Ryback’s motto while he was with WWE happened to be “Feed Me More” and The Big Guy used that mantra very well. He had arenas chanting his catchphrase wherever he went. But Ryback recently discussed a problem Vince McMahon had with him which ironically had to do with his size.
The Big Guy spoke to Colt Cabana’s The Art of Wrestling podcast where he revealed Vince McMahon thought it would be a good idea for him to shave off a few lbs before really getting his career going with WWE.
“It’s funny because [Vince] was the one that put me in a singlet because he thought I was fat at one point. I have never been fat at any point in my career but this was a real thing. Word had gotten back to me that I needed to lose 30 lbs, and this was right before I debuted as Ryback, he said. I was in trunks, but they put me in a black singlet, which made me look like a black Big Show. I thought to myself that I had to do something with this, so I got a hold of RVD and asked him if It was cool that I airbrushed my singlet because I had to do something. I had done this the week before and everybody was like, oh that looks good, so I thought, OK, this is going to work.”
Apparently, the argument over Ryback’s weight didn’t stop during his time with WWE. He still rocked his singlet proudly but the entire time he had a little birdie in his ear telling him to slim down. This resulted in arguments backstage with WWE personnel and Vince McMahon himself.
“I responded back that it wasn’t happening, and that he can talk to me if he wants to, but I’m wearing my singlet. I’m in control, I’m not wearing trunks. So, afterwards, I started not to trust anything that was going on. Finally, everyone was pissed off so I went to the back and talked to Vince McMahon and said that we needed to talk,” Ryback continued. “I went to his office, we talked and had a conversation about the singlet. I felt that I won the conversation, but not really since he controls everything. Eventually, I went to trunks because I knew I was leaving and it became a mind game at that point. John Cena approached me later and said to me, ‘Congratulations. You won that conversation.’ Ultimately, did I really win? I didn’t win on TV after that.”
It just goes to show sometimes maybe it’s a better idea not to argue and just go on a diet if your boss says something about how you look in a skin-tight singlet… considering you have a job that requires that kind of uniform of course.
Credit for the quotes in this article goes to Art Of Wrestling and Wrestling Inc for the transcription
