10 Times WWE Dropped The Ball With Ryback
5. Pairing With Paul Heyman
Despite coming close to capturing the WWE Championship in the spring of 2013, Ryback had no direction beyond his feud with John Cena and subsequently spent his summer bullying backstage employees. He wasn't involved in anything of true significance until he resurfaced at September's Night of Champions pay-per-view, aiding Paul Heyman in his victory over arch-nemesis CM Punk.
Ryback was labeled an official "Paul Heyman Guy" the very next night on Raw. Although it was an endorsement for The Big Guy and a sign he might be working his way back up the card, the feud with Punk was fairly one-sided. Punk decimated Ryback in each of their outings, making Ryback look completely incompetent in the process. He was worse off because of the pairing, and it wasn't long after that they went their separate ways.
Similar to Cesaro and Curtis Axel, Heyman shouldn't be blamed for the partnership not working out, nor should Ryback. WWE clearly had the chance to boost Ryback's damaged credibility in the eyes of the fans, but because of bad booking and his less-than-stellar win-loss record against Punk, the alliance backfired.