At One Point In Time, Ryback Was The Number Two Babyface In WWE
James Rogers 
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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.
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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.
The audience reactions got bigger every week, chanting along with his “Feed Me More” catchphrase, with everything progressing naturally. Due to John Cena being ruled out with injury ahead of his title match with CM Punk, Ryback was announced as Cena’s replacement at the Hell in a Cell PPV. Ryback was a fresh face in the title scene, and after a 38-match undefeated streak, Punk’s reign was potentially in jeopardy, especially inside the Hell in a Cell structure. However, it all came crashing down.
WWE Panicked And Pushed Ryback Too Far Too Quickly
After a fine yet uninspiring match considering how new Ryback was to the main event scene, Punk retained his belt thanks to a corrupt referee. Ending Ryback’s streak in this fashion just felt like it was too early, but WWE had booked themselves into a corner by wanting Punk to keep hold of the title until the Royal Rumble the following year. Some of Ryback’s aura was gone, and it was all WWE’s doing. Instead of keeping on course with his steady progression, he was hot-shot to the top when he wasn’t ready.
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From there, he remained popular, sticking in the title scene before being screwed out of the WWE Title once again, this time by the debuting Shield. He would compete in the highly acclaimed TLC match alongside Team Hell No to battle The Shield, but aside from that, Ryback didn’t have too many highlights in terms of matches. He was a good foe for the new group, but he began losing more and more as time progressed.
A Poor WrestleMania Feud Led To A Heel Turn For Ryback
He was one of the favorites ahead of the Royal Rumble match, and the final two came down to him and John Cena. At the time, the World Heavyweight Title scene was lacking, and a Ryback victory here along with a World Title win was a strong possibility, and it would’ve been a good way to continue capitalizing on his popularity with the audience. He would come up short and feud with Mark Henry in the build to WrestleMania, leading to a truly awful match in which he once again lost.
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The night after WrestleMania, the experiment ended as Ryback turned heel. He would then lose his WWE Title feud with John Cena, before heading to the midcard and remaining there for the rest of his time in WWE. Whilst Ryback has made himself an unpopular and decisive figure in the wrestling world, and although criticism has cropped up surrounding his abilities, he was incredibly popular during 2012, and even with a simple move-set, the crowd loved it. When someone has such natural popularity like that, it is important to make the most of it, but as WWE have proven time and time again over the years, they fail to ever really do that, with Ryback’s time as the number two babyface being only fleeting.
