Ryback Says He Should Be Facing Goldberg; Talks Brock Lesnar Not Being Drug Tested By WWE, More
Former WWE Superstar Ryback was a guest on Busted Open this week. Among other things, Ryback talked about the unconfirmed rematch between Brock Lesnar and Bill Goldberg. Also, 'The Big Guy' shared his thoughts on WWE's Wellness Policy.
According to Ryback, he can relate to Goldberg's rationale for wanting to compete in a WWE ring again; however, the former WWE Intercontinental Champion admitted that he thinks he should have been Goldberg's opponent instead of Lesnar, given that Ryback was often compared to Goldberg during his run with WWE. Also, Ryback theorized that 2K Sports may have even pushed for the possible WrestleMania 20 rematch as a means of promoting the recently released WWE 2K17.
"I think it's really cool that he, he's going to be 50 years old, that he wants to come back and come back for his family and kids to see him in true time do his thing. Now, I will say, he knows, he said it himself, he's going on 50 years old and he has been away from the game for quite a long time. And for me, for my own selfish reasons, that should be me and Goldberg. It shouldn't be him and Brock. It has been there. They've done that 13 years ago. It's 13 years have gone by. We're in a different era now."
Ryback continued, "who's to say that 2K17 doesn't have money in this and they're not throwing money around to make this match happen to promote the video game? I can't say. I'm not in that circle. I don't know. But I like his reasons for wanting to do it, as far as for his family. I think that's really cool. I'm sure if I was 49 [or] 50 and had my family and they hadn't seen me wrestle, like, I'm sure that would be going through my mind as well. It's just, I hope he does what's best for him, ultimately. And Brock is a very physical human being, and, Bill, he's up there. Now, I think, can he do it? Absolutely, but it's a different day and age."
On the subject of WWE's Wellness Policy, Ryback believes that the program is positive overall, but he averred that all WWE performers, even so-called part-timers, should be tested exactly the same way as the rest of the WWE roster.
"The WWE's Wellness Policy is great. I and everybody that is a full-time wrestler there, we were tested relentlessly. And I love it and I encourage it because I know who and what I am and all the other performers there play by the rules and we all play on the same level playing field. I will say, because I heard them say, 'because Brock Lesnar's not a full-time employee, he's not required to be tested by the WWE Wellness Policy.' That is absolute f–king bulls–t. And Goldberg coming in, I don't care if he's a part-time employee or not an employee, anybody that steps foot in a WWE ring, whether it's once a year or 300 days a year, should be f–king tested. And WWE, Mark Carrano, Triple H, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Kevin Dunn, the entire Board of Executives f–king know that's the case and should be true, so it is bulls–t from a performer's standpoint that, like, I played by the rules, all these other full-time employees play by the rules, they should make sure that anybody that comes in there, Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, part-time employee or not, they are all tested the exact same [way] and those results are made public. That should be a standard that people that invest in the company, from a shareholder perspective, they should bring those questions to Vince when they have those meetings because the fact that they came out and said that about Brock, 'oh, we don't test him because he's a part-time employee' is bulls–t and everybody knows it."
Click here to listen to Ryback's comments. If you use any of the quotes that appear in this article, please credit Busted Open with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.