10 Secret Messages Wrestlers Sent

8. Ryback Is Self-Deprecating

Ryback WWE
WWE.com

Ryback is a weird guy.

He was a weird guy even before he realised that nobody was ever going to hire him and fell off the deep end entirely. He was also banter.

Now, very little of this was on purpose. He's not an intellectual. In one of the funniest pro wrestling stories ever, according to Cody Rhodes and Bryan Danielson, Ryback thought that James Cameron named his movie 'Terminator 2' because there were two feuding Terminators in it. How could anybody not know of sequel title convention? Especially someone who was basically Goldberg 2?

Did he think Toy Story 4 was set in a big house?

He was also banter in a deliberate way. Referring to himself as "The Big Guy" in the third person was funny in a way that is difficult to articulate, and he was prone to a bit of self-deprecation. In addition to admitting to CM Punk that he was dumb as f*ck, he also sent a sly message to creative with a message on his weight belt in 2016, when he had checked out. He printed 'THE PRE-SHOW STOPPER', wilfully no-selling the mandated WWE-speak of "Kick-Off", as a means of sending up his role as yet another demoted main event act that Vince had lost interest in.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!