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Ryback was as much a victim of bad timing as anything else. Vince was dead set on giving us to Rock vs. Cena 2 for the WWE Title. And nothing was going to stop him. Not CM Punk finding his groove as the top heel in the company. Not Cena get injured. And certainly NOT some guy getting over in the midcard.
The biggest problem for Vince at that time was, there was no one else who could have stepped into the role of Cena at that point. And, as over as the Ryback was, he wasn't mentally ready for that moment. In a year's time, he may have been. But they needed an opponent for Punk, and no one else was credible at that point (I think at the time I called it 'Cena Uber Alles' booking). So, they had to take the guy gunning for the mid card belt and get him ready to face the World Champion.
Then, they had to do this in a themed pay per view, which required it to be in a Hell in a Cell match. So, they had to show him lose, but in a way that didn't make him look weak. That leads to the next month, and with Cena thrown in the mix, as well. This is where the really bad timing REALLY comes into effect. They need a reason to make him lose in a ladder match and not look weak again. This time, they debut 3 guys to cost him the match. Those 3 guys just so happened to all be guys you could build a company around. So they have to look credible. How do you make them look credible? They have to beat people. Who did they beat more than anyone else? Ryback. What do you call a big world beater who can't beat the world? A loser. They would have been better off not putting him in that spot at al.
What messed Ryback up the most happened before even Hell in a Cell. They needed a big powerful man doing big powerful things. Ryback was the big powerful man. But he couldn't lift up Tensai. And that kind of made him look bad. Oddly enough, a not so big powerful man (which is a crazy way to describe a man who is 6'5" and 232 lbs.) did a big powerful thing that same night. One of them is getting trolled to retire endlessly. The other has been a mainstay in the company since then, he's not a top guy, either. However, Cesaro can and has been used in several roles and made them work.
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