a step back, and grab him for the Queen’s Crossbow. 3-1 to Stardust!
After the match, Stardust stood on the desk and stared at the crowd to celebrate, prompting Lawler to quip “Can we get Lana back out here!?” as the show went off the air. Heh.
Final Thoughts
Featured contest between Stardust and Ryder was worth watching; some nice chemistry has developed between the two after their recent series. Other than that, there’s not much to see here. The confirmation that we are in fact getting a Lana/Brie feud is probably the biggest news to come out of this week’s edition.
