Ryback as a Top Guy: Are You Convinced Yet?

While things are looking up concerning John Cena returning in enough time for the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, it is actually a bad idea no matter how you slice it. He will be fresh off his recovery stage, thrown in one of the most physically grueling matches the WWE has to offer, and cannot expect to do anything less than to be a part of the best match of the night.

I have one word for that whole scenario—reaggravate.

Hell in a Cell is a relatively throw-away PPV. John Cena needs to heal in order to effectively perform at one of the "Big Four" PPVs, Survivor Series, in November. This leaves us to the resident "Plan B."

Ryback.

The writing is on the wall now that Ryback is being groomed to receive a push of near-Goldberg proportions. Whether it is a good or bad move continues to be debated. SmackDown's match against Tensai could be compared to Goldberg's match against Reese back in WCW. Reese was by no stretch of the imagination a top guy, but people still wondered if Goldberg could execute his Jackhammer, and it was a good notch in his undefeated-streak belt.

So SmackDown gave Ryback two steps forward with his win against Tensai after successfully executing his Shell Shocked finisher. However, the rematch (that I hoped was not going to happen) on Raw gave him one step back.

Was it botched? Was Tensai acting out of spite by being dead weight? Was Ryback not strong enough to lift him up on Raw? Who knows, but what was obvious is that it was an epic fail, and he had to resort back to his Skip Sheffield-Nexus days and use his clothesline as a finisher.

After the "smh" moment against Tensai, one would think that the Ryback antagonists would be on cloud nine right? Au contraire, mon frere. The night was not over.

The WWE continued to invest in Ryback's push by putting it to the ultimate test. Giving the live audience the say-so in their vested interest in the feud.

The risk paid off.

When Ryback's music hit, JR was bailed out of a shameful situation, brought back to the ring and stood behind Ryback as he did what officially gave him the go-ahead to be a main-eventer:

The staredown.

The crowd was behind him. The building was drowned with "Feed Me More" chants, and the only thing he had to do was breathe hard and make mean faces. I hope a dry erase marker was used, Ryback haters. You are going to have to get rid of the "This isn't going to work" check mark that was prematurely on the board.

I'll admit, I had my doubts, and I'm still not all the way sold on Ryback being that guy, yet. However, the crowd doesn't lie. The payoff worked, the chants were deafening and ladies and gentlemen we have ourselves a top babyface.

Move over, Jeff Jarrett and Drew McIntyre—there is a new Chosen One in town.

We will discuss this more on the Pancakes and Powerslams show Tuesday night at 11pm ET on Blog Talk Radio. Tune in. The number to call live on air with your thoughts in 347.884.8452.

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