WWE superstar Ryback opens up about becoming a wrestler, being Skip Sheffield, the Goldberg chants and more

“When Vince McMahon saw me, I had already debuted as Skip Sheffield, we’re like two or three weeks into NXT, Mr. McMahon pulled me aside and he said you’re not doing this. This is not who you are. I don’t want you playing this guy. You’re going to make me millions and millions of dollars being yourself.

“At the time I’m thinking dammit, I just put everything into getting a lot of fun with this guy. But it was the greatest thing he ever could have said to me and we slowly got away from that and luckily Nexus gave me a great opportunity to be myself with one problem: I was stuck with that dopey ass name Skip Sheffield. Luckily my injury and being away for as long as I was, a year and a half, and the way things all turned out was another big blessing and I was allowed to come back under my own terms and be Ryback.

“Thankfully I am who I am now.”

What he thinks of the Goldberg chants:

“It doesn’t bother me at all. I obviously wish fans would say my name. I’m not doing the feed me more right now, finally got sick of that whole deal and felt like I needed a change of pace. It’s one of those things, I think it’s a positive.

“It motivates me even more because it’s setting me up for success down the road because it’s allowing them, each and every night I go out there and prove myself to them, I will change them one by one. I will convert them into a Ryback fan.

“It’s very easy for them to want to chant Goldberg or whoever else they want to chant at me, but once they see me and what I’m doing and the passion I have and how I go out there and give this everything I got and the displays of strength that I’m able to pull off night in and night out, five nights a week, and not to discredit anything anyone’s done in the past, in a day and age where you don’t see a lot of guys doing the power stuff anymore, I take great pride in that.

“I really firmly believe it’s just me going out there and keep proving myself and having quality matches.

“People love to doubt and be negative and I don’t mean to use the word hate, but it’s just something that’s very easy for people to do because they have no idea. The first thing I remember hearing was Ryback can’t wrestle a five minute match, he’ll blow up and I just laughed. These people have no clue. And then it was he can’t even do ten minutes. And then it’s he can’t do fifteen. And then it’s he can’t do a twenty minute match.

“He can’t do a twenty five minute match. He can’t do a thirty minute match. I believe me and Cena have done 35, 40 now a couple pay per views in a row. The live events, easily do a half hour, no problem. It boggle my mind how people just thrive on negativity.”