* BaseBreakingCharacter: You either think Ryback is an intense, one man killing machine who is quickly paving his way to be one of the biggest badasses on the WWE roster with a memetically awesome CatchPhrase, or you think he's just a dime a dozen musclehead with one of the corniest lines in the industry who nonetheless seems to be becoming inexplicably popular. There seems to be no middle ground.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: The very fast main event push so soon after debuting (he went from squashing jobbers in one PPV to having a steel cage match with CM Punk for the WWE Championship in the main event of the next PPV) soured a few fans on him, but he's settling nicely as a face in the upper midcard, probably helped along by his catchphrase (which is quick, simple, and fun to yell if nothing else) and his well-documented passion for the business (which sets him apart from [[Wrestling/{{Goldberg}} the man to whom he's most often compared]]. He's also [[{{Determinator}} come back from several unfortunate and awful injuries]], which tends to make a performer more sympathetic.
* FanNickname:
** Ryberg, in reference to his similarities with Wrestling/{{Goldberg}}.
** Also, Goldberg Van Dam, due to the singlets he wears being reminiscent of [[Wrestling/RobVanDam somebody else]]. And there's a very good reason for that: RVD and Ryback have the same graphic artist for their ring gear.
** After seeing him struggle to pick up several opponents for his finisher, some fans have taken to calling him "Rybotch".
** [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] has a tendency of calling him "''[[SpellMyNameWithAThe The]]'' Ryback."
** After his heel turn and feud with John Cena, he became "Rybully".
** After a few decidedly uncomfortable segments, fans have dubbed him "Rapeback".
** Roidback is another one, due to his physique.
** His RedBaron "The Big Guy" originally started out as this.
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: He's very popular with the Indian fanbase.
* HarsherInHindsight: One of the more well-loved segements of Ryback's divisive career was a tie-in bit with Subway where one of their employees was running a sandwich table for the wrestlers. Ryback arrived, menaced the worker for a sandwich, intimidated him into letting him take a second sandwich and left. A short, hilarious segment that is unfortunately ''ruined'' by the fact that the employee was Jared Fogle, then known as a Subway spokesman, but who later was convicted for being a child molester. Add to that Ryback's hatred of "bullies" during his first heel run (as insincere as it was), and another segment during said heel run of him harrassing a guy in a shower (ItMakesSenseInContext), and it puts it into a whole new context.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** At ''Payback 2016'', held in Chicago, Ryback did CM Punk's taunt on the entrance ramp, after months of having added to his "Wake Up!" phrase when entering the ring, "It's Feeding Time!", CM Punk having said "It's Clobbering Time!" when he did so himself.[[note]]Ryback had been baiting Punk's fans for months on Website/{{Twitter}}, stemming from Punk getting back surgery in 2015 which they see as partially Ryback's fault for dumping him on a concrete floor from the stage.[[/note]] The next day, Ryback left WWE over his position in the company and treatment, exactly like Punk had two years ago.
** The fact that, after years of Ryback receiving Goldberg comparisons, Goldberg actually returned to WWE just a few months after Ryback himself left under acrimonious circumstances.
* HoYay: With Paul Heyman, to frightening degrees, given his below status as a Memetic Molester. Heyman called him a "big beautiful man," and kissed him, causing Ryback to break out into a ridiculous grin.
* LowestCommonDenominator: From his simplistic speech patterns as a character to his full-steam-ahead all-brawn wrestling style to his social media persona, Ryback comes across as a flat meathead character. It's pretty telling that his most well-known fans are Website/YouTube trolls who make claims such as that Goldberg (the wrestler to whom he's most often compared) [[InsaneTrollLogic copied]] ''[[InsaneTrollLogic him]]'', and coin expressions such as "[insert smaller guy/internet favorite/rival wrestler here] sucks, my ryback is a legend. Ryback Rules."
* MemeticMolester: Thanks to a segment where he was harassing a guy in the shower. No, that isn't what it sounds like. He just made the guy soak his bag with the shower head.
* MemeticMutation:
** Let's just say that the 'Feed! Me! More!' chant and reports Ryback's BigEater tendencies tends to get a lot of food and baking related puns associated with it in the snarkier parts of the IWC and leave it at that.
** [[Wrestling/BrockLesnar "Eat. Tweet. Delete. Repeat."]], for his tendency to make a controversial tweet, and delete it near-instantly.
** "I'M DUMB AS FUCK" after CM Punk stated Ryback used this as the reason why he kept injuring Punk in matches.
** After he uploaded a ten minute ASMR video of himself eating chips, clips from the video have been used as a reaction image for waiting or apathy-inducing situations.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: His Website/{{Twitter}} rants, and now Website/YouTube channel, have redeemed him in the eyes of many smarks, after his runs as a (sic) BOWLIE and (sic) anti-BOWLIE crusader laid the groundwork.
* TheScrappy: Though some claim that he's been rescued. He debuted as a clear Wrestling/{{Goldberg}} clone, with a hyped undefeated streak, a similar look and a similar squash style. However, people grew tired of seeing him, he was overexposed and put into a world title feud he never should have been in. He performed poorly and was known to be very unsafe to work with, botching several spots and injuring Wrestling/CMPunk twice. He has apparently taken some time to improve his skills and correct his errors, but he has a long way to go to repair that reputation.
* StrawmanHasAPoint: On the April 15, 2013 episode of ''Raw'', Ryback cut a lengthy pretaped promo stating that he turned on Wrestling/JohnCena because Cena never came to his aid when Wrestling/TheShield beat him up on multiple occasions and that he was stuck in his shadow. He has a point; Cena used Ryback as his replacement to face Wrestling/CMPunk when Cena was injured and acted like he had his back and yet he never deigned to assist Ryback when the Shield were running rampant. Then in regards to being in Cena's shadow, he is entirely correct, everyone bar the Rock is in Cena's shadow, and after ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 29'', you might say the Rock is too now.
* UnintentionallySympathetic: His heel turn, which is explained in a promo as him being pissed that Cena essentially left him high and dry on his way to his newest title run while Ryback was continually getting the crap beaten out of him by Wrestling/TheShield. In fact, the more cynical would almost argue that Cena, given the nature of his 2012, wasn't too upset about the attacks as they removed a potential obstacle between him and the WWE Championship. Although this may qualify as a ShrugOfGod and ZigZaggedTrope as the storyline has been split on the roles. Ryback's [[WhatTheHellHero explanation]] has been acknowledged as having merit, and Cena himself even said he understood why Ryback did it. Then, add Wrestling/TheShield to further cloud things. Also, while Ryback left Cena to The Shield, he also didn't go back to attack further the way Wrestling/MarkHenry, Wrestling/TheBigShow, and Wrestling/BrockLesnar have recently. The [[GreekChorus commentators and on-air management]] have even stated that they have no idea what's going on.