"The point where I was done with WWE" - Ryback gives interesting insight into his departure

Ryback recently revealed he wanted to leave WWE after he was booked to be eliminated early on in the five-on-five match at Survivor Series 2014.

One of the most prominent storylines leading up to the pay-per-view revolved around whether Ryback would represent Team Cena or Team Authority. The former WWE Superstar ended up representing Team Cena, but he only spent eight minutes in the 43-minute match before Rusev eliminated him.

Speaking on The Ryback Show, the one-time Intercontinental Champion said he knew he had to leave Vince McMahon’s company:

“That Survivor Series with Team Cena versus Team Authority was actually the point where I was done with WWE. The build-up to that was put all around me after I came back as a babyface and got a great reaction. They made it the main storyline on what side was I going to go to. Then the day of the pay-per-view, I’ll never forget because [WWE producer] Jamie Noble came up to me, he goes, ‘You’re going out first,’” Ryback said.

Team Cena defeated Team Authority in a memorable main event, which also featured Sting’s WWE debut. Team Authority’s Mark Henry was eliminated first by The Big Show after just 48 seconds. Seven minutes later, Ryback was the first person to be eliminated from Team Cena.

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WWE fans booed Ryback’s elimination

Ryback became one of WWE’s top babyface superstars in late 2012 and early 2013. At one stage, only John Cena sold more merchandise than the former Nexus member.

After a 16-month heel run, Ryback returned from injury in October 2014 as a babyface. Given his popularity at the time, the 40-year-old believes he should have lasted longer in the elimination match:

“Even though we had multiple things to get me out, if you go back and actually listen, you can hear the let-down of the crowd. But I was checked out already. I just go, ‘It is what it is, you do your job.’ You don’t do that, especially after what we had done before. That was it, and I knew at that point it was just saving up to get out,” he said.

Ryback decided to leave WWE when his contract expired in August 2016. Since then, The Big Guy has created the Feed Me More Nutrition supplement line. He has also significantly grown his fan base through social media platforms including TikTok (2.2m followers) and YouTube (387k subscribers).

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Please credit The Ryback Show and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.