Conversation With the Big Guy Recap – Working With Rob Van Dam, Working the Indies Vs. WWE, What Move Does He Regret Performing? More!

Ryback opens today’s show speaking about his ongoing health issues. He intends to have one more stem cell procedure because they have worked very well for him in the past, but he really wishes he would have avoided one move during his in-ring career. He says that the ‘Backpack Stunner’ move that he performed throughout his career is basically single-handidly responsible for the issues he has with his back and neck now.

He was utilizing that move as his finisher in WWE developmental and then he continued to utilize it during his main roster run, performing it basically every night of the week. William Regal advised him to stop using the move at that time but he was young and stubborn, and he failed to listen to Regal.

Ryback says that ‘ass bumps’ are the worst types of bumps that a performer can take, and everyone who has a finishing move that requires sitting down eventually has back issues. He points out that Steve Austin has issues from his stunner, and Hulk Hogan has terrible back issues resulting from his leg drop. He warns Ember Moon that if she doesn’t stop using the top rope stunner, she’s going to be crippled.

Ryback talks about his experience working with Rob Van Dam. He says he loved working with Van Dam because he grew up watching him, and that made their matches special. However, Van Dam kicks hard as hell and if you didn’t get your hands up you were going to take some stiff shots. There was actually one night on RAW when Van Dam kicked him so hard that it stunned him, resulting in him falling into the ropes. He actually yelled out ‘Fuck!’ on live television because he got rocked so badly by that kick.

A listener calls into the show and asks Ryback if he’s having more fun wrestling the indies than he did when he wrestled for WWE. He says that WWE is the biggest promotion in the world and this means there’s more people at those shows. It’s always fun to perform for more people, but wrestling for WWE also had way more restrictions.

He says that he’s having a great time working the indie shows right now, and there are some shows when the buildings are absolutely packed. Those are incredibly fun shows to work, mostly due to crowd interaction but also because he has the creative freedom to do whatever he wants during his matches.

Ryback mentions that Naomi’s car was broken into during Survivor Series last weekend, and this marks the second time this type of thing has happened in the last few weeks, with A.J. Styles’ car being broken into during a show recently. Ryback says that WWE needs to hire some security to patrol the parking lots where their talents park, because this isn’t something that talents should have to worry about.

He says that he really enjoyed the Survivor Series match between A.J. Styles and Brock Lesnar. This match accomplished exactly what it needed to, and he believes WWE made the right call by booking Lesnar to win. He points out that WWE could have booked this match in a variety of ways, either a short bout with Lesnar dominating, or a lengthy match like the one we saw.

Ryback says he was happy to hear that The Miz and a bunch of other WWE talents are getting another opportunity to make a ‘Marine’ film. These WWE Studios films are straight-to-DVD productions, but he’s fairly sure WWE turns a nice profit on each of them. He says that The Miz is a great guy who has become a great actor as well.

He was happy to hear that Lucha Underground was green lit for a fourth season because this continues to give wrestlers an alternative place to work. He informs that he was approached about working for Lucha Underground after initially leaving WWE, but the contract would have prevented him from working elsewhere for a full year and he didn’t want any part of that.

That sums up this week’s episode of Conversation With the Big Guy. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya next week for another recap!