Ryback (real name Ryan Reeves) is a professional wrestler currently employed by WWE. He originally debuted in 2004 as a Tough Enough competitor, and was later rechristened "Skip Sheffield" for WWE NXT. He broke his leg at a house show and was sidelined for over a year. When he came back, he was portrayed as an unstoppable powerhouse who would squash two people at a time.
Anti-Hero: Type IV or V. All he really cares about is beating people up. The only reason he is a face is because the people he beats up happen to be heels.
Ascended Fanboy: Has been a wrestling fan since he was five. Also invoked this himself when he responded on a radio show to the Goldberg chants he draws: he says the difference is that Goldberg was in it for the money, but he's in wrestling because he loves it.
Beat Them at Their Own Game: A main event match featuring John Cena and CM Punk which ended with a few WWE NXT wrestlers making their invading debut to the main roster. Are we talking about the 2010 debut of The Nexus (which Skip Sheffield was a part of) or the Ambrose/Rollins/Reigns attack on Ryback at Survivor Series 2012?
Big Eater: During Tough Enough Al Snow gave an interview about Ryback constantly sneaking large amounts of food around and getting in trouble for with Bill DeMott for it. Years later, Daniel Bryan gave an interview also describing Ryback's eating habits.
It's pretty much become his character, used to describe him literally as well as metaphorically in terms of in-ring competition.
Blood Knight: As of now, his gimmick is pretty much to beat a guy (or pair of guys) down, then promptly ask for more guys to beat down.
Cena probably put it best on the 10-15-12 episode of RAW when he said that Ryback was probably the only man in the company who didn't give a damn about the WWE Title, he just wanted to beat down Punk.
This comment may have recently come back to bite Cena in the ass.
Breakup Breakout: Due to his injury, he was barely in the Nexus at all. However, back in 2010 very few people would have guessed that Skip Sheffield would later become a bigger star than anyone in the original Nexus.
Canon Discontinuity: He was in no way shape or form part of The Nexus. What they acknowledge is that he was part of NXT season 1, before getting hurt.
Discontinuity Nod: A close look at his ring gear reveals a subtle (if not accidental) one, in that he wears arm bands on his biceps with a huge "R", right where the Nexus armband(s) would be.
Catch Phrase: Most notably, "FEED! ME! MORE!!". Other catchphrases include; "WAKE UP" when entering the ring, "I HIT! HARD!" while he assaults his opponent, and "FINISH! IT!!" before shellshocking the opponent.
"RYBACK RULES!"
As Skip Sheffield, he had "Yup yup yup, what it do."
Charles Atlas Superpower: Established in kayfabe, he lifted up two jobbers at the same time, but the jobbers were small and scrawny. He also tossed one of Miz's stage couches out of the ring after interrupting one of his shows, but seeing how it barely made an impact as it landed, it was very lightweight. By contrast, he showed considerable difficulty getting the 360lbs Tensai up on his shoulders for the Shell Shocked, a slightly modified Samoan Drop, whereas his predecessor Goldberg managed to hoist up Big Show vertically for a Jackhammer. He has, however, managed to get the even largerMark Henry up onto his shoulders for the move.
The Chew Toy: A minor example; the poor guy just doesn't seem to have much luck. He already had a hard enough time getting to the main roster. And, he'd probably have the WWE title already if other people didn't keep sticking their noses into his business.
Gave John Cena a run for his money in their Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules. An AA through a table? Speared through the barricade? Splashed through a table by Cena and blasted in the face with a fire extinguisher? He kept.coming.back.
Development Gag: The name Ryback makes a little more sense if you know that he wrestled on the independents as "The Silverback" Ryan Reeves.
Early Installment Weirdness: They actually tried having him cut a promo once back toward the beginning of his undefeated streak. Either his mic skills needed work or they decided that The Quiet One was the way to go, because now he only says a few words at a time, although that seems to be changing.
Expy: His large, imposing figure, shiny pate, and tendency to beat opponents in dominating fashion recall Goldberg, which the crowd invariably lampshades with the appropriate chant during his matches. In interviews, Ryback sees the comparison as an insult (because he considers himself to be a more passionate and harder worker than Goldberg) while Goldberg treats it as a complement (as fans are still chanting his name years after his retirement).
He has also been compared to the Ultimate Warrior because of his...interesting promos. His voice is even similar to Warrior's.
