Ryback's Future Hinges on Program with Stale Kane

On April 6, during the WrestleMania XXX pre-show, Ryback stomped toward the ring for a Fatal 4-Way elimination match.

He and partner Curtis Axel, known collectively as RybAxel, were one of three teams to challenge WWE tag champions The Usos.

Clearly an afterthought in the grand scheme of things, Ryback and Axel were eliminated early following a Neutralizer from Cesaro to the Big Guy.

It was very much an unceremonious end to the evening for someone who was in a fairly high-profile match just one year earlier against Mark Henry.

In fact, 2013 was very much a year of disappointment and frustration for Ryback.

The breakout star of 2012 entered the year on a hot streak, fresh off a WWE Championship program involving both CM Punk and John Cena, as well as a near five-star classic TLC match against newcomers The Shield.

However, an ill-fated heel turn post-WrestleMania XXIX and one-sided rivalries with both Cena and Punk led to a downhill fall that took him from promising young star to overhyped enhancement talent.

During the build to the 2014 Survivor Series, Ryback made his return and suddenly found himself back in the main event mix. He was interacting with Cena and The Authority on a weekly basis, almost as if that period of endless jobbing never existed.

Now rejuvenated, an extremely rare second chance bestowed upon him, Ryback is faced with the toughest challenge of his career. His future as a headliner hinges on his program with a stale, boring Kane character that has been so poorly booked over the last year that no one can justify taking him seriously.

Credit: WWE.com

That he never seems to win anymore only hurts.

To his credit, Ryback never allowed himself to look like anything less than a star. Even when he and partner Axel were losing on a weekly basis to guys like Los Matadores, the former NXT star carried himself like a main event attraction. He screamed star power. Thus, when he exploded back on the scene, it was much easier for fans to accept him in that role.

"Feed me more" chants echoed throughout arenas across the country as he stood beside Cena in his fight against The Authority.

However, now he finds himself stuck in a rivalry with Kane and threats of his push coming to a premature end for the second time in his career.

After all, a bad match with the Big Red Corporate Demon from Hell—or whatever his character is this week—would certainly fall on Ryback rather than the fact that Kane is no longer the performer he once was or that his character has been eviscerated by WWE Creative.

Ryback has never been confused with being the world's greatest worker. However, he is an above-average big man whose body of work has improved significantly from his debut back in 2012. He is an explosive, powerful wrestler who knows exactly when to make his comeback and feeds off the crowd response while doing so.

Credit: WWE.com

If ever there was a time to reach down within himself and pull out the strongest performance of his career, it will be on December 14 at TLC.

Leaving management with no doubts about his ability to pass this latest test will not only result in the continuation of his current push but would also quiet some of his detractors. Most importantly, it would give the company another major star at the top of the card, something that is never a bad thing considering the amount of shows they produce each year and the injuries that occur without fail.

It will not be easy for Ryback to pull a good match out of Kane, nor will it be simple to get fans to care. The performer is stale and the character is relatively nonexistent at this point.

Working hard and using the chairs stipulation to its fullest potential will be key, and the Big Guy could very well get something passable out of everyone's favorite Dockers-wearing demon.

Will he succeed or will TLC be the climax of his latest push, just as it was two years earlier?

Find out when WWE presents its latest pay-per-view spectacular on WWE Network!