10 Times WWE Dropped The Ball With Ryback
Ryback can't be blamed for wanting to leave WWE after all the setbacks he's suffered.
With a surplus of stars from NXT recently getting the call-up to the main roster, that has left many notable names from the old guard without direction, including Ryback. He has been a part of the WWE system for over a decade, but he didn't start to see success until debuting the Ryback character in April 2012. From there, he went undefeated for months on end and organically got over with the WWE Universe in the process.
But once he hit the peak of his popularity, WWE missed their chance to put the WWE Championship on him and it was all downhill for The Big Guy from there. In the following year, he suffered setback after setback despite his best attempts to get back to where he once was on the card.
Since losing the Intercontinental Championship in September 2015, Ryback hasn't done much of note on WWE programming, most recently coming up short of winning the United States Championship against Kalisto on the Payback Kickoff show. According to PWInsider, he has been taken off TV due to a contract dispute, and with his current contract expiring this summer, it's unlikely he will be used in any meaningful capacity if he is planning to leave the organisation.
As Ryback's WWE tenure is seemingly coming to an end, let's look at ten times WWE dropped the ball with The Big Guy, and how he could have been a much bigger star in the company had they not.
10. A Forgettable Intercontinental Championship Reign
Following WrestleMania 31, WWE looked to put a renewed emphasis on the mid-card championships by having John Cena hold the United States and Daniel Bryan hold the Intercontinental Championship. Cena's weekly U.S. Open Challenge on Raw was among the highlights of 2015 in WWE. Conversely, before Bryan could do anything of note with the Intercontinental title, he was sidelined with another injury and was forced to relinquish his title one month into his reign.
For the first time ever, an Elimination Chamber match was held to determine a new Intercontinental champion, and while it was a cool idea in theory, it was awful in execution. From Mark Henry escaping his pod too early, King Barrett getting eliminated by R-Truth, and Sheamus' pod malfunctioning, all of its errors made it one of the worst Chamber matches of all-time.
Ryback emerging victorious with the title in tow and being endorsed by Bryan afterward was a memorable moment, but it was apparent he wouldn't be able to measure up to WWE's resident "Yes!" man as champion. Thus, he was doomed to fail as soon as he captured the title.
Of course, the injury he suffered during his reign that kept him out of action for one month wasn't WWE's fault, but they could have done more to make the title (and Ryback) feel special. Once he dropped the strap to Kevin Owens, he faded off into obscurity.