Ryback Discusses The Nexus and Its WWE Debut

Back in 2010, the man now known as Ryback made his main roster WWE debut under the name Skip Sheffield. While just a performer on “NXT” at the time, and his cast members from that season would make an impact on the main event scene in WWE right away with The Nexus.

Ryback spoke with the Miami Herald about the faction, including its debut in South Florida.

“The Big Guy” noted all eight members of the group were given an ultimatum that night:

“We were pretty much told that if we don’t nail this thing, we’re probably going to be fired or definitely not going to be given the opportunity they were going to give us,” he said. “So we were all on the same page that night…We all knew we had to work together that night, and we were all in position to do that, because if we were going to make this thing work, we had to work together.”

The booking took the wrestling community by storm:

“If you look around at the audience that night in Miami and the shock not only on children’s faces but adults’ faces, you’ll definitely see we swam that night,” he said. “It was something I’ll never forget.”

He also noted it was helpful working with John Cena right off the bat:

“Working with John has been a great experience,” Ryback said. “He’s been on top in WWE for a very long time, and he’s done extremely well for himself. He has set the bar very high. John’s been able to [be on top] for an extended period of time, which is a rarity in this business.

“So being in the ring with John was a great learning tool for me to see where I had to be, what areas I had to improve for me to go where I wanted to go with Ryback.”

More from the interview can be read here.

Editor’s Note

An amazing moment ruined by horrific booking. Just awful. Ugh.

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