Ryback opens today’s show by speaking about The Undertaker’s return to Madison Square Garden on July 7th. He points out that Undertaker’s schedule appears to be increasing lately, after years of deteriorating. He has looked pretty good during his last few appearances, and Ryback thinks he’s found the fountain of youth. After having his hip surgery Undertaker appears ready for more dates, and he and WWE will probably milk this run as long as they can.
Ryback’s sure that Undertaker is being paid incredibly well for his sporadic appearances in WWE, and he adds that Undertaker’s a very smart man who knows how to work a match without killing himself in the ring. In addition, Ryback thinks there’s still one more match in The Undertaker as the American Badass at some point down the line.
There are rumours circulating that promotions other than WWE are holding dates at Madison Square Garden now, after WWE failed to book any of WrestleMania’s upcoming events at the historic arena. Some people are suggesting that ALL IN 2 might be booked at Madison Square Garden, maybe even during WrestleMania weekend.
Ryback thinks that’d be incredibly smart by Cody Rhodes & The Young Bucks, since thousands of wrestling fans will be in New York during that week. He’s fairly sure that ALL IN 2 would sell out there if they were to do that. He does admit that booking an event at Madison Square Garden is very expensive, “astronomically higher” than basically any other arena.
Ryback talks about CM Punk’s loss at UFC 225. He commends Punk’s effort over the last few years, transitioning from professional wrestler to UFC fighter. For whatever reason, Punk wanted to try his hand at mixed martial arts and was able to live that dream. In spite of Punk’s two losses, you have to respect that he achieved his goals and stepped in the octagon twice.
Ryback points out that Chris Jericho is staying quite active in the wrestling business, despite not working for WWE lately. He just finished working another great match for NJPW, and he has his “Jericho Cruise” upcoming in a few months. Ryback says that basically everything Jericho does turns out to be a success, and he’s very happy for Jericho. He adds that he wasn’t booked to be a part of the Jericho Cruise, but since the rooms are reasonably priced he’s thinking about booking a cabin and going on the cruise to get drunk for a week.
He informs that Stephanie McMahon will be going undercover for an upcoming episode of Undercover Boss, in which she’ll talk to the WWE Universe while protecting her true identity. Ryback thinks this should make for an interesting episode, even though he hasn’t really seen that show before. He adds that he always enjoyed his interactions with Stephanie McMahon, noting that she was always nice to him.
Ryback says he felt somewhat bad for WWE’s doctor, Dr. Amann, after seeing all the criticism that he received online regarding the CM Punk situation. He notes that Amann is a good man and a good doctor who has been with WWE through thick and thin for many years, and when Ryback suffered a staph infection Dr. Amann diagnosed it right away and got him the medical attention he needed.
Ryback talks about John Laurinaitis. He says that Laurinaitis had a very difficult job in WWE as Head of Talent Relations, and a lot of people didn’t like him because of that role. Laurinaitis actually hired Ryback to work for WWE both times, and he had a fine relationship with him. He also notes that he enjoyed Laurinaitis’ company more after he stepped away from the talent relations role.
Ryback mentions that he has worked for a lot of independent promotions since leaving WWE, and some are better than others. He recently traveled to Australia for a string of dates and had a terrible experience. The promoter was running shows at a premium price just down the road from another promoter who was pricing his shows much more reasonably.
For three consecutive shows Ryback had to perform in front of small crowds and he was completely embarrassed. He even spoke to one father who paid $300 to bring his son to this show, and Ryback apologized to them for the fact that they paid that much money to watch him wrestle in front of nobody. He managed to get though the shows but he wasn’t happy.
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!
