Ryback opens today’s show by mentioning that he met Goldberg for the first time this past weekend. He says Goldberg is a nice guy and he’s glad he came over to say hello. He notes that neither he or Goldberg were fond of the comparisons that many fans made between them back in the day, but he sort of regrets the initial interview he did back then when he addressed the comparisons.
He implied at that time that he considered himself to be a better athlete and loved the business more than Goldberg, and looking back now he thinks he could have handled those comments better.
Getting into his thoughts on WrestleMania, Ryback congratulates Naomi for winning the first ever Women’s WrestleMania Battle Royale. He’s very happy for Naomi and says she’s a great person who’s very deserving of all the success she’s had. However, he notes that the crowd really bit when Bayley eliminated Banks and it appeared she had won, and then when Naomi won the crowd seemed let down by that.
Ryback note that Charlotte and Asuka had a great, physical battle. He notes that Charlotte winning was a big surprise and nobody expected that, so that was a good thing. He also adds that Charlotte has worked her ass of to get to the spot she’s in today, and this win was a very big notch in her belt. Ryback thinks Asuka’s streak ending will actually give her more options creatively and might be a positive thing for her down the line.
Ryback thought Rousey looked great in her WrestleMania debut and he thinks she’s only going to get better as she finds herself in different situations in the ring over the next few years. He points out that the mixed tag match was mapped out pretty well for her which certainly helped her in her debut, but she looked great nonetheless. He was also very impressed by Triple H’s physique, noting that he looked shredded.
He also thought Triple H’s and Stephanie’s entrance was neat, adding that Triple H’s Terminator entrance from a couple of WrestleMania’s ago was probably his favourite entrance of all time. He says he always wanted to do a Terminator entrance.
Ryback didn’t have a problem with The Undertaker picking up a quick and decisive win over John Cena. He thought Undertaker looked great, and if that turned out to be Undertaker’s last match he’d have no issue with that. He adds that Cena doesn’t get hurt by losses, and he thought Cena probably could have lost a bit more earlier in his career. However, he admits that probably wasn’t Cena’s call to make.
He thought Daniel Bryan looked great in his return to the ring, and he was very happy for him. He points out that this was a comeback story that everyone could relate to, and it was great seeing Bryan in the ring again. He also thinks that Bryan’s only going to get better as he gets more reps in after being out of the ring for a couple of years.
Ryback notes that the live audience seemed down for the WWE Championship match between A.J. Styles and Nakamura. The show had been ongoing for a number of hours at this point and there’s no doubt that the audience was fatigued, but Ryback was also concerned that WWE didn’t build this match well enough.
He points out that the hardcore fans might have considered this to be a dream match, but questions whether WWE did enough to make casual viewers care about it. Regardless, he liked Nakamura’s heel turn at the end of the match because he thinks Nakamura will be better suited as a heel in North America right now.
Ryback points out that WWE has built Brock Lesnar in such a way that it’s hard for his opponents to get sympathy on him. In that sense they’ve painted themselves into a corner creatively, but the way Lesnar works is believable and WWE’s done a good job of protecting that. Ryback enjoys the physicality of Lesnar’s matches but can understand why some fans are becoming critical of it.
Ryback reacts to the news that Al Snow recently purchased OVW. He informs that Snow was very instrumental in OVW when he was there, so this seems like a match made in heaven. He saw Snow recently and Snow looked to be in peak physical condition, and he also points out that Snow has a brilliant wrestling mind. He’s intrigued to see how Snow builds this promotion.
A listener writes into the show and asks Ryback if there are any wrestlers he’d like to work with right now that he hasn’t worked with in the past. He mentions that there are plenty of guys he’d like to work with but Kenny Omega would probably be the top of his list at this point.
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!
