Ryback Says Hard Work Not Enough In WWE

Ryback felt like he was sold a bill of goods that the WWE didn't deliver on.

Sports Illustrated interviewed Ryback about his last few years in WWE. He spoke about what he thought it took to make it in the WWE, saying WWE wants to "make as much money as humanly possible…. but they’re very stubborn and hard headed." This led to his frustration "I was the number two merchandise seller in the company. I could have been the number one merchandise seller had they given me all the merchandise we should have had…They had a guy who can make them numbers, and the name of the game is making money."

Ryback, who legally changed his name to such, also made claims that he was the number two merchandise seller in the company.

“Before they booked me to lose seven pay per views in a row, I was number two in merchandise” Ryback said highlighting the lack of support he felt from the WWE.  He went on to say "From a business standpoint, if you see a guy who is red hot and the crowd is behind him, you should be going out of your way to make merchandise and book and protect this guy because you have lightning in a bottle." Ryback says despite his "Feed Me More" run in WWE being popular, he felt WWE was "trying to run (him) into the ground and ruin my brand forever."

This inconsistent behavior confused Ryback. He recalled a particular exchange with Vince McMahon "Vince told me, ‘You’re the hardest working guy that I have here' I just said, ‘Thank you.’ Vince said, ‘But hard work doesn’t always pay off here’." He told McMahon  ‘"Well then, I need to go to a world where my hard work will pay off."

Ryback is now writing a book, doing a podcast, promoting his own supplement line and works as Brand Ambassador for El Pollo Loco restaurants. He will be wrestling soon, saying  "I’m booked from October to January, including a nine-day UK tour."