It looks like contract disputes between WWE’s Ryback, real name Ryan Reeves, has resulted in The Big Guy being taken off TV for an unknown amount of time. Reeves started out in the NXT competition as Skip Sheffield, but was repackaged as the brutal Ryback a few years ago.
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There also seems more to be at play here in addition to the contract negotiations. Apparently Reeves applied for the trademark of “The Big Guy”, but WWE registered the same thing just three months later, one report noted.
It was noted that both Ryback and the WWE have been negotiating a new deal but couldn’t come to terms.
It was noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Ryback met with Vince McMahon earlier in the day on Monday. Ryback’s contract is coming due in the next few months and the company likes to re-sign people a few months in advance.
Reeves apparently didn’t like the money being offered and Vince reportedly told Ryback, in so many words, that he should “go home” if he didn’t like the offer. Ryback didn’t argue.
No word yet if Ryback is done until his contract expires but it looks like he could be paid to sit at home until the deal expires, until there is some sort of reconciliation.
Today though, Ryback posted a Tumblr post explaining his frustration with the company’s pay hierarchy and that he indeed confirmed he requested to sit home.
“I will start by saying I did request to be taken off of WWE television until myself and Vince could get a yes or no on a new deal,” he started out. “This has been going on since my IC Title run and had been nothing but a major strain on my life as all I ever wanted to do was work for WWE.”
He continued to say that it’s not over stuff like a bus for travel as he mentions that was handled some time ago. “It comes down to a major problem I have with not only WWE but wrestling in general.”
“Wrestling is pre-determined,” he said. “We as performers know before we go out to that ring or perform a backstage scene who is winning and losing, etc or have a general idea of what we are going to say. It blows my mind how in a sport which is pre-determined from a company standpoint winners are paid so much more than the losers. Every single person who works for WWE from top to bottom is absolutely just as valuable as the next. The winners cannot win unless the losers go out there and agree to lose to them.”
Ryback’s character has been in a United States Championship feud with the current champion Kalisto, and while he’s been in the WWE for a shade under a decade now, he’s only managed to get one taste of singles gold.
You can read the rest of the post here as he talks about being released from the company and his uncertain future, but has a few back up plans should that occur.
So what do you fans think? If you’ve read the piece, do you think he has a point or do jobbers and mid-card guys have a place just as main eventers do? Let us know in the comments below.
