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Over the last couple of weeks on WWE Smackdown, you probably may have noticed the debut of a new wrestler known as Ryback. You may have also noticed that he is, at least for the moment, booked as an unstoppable wrecking machine. From the rumours that I’ve heard, he will be staying this way for the foreseeable future, as Vince McMahon is a big fan of his work.
However, things haven’t always been easy for the man known to his friends as Ryan Reeves.
For somewhat older fans, Ryback may look familiar, and he should. He was (at the time) in the final season of Tough Enough, which was eventually won by Daniel Puder. Despite having the right look and a lot of charisma, he was eliminated from the competition early on. All was not lost, though. In time, he was eventually signed by the then WWE developmental promotion Deep South Wrestling, where he was known as “Razorback” Ryan Reeves. After about a year, he was transferred to Ohio Valley Wrestling (WWE’s other developmental territory at the time), where he continued to train for the next three years until 2007.
While Reeves seemed to be on the track to eventually debut with the WWE, he was released that year, but continued to wrestle for OVW, hoping to land another deal with the top promotion in the US. After another year, he was re-signed and began using the name you now see him use on Smackdown every Friday night, that being Ryback. With the new gimmick name came a new personality, that of a Terminator-like half man/half cyborg from the future, hell bent on destruction. He kept this gimmick until late 2008, where he was re-packaged once again as Skip Sheffield, a country bumpkin. Rather extreme departure from a robot, eh?
Reeves spent another 2 years wrestling as Sheffield, and after being in developmental for nearly 5 years, it was unknown if he would ever be a part of the WWE. Generally speaking, if you are in developmental for more than 2 years, the chances of WWE finally calling you up to the main roster are very slim. Things looked bright, though, as Sheffield was chosen to participate in the very first season of NXT, which eventually gave birth to 2010′s hottest angle, The Nexus.
As a member of Nexus, Sheffield had more or less scrapped the bumpkin gimmick and was turned into a bodyguard/enforcer for the deadly new faction. He began to get over as a monster thanks to his new attitude and a wicked lariat clothesline for a finisher, but unfortunately, just as he was gaining steam (not to mention popularity with the right people behind the scenes), Ryback went down with an ankle injury in late 2010 that required 3 surgeries to repair. He would be absent from the WWE for the next year and half, watching from the sidelines.
Despite the setbacks, Reeves successfully completed rehabilitation for his injury, and in early December of last year, he began going back on the road with WWE, working dark matches and house shows, once again using the name Ryback.
Two weeks ago, Ryback made his return to television, destroying a jobber by the name of Barry Stevens in short order. This past Tuesday night, he did the same thing to Benny Camer, nearly decapitating the poor sap with a lariat before ending him with a variation of the muscle buster. Although he has dropped the cyborg aspect of the gimmick, Ryback is still being booked as a monster, and is reportedly in for a major push.
Upon return, an interesting aspect was added to his gimmick. As we have seen in his pair of matches since returning, wrestlers have been shown to surround monitors backstage whenever he is on, giving him the feel of a “must watch wrestler” who is impressing everyone. It’s a unique twist to a staple gimmick, one that I not only don’t recall ever being used before, but one that also makes him stand out from other powerhouse/wrecking machine-types.
He’s definitely getting the attention of both fans and wrestlers alike, and at this point of time, big things are in store for him. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s challenging for major championships before the year is out.
Although semi-new to the WWE scene, Ryback is just one of several young, hungry stars to watch out for in 2012.
