20 Ways WWE Killed CM Punk And AJ Lee's Passion For Wrestling
12. What Ryback Represents
CM Punk is they prototypical 21st century pro wrestler. Japanese and Mexican wrestling-inspired, able to mix shoot and work in promos, comfortable being himself in front of a live audience, and most importantly, in no way looking like he abuses anabolic steroids. Of course, by comparison, there's Ryback. Ryback is the ultimate stereotypical 80s wrestler, and on every level the antithesis of what Punk is all about. At a time where his similarly styled friends were either still languishing in relative obscurity on the independent scene or being buried by WWE, to see Ryback's rise (and then have to wrestle him, too) had to be really disillusioning.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
