Ryback Weighs in on Jon Moxley’s MRSA Infection, Recalls His Own Staph Infection

– On the latest Conversations with the Big Guy, Ryback shared his thoughts on Jon Moxley’s MRSA infection that knocked him out of his All Out match. Moxley was forced out of his match with Kenny Omega due to the infection and also pulled out of his Starrcast appearance, though he is expected to recover by the time AEW on TNT debuts. Ryback discussed the seriousness of the condition and recalled his own battle with a staph infection.

Highlights from the discussion, as well as the full video, are below:

On Moxley developing a MRSA staph infection: “But I think in the – MRSA’s extremely serious. And he had that before and it’s not a good thing that that came back. I think four weeks, that kind of thing and having the staph infection that I had and it wasn’t MRSA. I was at the mercy [of it], like if I would have had it I think a week longer, I was going to have to drop the [Intercontinental] Title. It was stressful ’cause I had no control over it, and I had put a picture up [online], it was all ballooned up. And he battled that before that staph infection. Sometimes these things, oftentimes they have a mind of their own. And there’s nothing like [it]. And with antibiotics, and they’re going in and I know they’re gonna clean it all out. And that’s probably the estimated time if everything goes well. There’s always the possibility that they clean it out and they don’t get all the infection. I’m praying to God that’s not the case, and they he gets it and he’s completely fine and everything stays on track for that. I want him to be part of that in AEW on TNT, but there is the realistic possibility that these things don’t go away. They’re extremely serious.”

On getting a staph infection during his WWE run: “I remember when I got my staph infection, that weekend before I was wrestling The Big Show. And my thumb, I ended up taking the skin off of my thumb and I remember it happened — I don’t know if it happened in the weight room, or in the match before with something with Big Show. And I somehow got my skin ripped off, and I was putting stuff on it and treated it. And the next night out we went out there, I had forgot to tape it, or I did and the tape came off. It must have, with sweating and being out there in the ring [come off]. The following night on Raw it was a tag match, I did a house show dive over the top rope onto Sheamus, I believe. And usually I’ll land on my feet on that. I came down though, and hit my knee on the mat. And that was enough, the infection got into my system somehow, and I banged my knee and it inflamed up. And that infection went right to my knee. And that’s the only logical reason I could think of because I had no cuts on my knee or anything. But I know with his elbow he has already had it there already. And I believe you become more susceptible to getting it once you have had it before. It’s a very scary thing, and it’s — that thing can wreak havoc on your body. I mean, there’s some horrendous stories out there with people who have had that. So I hope for his sake, I hope they don’t rush him back too much to get him on TV. Like, make sure this thing is okay for longevity in his career. Because this is a very small thing in the grand scheme of things.”

On Ambrose saying that he nearly died from his first MRSA infection in 2018: “Yeah. And that’s not him joking. People need to understand that, you know. When I got the staph in my knee I was in Birmingham, Alabama. And I had to go do media that day. They pulled me, the WWE doctor saw me. They instantly told me I’m off TV. They rushed me to the medical center. I had to stay there all week. I wasn’t allowed to go home, and I remember they were going to have to operate on me. And then the antibiotics started working, and I then had to stay home for a few weeks. And it was just ballooned up. Mine went well, that’s going well, you know. So you have to picture, he’s got something that’s even more serious with MRSA and it goes bad? There’s people that have to get their limbs amputated, and — it’s no f**king joke. I hope to God — and I know they will. They will treat this with the utmost seriousness, and make sure he’s okay before he comes back. He doesn’t need to rush back on this to get back on TV. Get him healthy and make sure that this isn’t going to be an issue going forward after this.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Coversations With the Big Guy with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.