Eye Scream: For a while, he came down to the ring with an eye that was bright red. This came from an accident involving a kettle bell if Daniel Bryan is to be believed.
Exact Words: Ryback said he wouldn't let John Cena get up in their Last Man Standing match. Cue the end of the match, where Ryback drove Cena through the PPV set onto a metal brace. The match was called a No Contest, but whereas Ryback was standing, albeit helped out by officials, Cena was carted off on a stretcher in a neck brace.
Face Heel Turn: May be undergoing one after Shell Shocking John Cena on April 8th. The fans (for better or worse) cheered it like he finally got his hands on the top heel, which made it really difficult to tell what the intended reaction was.
A week later, WWE decided to drive home that he's a heel now when they had him act like a complete coward when face to face with Cena.
Fan Community Nicknames: He has recently taken to referring to his fans as "Rybackers" on Twitter.
Also, Goldberg Van Dam, due to the singlets he wears being reminiscent of 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".
Daniel Bryan has a tendency of calling him "The Ryback."
Flat Character: His character can really be summed up by his catchphrase, "Feed Me More". This makes a little more sense if you know about insider terminology ("feeding" someone to a wrestler means to put them in a Squash Match specifically to make the winner look better) and Ryan Reeves' backstage rep for being a Big Eater. But it also means that on the rare (no pun intended) occasion that Ryback cuts a promo, he tends to use a bizarre amount of food-related metaphors and puns.
Forced Meme: "Feed Me More!" The guy has to lead his own chants.
Game Breaking Injury: The poor guy broke his leg right as the Nexus angle took off in 2010, and it kept him out of the ring for well over a year.
Green-Eyed Monster: Possibly. One of the reasons he gave for turning heel was that he was sick of living in John Cena's shadow.
Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: The explanation behind his Face Heel Turn was that he was there to help Cena every time Cena was attacked by the Shield, but Cena didn't return the favor when Ryback was attacked by them.
Muscles Are Meaningful: Used in kayfabe, but averted in real life, in spite of his defined physique he's got problems lifting up guys like Tensai. He'd also lost an armwrestling match against the much smaller Daniel Puder back in Tough Enough 4.
Port Manteau: Ryback is actually the combination of his first name Ryan and his original nickname, "Silverback".
Punch! Punch! Punch! Uh Oh...: A not uncommon spot in his matches is for his opponent to try and kick him, only for him to catch their foot leaving them open for one of his signature lariats.
The Quiet One: Rarely ever talks, and when he does it short and to the point.
With his recent heel turn, that aspect of his character has been scaled back. He now cuts a lot more promos, and they're pretty standard length.
Real Life Writes the Plot: A very straight example of this. As much as WWE liked Ryback, they didn't plan on giving him a WWE Championship match as early as they did - but after John Cena had surgery to repair an injury and took longer to heal than originally planned, they had to go to him as a backup.
Red Baron: WWE tried to give him "The Big Hungry" as one, but it didn't stick and they just stopped calling him that. Jerry Lawler occasionally refers to him as the "Sin City Cyborg" (which is a Shout Out to the Terminator-inspired gimmick he had in FCW), but that doesn't seem to be sticking either.
Just had a meeting with the O'Doyle family paperwork signed and #Done! It is official now so you can all stop whining. #RybackRules
Spell My Name with a "The": Never on-screen, but several wrestlers have referred to him as "The Ryback" during interviews or other related publicity.
Squash Match: What his matches have been since his (re)debut.
Trash the Set: On the September 17, 2012 episode of Raw, he interrupted The Miz's "Miz TV" talk show segment and did this. Part of his set-trashing included lifting a couch up over his head and throwing it out of the ring.
Viva Las Vegas: He's billed from "Sin City". Ryan Reeves himself is from Las Vegas too.
Warrior Poet: Recently shown brief shades of this.
"Revenge is a confession of pain. I am not hurt; I am hungry. And when I feast again, it will be on CM Punk."
What Could Have Been: One can't help but wonder how different the Nexus storyline(s) - and Ryback's own WWE career - would have gone with Ryback not breaking his leg.
Writing Around Trademarks: Very early on, Ryback would yell FINISH HIM! before hitting the Shell Shock. Word Of God says WWE Legal encouraged the change to FINISH IT! to avoid complications with Mortal Kombat.
You Look Familiar: Was once part of Tough Enough season 4, and a couple years later NXT and was part of Nexus but broke his leg at a house show, and was gone for nearly a year and a half.
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