Ryback Weighs In on Matt Riddle Having Heat Over Calling Out Brock Lesnar, Riddle Hurting His Standing in WWE

On the latest Conversations With the Big Guy, Ryback discussed reports that Matt Riddle has heat over his calling out Brock Lesnar on Twitter. As reported, Riddle is said to have heat with WWE officials over his call-outs, which led to an altercation with Lesnar backstage at the Royal Rumble. Ryback talked about how Riddle is making a mistake in angering Lesnar, who has the power to work with who he wants. Highlights and the full podcast are below:

On Riddle calling out Lesnar: “I’ll tell you this. You know, respect in pro wrestling is a very real thing. And you’ve got people — Brock has been there for a long time. Brock is the big dog of WWE. So, I’m just gonna give you a scenario. If I was down in NXT or FCW, and John Cena was on top — let’s say Stone Cold Steve Austin, because Steve and I get along fairly well. Stone Cold’s red-hot up in WWE running s**t. He’s the champ, he’s the man at the peak of his career, and I’m down in developmental. And social media exists, and I start running with, ‘Steve’s a little bitch. I can’t wait to go up there and retire Stone Cold. That little bitch!’ And like, I just constantly kept doing that. Now that might generate [heat]. This is where I think Riddle, if this is what he’s doing, it generates buzz online. But the problem is you bury yourself. You think Stone Cold is gonna want to work with me? No way in hell. Or if he is gonna work with me, it’s not gonna be anything for me.”

On the politics of that kind of situation: “So there’s a thing in pro wrestling where you gotta know how to conduct yourself in a professional manner, so that — because until you get to those top [positions], most of those guys will never get to those top positions. And I got to experience it for a year. Man, it’s a whole other level. Because you gotta play your game of not overstepping your bounds, but you gotta f**king know when to step up. Because there’s one guy deciding everything. Brock has the power with Vince. If Brock doesn’t want to do anything, if he doesn’t want to work with you, you’re not working with him. Who’s gonna tell him otherwise? He has the best contract, he has the only contract where he seems to, where he has an opinion on things, because he’s smart. And I just think you have to be careful. Everyone wants to get over, but you gotta play the game. Like, you’re down, you’re in level one still man. You got to get on f**king level eight or nine before you even start remotely doing that.”

On Riddle’s attempts to get the match with Lesnar: “It’s not UFC. It’s not where, if there’s interest in a fight, Dana White can make that fight. This is pro wrestling and political bulls**t, and you gotta navigate that s**t, man. So again, it could be a complete work, that it could be a way to generate interest down the road in it [Riddle vs. Lesnar]. “But I have a feeling. From how Riddle has talked about him, after just giving you those comparisons. If I was doing that with Stone Cold Steve Austin, he isn’t gonna want to work with me. Why would he? He could make money with 50 other guys ahead of me that aren’t insulting him personally on social media.”

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