Ryback Discusses Winning His First WWE Title, The Schedule & More

The State-Journal Register recently interviewed WWE Intercontinental champion Ryback. Ryback discussed the WWE schedule, his first title win, and more. Below are some highlights.

On finally winning his first WWE title: “I came into the WWE through “Tough Enough” (a WWE reality show competition) in 2004. … I learned right away how hard this is. I had trainers tell me that I didn’t belong in WWE, that I should quit. And when I got signed by WWE (in 2005) I was told they expected me to pick it up really quick. … They had very high expectations for me. I wouldn’t say I didn’t live up to those. … I just think sometimes people expected a little too much too soon. I had a couple of major injuries and big setbacks. But throughout all of that, the one thing I never stopped doing was believing in myself. I’ve always been very confident in my abilities in what I can do. Sometimes, that doesn’t always happen on the timescale I even have set for myself. But the main thing is I keep getting back up and I keep moving forward. And [the Intercontinental Championship win] was a culmination of all that hard work and dedication.”

On how he maintains his physique on WWE’s schedule: “I’ve been working out since I was 12 years old. For me, it’s a way of life. I don’t know any other way. … You find time. If that means getting two hours less sleep … that’s what you do. That really keeps me focused. It’s a great stress relief for me to go to the gym. The result of how I look is secondary to me. It’s how I feel. It feels good to be strong and to be limber and to be loose. We have to eat at a lot of fast-food restaurants. But nowadays you can get grilled chicken anywhere. You can get hamburgers without a bun and go low carb. A lot of the restaurants now are starting to have whole wheat buns. You don’t always have to get mayonnaise and all the condiments on it. … It’s not ideal. It’s not home-cooked food. But it’s good enough to maintain our physiques.”

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