[17 / 8 / 15]
Before his fall from grace, Ryback was once considered by WWE to be its second-biggest babyface.
During John Cena’s reign on top of WWE over the 2000s and 2010s, cementing himself as the top babyface, there were many potential successors who came and went. Despite not being the most popular of names right now, Ryback was at one point looking to potentially be WWE’s next big star – and he could’ve been! For a few short months, Ryback was positioned as WWE’s number two babyface, only behind John Cena. However, even with him having potential, everything eventually went wrong for Ryback, with WWE making several mistakes with his booking. That, coupled with some of Ryback’s misgivings, created a recipe for failure.
Ryback’s Undefeated Streak Made Him Popular With The WWE Universe
Ryback made his first appearances for WWE all the way back in 2005 during the Tough Enough competition, and he was signed to developmental on the back of that. He would become “Skip Sheffield”, appearing in the NXT competition series, before joining up with The Nexus, acting as the main powerhouse of the group. He showed some promise even back then, but an injury ruled him out a few months in, with the group ceasing to exist before he returned.
In April 2012, he was rechristened as Ryback, and he made his return on Smackdown under this new character. He would begin squashing opponents, running through them with impressive ease. He developed from one jobber to two jobbers, making his feats of strength more impressive. He would then battle names at the bottom of the card such as Heath Slater and Curt Hawkins, before eventually squashing two full-time members of the roster at once. It was a steady progression for Ryback, but in the same way that Goldberg gained steam in WCW, Ryback was getting over with the fans.
During John Cena’s reign on top of WWE over the 2000s and 2010s, cementing himself as the top babyface, there were many potential successors who came and went. Despite not being the most popular of names right now, Ryback was at one point looking to potentially be WWE’s next big star – and he could’ve been! For a few short months, Ryback was positioned as WWE’s number two babyface, only behind John Cena. However, even with him having potential, everything eventually went wrong for Ryback, with WWE making several mistakes with his booking. That, coupled with some of Ryback’s misgivings, created a recipe for failure.
Ryback’s Undefeated Streak Made Him Popular With The WWE Universe
Ryback made his first appearances for WWE all the way back in 2005 during the Tough Enough competition, and he was signed to developmental on the back of that. He would become “Skip Sheffield”, appearing in the NXT competition series, before joining up with The Nexus, acting as the main powerhouse of the group. He showed some promise even back then, but an injury ruled him out a few months in, with the group ceasing to exist before he returned.
In April 2012, he was rechristened as Ryback, and he made his return on Smackdown under this new character. He would begin squashing opponents, running through them with impressive ease. He developed from one jobber to two jobbers, making his feats of strength more impressive. He would then battle names at the bottom of the card such as Heath Slater and Curt Hawkins, before eventually squashing two full-time members of the roster at once. It was a steady progression for Ryback, but in the same way that Goldberg gained steam in WCW, Ryback was getting over with the fans.
