In mid-2012, Ryback was on a roll and had a ton of momentum. What he didnt have, however, was a nickname. The announcers didnt have anything snappy or creative to say about him, so something had to be done. They started off with The Human Wrecking Ball, possibly in reference to his size and bald head. It made sense as a nickname; he tore through opponents in the same way a wrecking ball tears through condemned houses. Then they decided with calling him The Big Guy. Thats not really an interesting nickname when you think about it. There are plenty of big men in WWE, so it did little to make Ryback special in any way. It didnt make him stand out, and it didnt reflect anything that was unique about him. But it was the nickname that Michael Cole gave Ryback one day that sealed his fate: Big Hungry. To possibly coincide with his theme song (titled Meat), catchphrase Feed me more and his Meat Hook Clothesline signature move, they called him Big Hungry. Its believed that this was in reference to Ryan Reeves massive appetite. According to Al Snow, while in developmental, Ryan would break a sweateating'. Apparently, Ryan Reeves ate a ton of food, and would even get scolded by Bill DeMott for eating when he wasnt supposed to. This was the pebble that started the avalanche. How can you take someone seriously when they are referred to as Big Hungry? What does that even mean? That hes a big guy who is hungry all the time and is going to eat whatever is in front of him? How is that nickname supposed to make him a bigger threat to more established opponents? The answer: it doesnt. From there, there would be jokes made at Rybacks expense about his eating habits, including a (supposedly) funny segment where he is offered a submarine sandwich from Jared the Subway guy, and instead takes two. It was all downhill from there.
Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.