Should Ryback turn heel after Wrestlemania?

Nearly an year back, Ryback made his destructive debut on SmackDown. April 6 was the first time we saw the character Ryback after he left Nexus due to an injury. When in Nexus, everyone at once realized that Skip Sheffield was a prospect that had one of the best WWE futures.

His return on SmackDown was extremely impressive, and despite a few botches here and there, Ryback was carried forward as an unstoppable monster who was fed jobbers after jobbers. As Ryback was making news around the WWE world for his dominating run, many people claimed that Vince had taken a lot of liking to him. He even considered him the 2nd babyface of the company after John Cena. This special preference that Vince had for him led him to the spotlight after John Cena suffered an injury.

Ryback hasn’t looked back since then, and has been constantly pushed into fighting top heels like CM Punk. However, Ryback has been unable to pick up even one victory over Punk, and The Shield has been instrumental in ensuring that. Ryback’s constant losses to Punk caused a lot of damage to his character of being a rampant monster, and after his recent two losses to The Shield, his run as a top babyface has taken a huge setback.

Ryback is, at present, one of the most over superstars in WWE. His ‘Feed Me More’ catchphrase has received a lot of fanfare and at present, is the next big face of WWE. But when you see your favorite character lose constantly, people tend to feel insecure about supporting him. The same thing, I feel, is happening in case of Ryback. After his recent shocking loss at the Elimination Chamber, where Ryback was pinned cleanly, many fans now have a feeling that Ryback’s babyface character isn’t going anywhere, and this was cemented when Ryback lost to The Shield again at RAW last week.

Moments after this loss, people started speculating a Ryback heel turn. Though the chances of that happening look bleak, WWE have slowly but steadily started picturing him as a monster who is now desperate for a win. I feel, in the weeks to come, we will see Ryback as a monster who will do almost anything to get a win, even if it involves going against team members like Sheamus.

But the biggest question that is being asked now is whether Ryback should turn heel ? Is it the right time for a heel turn? If you’d ask me, I would gladly agree. Right from the beginning, Ryback’s character looked incomplete mainly because he was given a push way too early. He didn’t evolve into a top babyface, but was rather given to us as a raw monster. The problem with Ryback as a top babyface was that he hadn’t done anything worthy that made him a deserving challenger for the WWE title.

I feel this is where WWE made a huge mistake with Ryback, as he was given a push way too early. Yes, his consuming jobbers week in and week out seemed to increasingly frustrate several wrestling fans but WWE, and Vince in particular, should have considered giving him a comparatively smaller push. The reason for this is that, after his massive push to the top, WWE is now finding it difficult to pitch him at the moment against a credible opponent. The Shield, though a decent opponent, cannot lose a lot of matches to Ryback as it will stall their momentum.

Hence, Ryback is now in a position where he is over with the crowd but doesn’t have an opponent who will be ready to lose to him to give him credibility as a top babyface. At the same time, WWE cannot push Ryback down now to a smaller title like the Intercontinental Championship, as it will make Ryback lose his popularity. Hence, the best thing that WWE can do now with Ryback is turn him heel.

His feud with the Shield looks just the right way to turn Ryback heel. Ryback will feud with Shield going into WrestleMania and will most probably lose to them. After the loss, a frustrated Ryback will then turn against the team by joining the Shield. The Shield can then target John Cena in their mission to deliver justice, creating an interesting feud post WrestleMania.