What's the story?
During a recent episode of his Conversations with the Big Guy podcast, Ryback suggested that fans in India don’t have any money.
In case you didn't know...
Ryback was released from his WWE contract in August of 2016 after spending over a decade with the company. Despite a rather lengthy tenure with the WWE, Ryback only managed to capture one title, the Intercontinental Championship, which he held for 112 days.
Since his release, Ryback has kept busy on the Independent circuit and has also spent a lot of time on his podcast.
The heart of the matter
During the latest episode of “Conversation With a Big Guy,” Ryback opened up about his feelings regarding Jinder Mahal’s current main event push, as well as WWE’s desire to develop a stronger following among the Indian fans.
At one point during the podcast, Ryback had this to say regarding Jinder Mahal’s recent push, “There’s nothing wrong with giving a new guy an opportunity. That’s how you discover if you’ve got a guy that can hang or not. The thing with him is it’s going to determine, and, of course, if he’s given any amount of time on the pay-per-view, that’s his time to show what he can do.”
Ryback would go on to talk about how WWE is trying to appeal to more of the Indian market. Here’s a little of what he said: “I don't know why. They have a TV deal, but people don't have any f*cking money out there, so I don't know why they're trying to appeal to the Indian market. I heard merchandise sales aren't that good out there. No sh*t! Like, I’ve been to India. They don't have money! There are certain people who do, but the ones that do, I'm pretty sure they aren't watching fake fighting!”
Also read: Massive shift in betting odds for several matches at Backlash
What’s next?
Jinder Mahal will step into the ring and face Randy Orton, for the WWE Championship at Backlash. It has been a long road for Mahal, but it appears that he is in the best condition of his career and looks to be surging at the right time.
Author's take
Let me say that I am an American, and I have not spent much time in India at all. However, my very best of friends happen to be from India, and throughout the years, I have become fascinated with their culture and overall way of life in India.
While my knowledge of the overall economic infrastructure is not that vast, I do have a general idea of how things work in India, and one thing I am certain of is that Indians have money.
Just because they are not buying your $30 t-shirts doesn't mean that the people there are without means. Maybe they're just not interested in your product. However, Indian wrestling fans are among the most passionate in the world and, yes, it’s time that WWE puts more effort into giving Indians more of their product and making the brand more accessible to the fans there.
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