Ryback open today’s show by speaking about Hulk Hogan’s reinstatement into the WWE Hall of Fame. He points out that the things Hogan said were as bad as it gets, but he truly thinks that Hogan realized it was wrong and has apologized on multiple occasions. Hogan’s now volunteered to speak with young people in the hopes of preventing them from making the same mistakes that he did.
Ryback thinks it makes all the sense in the world for Hogan and WWE to get back together. He thinks it’s fair to give Hogan another chance because he’s a big part of why WWE is the successful brand it is today. He’s very happy for Hogan personally.
Ryback thinks Hogan truly understands the magnitude of what he said and did, and is genuinely remorseful for the way he hurt people, specifically given his public status and the fact that a lot of young people look up to him.
Ryback says he enjoyed this past Sunday’s Extreme Rules event. He points out that a lot of shows have “cookie cutter” matches nowadays where everyone’s doing the same moves. He thought this show did a good job of varying its matches, both in terms of length and in terms of the moves utilized within matches. He thought WWE Producers did a good job of steadily building the card from match one to the main event, because it doesn’t make sense to have the opening match resemble the main event.
Ryback thought it was cool to see The B Team walk out as RAW Tag Team Champions, however he would have liked to see Rusev become WWE Champion. He points out that Rusev and Aiden English have made the most of their current situation. He would have liked that match to close to show with a Rusev victory. He thinks that would have raised Rusev to another level, and he doesn’t think it would have hurt Styles at all. He points out that the fans are still behind Rusev, and he hopes that WWE continues to push Rusev in a prominent position.
Ryback mentions that Dolph Ziggler is amazing in the ring and a phenomenal human being. He’s glad to see that Ziggler’s finally been placed in a great position by WWE creative. Ziggler is confident and he knows how good he is, and Ryback thinks that’s finally coming through now when he speaks. He thinks WWE needs to ride this angle to the main event picture, perhaps giving Ziggler a main event run with the Title before McIntyre finally becomes Champion someday down the line.
Ryback points out that Iron Man matches can be tough to time out and it can be really distracting when fans chant things during the matches like they did on Sunday. The fans counted down every single minute during the match, forcing WWE to take the clock off of the Jumbotron at one point. Ryback says it sucks as a performer when something like this happens because you’re busting your ass in the ring and the fans appear disinterested.
He admits that the crowd had been sitting there for over 4 hours by that point and they’d seen a lot of wrestling. He thought those guys did a good job of putting the crowd out of their minds and pushing through the match.
NJPW and ROH announced recently that they’ll be holding a joint show at MSG during WrestleMania weekend next year. Ryback points out that this has never really been done before so it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out, but he congratulates those companies for making this happen. He wonders whether the fan base will be strong enough there to fill MSG while the show is running in direct competition with WWE’s WrestleMania weekend. He thinks they’ll do fine.
Ryback comments on the Hart Family drama that surfaced this pat week. Bret Hart spoke out, calling Owen Hart’s Widow a square-headed person, who’s trying to erase Owen’s memory. Owen’s Widow then issued a statement expressing her disappointment in Bret’s words. She still blames WWE for Owen’s death and she doesn’t want them to profit from Owen’s name. Ryback notes that the accident that took Owen’s life was “F***ing horrific” and the Hart family is obviously still grieving.
He understands both sides of this story. WWE certainly profits from their Hall of Fame ceremony and Owens’s Widow doesn’t want anything to do with that. Ryback notes that perhaps the solution would be WWE paying the Hart family in order to induct Owen into the Hall of Fame. Ryback admits it would be nice to see Owen inducted, but fans don’t have the right to be angry at the family for not allowing it to happen. Regardless, he doesn’t think Owen’s work will ever be forgotten.
That sums up today’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!
