WWE: Is Ryback's Momentum on the Decline?

Just one week ago, Ryback debuted a new theme song on RAW, squashed JTG and had the live crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. He was back to squashing two local jobbers on Monday, however, and it seems like Ryback has taken a step back after reaching his peak last week.

Ryback is obviously limited in what he can do, as he's a monster who isn't going to be given much mic time. But, he's a physical specimen who is very entertaining to watch in the ring. If the writers don't come up with something substantial for him soon, however, he may very well fade into oblivion.

Ryback has been involved in something resembling a feud with Jinder Mahal over the past few weeks, but nothing has come of it. Ryback has beaten Mahal by countout and disqualification, Mahal has mocked Ryback by defeating two jobbers at once in his own right, and Mahal even interrupted Ryback's match on Monday.

Rather than just moving forward with the feud and letting Ryback beat Mahal at a pay-per-view, though, the writers are prolonging it and making nothing out of it. While the notion of Ryback beating two wrestlers at once was interesting at first, the novelty wore off after the third or fourth time, so it's time to ditch that gimmick.

A wrestler can never be taken seriously if he doesn't engage in actual feuds, so something needs to be done quickly with Ryback. It seems as though the WWE really likes Ryback and wants to push him, but, if WWEcontinues to put things off, then the fans are going to stop caring eventually.

That means that Ryback needs to beat Mahal soon before getting into a believable feud against someone like Tensai. He is another guy that the creative team seems to have lost its way with, so why not pit him against Ryback? They're both physically-imposing figures who could create some fireworks in the ring. I'm not sure what the WWE brass is waiting for.

Waiting too long and missing the boat with certain superstars seems to happen a lot in the WWE, and Ryback is a prime example. He wasn't booked particularly well leading up to last week, but the WWE was fortunate enough that the fans were still behind him. There were still some "feed me more" chants on Monday, but they weren't nearly as loud and enthusiastic as the previous week.

Wrestling fans as a whole aren't a patient group, so it's actually quite unbelievable that Ryback has been receiving a reaction for as long as he has. The WWE is playing with fire and needs to stop being complacent on the Ryback front, though. He has the potential to be a key cog in the operation moving forward, but he won't get there squashing jobbers.

I realize that much of Goldberg's undefeated streak involved beating jobbers, but Ryback isn't Goldberg regardless of what the fans chant. Goldberg has already been done before and Ryback needs to be a totally different entity if he is going to be successful. 

There are plenty of guys in the company right now without any discernible angles, so it shouldn't be that tough to find something for Ryback to do. Perhaps the writers are just waiting for something great to come along, but eventually they have to make it happen or else Ryback will be the latest in a long line of failed big men.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter and listen to him on Ring Rust Radio.