On the most recent edition of “Conversations with The Big Guy”, which you can listen to in full at this link, former WWE star Ryback had the following to say regarding a number of topics:
On Kevin Owens’ Conditioning:
I think that is a very lazy way of saying, oh I don’t have to try anymore. There is a huge difference; I’ve been in the ring with Kevin Owens and I like Kevin Owens a lot, and I don’t know if he works out or not, I don’t know, but you have to look at guys like Mick Foley before, who has been a WWE World Heavyweight Champion, he’s always had that stamina in the ring—Foley is not a workout guy either. I firmly believe that everybody should prime their bodies and take care of themselves as athletes; that is my personal opinion because the whole part of it, the whole real illusion of it is to be in a real fight, because if you were in a real fight you could not get away with that in a real fight, so that is my whole agenda for wanting guys to work out, but there’s a difference between—especially considering things in this day and age with the wellness policy and drugs; it’s one thing if you take drugs and you’re in shape, but you might not even be in cardio shape, a lot of people aren’t, it’s one thing to bust your a** and work out everyday and you just don’t have the ideal body—that happens all the time, but you’re an athlete and you take care of yourself and then you get in the ring and you have great conditioning, I’ll say this because from what I understand Kevin doesn’t work out but don’t quote me 100% on that, maybe he started but didn’t, but everybody has a different genetic level of where they are at, and like Jake Roberts always had great cardio, and I don’t picture him going on the Stairmaster. There are guys that have a higher threshold of cardio capacity, that does exist. I don’t agree if Kevin doesn’t work out because I believe it’ll improve his life in general and all that, and I’ve wrestled him in there. I do believe his conditioning could be better, but you’ve never watched a match of his and has never hindered his performance. He knows what he can and cannot do, and he knows how to pace himself, which is a skill all on itself, so that guy is not Kevin Owens on that level, because everybody’s story is different, if he had gone up there—and yeah, Owens has been given a lot of opportunities, especially early on, but he’s actually come through in all of those after watching his matches. I guarantee you from what Vince has said, he doesn’t have the ideal wrestler’s body, you never watch him and say, ‘ah man’ like he’s blown up, he’s so out of shape, it’s not an issue as far as professional wrestling, so these guys on the Independent level who don’t take care of their bodies cannot rely on the fact that Kevin Owens doesn’t work out and say, oh, this guy is paving the way for all of us because I bet you they don’t know how to work and their conditioning is not on par with Kevin Owens.
On the Hardy’s Going Back to WWE:
We got to wrestle with them, they’re just two cool dudes. I get it, I totally get it for them, especially if the money is right for them at this stage of their life, especially on the Independence. I know they are doing extremely well, but if they’re at that later stage in their career, I can totally see that. When Jeff was Jeff Hardy, he was running hot in WWE for a long time; there I say, Jeff was always the more popular one, up until #Broken Matt Hardy, which now Matt has surpassed Jeff, that is awesome, because that usually doesn’t happen, and you can tell they are not only brothers but they are real friends. Great example is Rick Steiner. It’s not a knock on him, but that is usually how it goes, so I am happy for brothers, they both can experience that and both can have two #1’s, and allow Jeff be Jeff and let Matt be #Broken. I think you have two great talents right there. Those guys are great—if they choose to go down that path, they know what they are signing up for, they know what they are doing. They have been there and have been there for many years, and I am sure they would be welcomed back with open arms so that is cool news.
On Jack Swagger Leaving WWE:
I got a tweet from somebody today asking if I had Jack Swagger’s contact, which I don’t. It’s no surprise on Jack Swagger. I am very happy for him that if he did leave WWE. I remember seeing him there. He was always studying and was going to school. I know the last couple of years, he was always studying, had his books with his laptop. He was always putting in the work, kind of preparing for life after WWE. He had a lot of success there early on, and was definitely a guy who was underutilized, especially in the babyface role with ‘We the People.’ I know that they could have done a lot with him but it was very unfortunate. Not to say that he hasn’t made mistakes, but who hasn’t. He was always a legitimate athlete. I have wrestled him quite a few times, he always can go. He has been there a long time, and I can only imagine at this stage of his life having a family with a wife and a kid, at this stage of his life he made the right move and I congratulate him for that.
