5 booking mistakes WWE made with Ryback

#3 Being a ‘Paul Heyman Guy’

The Ryback-Heyman alignment was disastrous

By September 2013, Ryback was playing an aggressive heel who would throw his weight around backstage and pick on anyone and everyone simply because he could. So, when WWE needed an opponent for CM Punk during his rivalry with Paul Heyman, who better than the man who walked around like he was untouchable?

On paper, it might have seemed a good idea. In reality, it was atrocious. Their matches were below-par and Punk has since claimed that Ryback is an unsafe wrestler who “knocked 20 years” off his career.

During the rivalry, we also saw one of the most bizarre moments in the history of Monday Night Raw, when a wheelchair-bound Heyman said he owed his life to his new client and, as a 'thank you', kissed him on the cheek.

The few months that they were aligned with each other didn’t do much for Ryback, who later said he “cut a two-hour promo” on his advocate in the catering area to let him know how much he disliked working with him.