Before the show had even aired, a lot of fans were glossing over the mid card battle between Ryback and Rusev. In fairness to those people, the bout didn't exactly scream pay-per-view quality to begin with, but there was a modicum of story involved. In weeks leading up to the event, Lana had been pulling the wool over Ryback's eyes, crying wolf over false injuries and taking his eye off the ball. Usually in WWE, this would mean that the babyface was about to get revenge on the heel. It says a lot for the 'Big Guy's' standing in the promotion that Ryback wasn't booked to do that at TLC. There was no big win to put the villainous duo of Lana and Rusev in their place, Ryback ended up losing by submission to the 'Bulgarian Brute' in less than 8 minutes. Lana played the same tricks which had fooled Ryback before, and the babyface suffered from them once more at TLC. Just a few months ago, he was Intercontinental Champion, and being featured a bit more heavily. Fast forward to the year's end, and Ryback is in WWE limbo. There are no feuds on the horizon post-Rusev, and he's not in the mix for any titles.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
