10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE In 2012

4. Ryback Was A Draw

Ryback CM Punk
WWE.com

They shouldn't have booked it, in hindsight. Not unless they were prepared to pull off one of the more shocking pivots in company history at this point.

When John Cena went down hurt ahead of his pay-per-view clash with CM Punk, WWE looked around and decided to put the undefeated and red hot Ryback in instead.

It worked too well. Cena was a perfect Autumnal feud for Punk because either could be bought as The Rock's Royal Rumble 2013 opponent. Ryback was such a wild card curiosity in the title scene that Hell In A Cell drew the company's best B-Show buyrate since Brock Lesnar returned at Extreme Rules. It outdrew the prior year's show too - one that featured both Punk and Cena in the titular main event.

Ryback ruled, and he was the reason.

"Feed Me More", he yelled. Audiences vocally agreed and did the same with their wallets, but Vince McMahon persistently refused the request. Showing crowds the cook book without baking the dishes, McMahon moved Ryback into a quality programme with the debuting Shield at the Survivor Series that sadly left him looking far too normal.

'The Big Guy' wasn't ever as massive again.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say. With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.