Ryback On Rumble Plans, Batista's Return, Greatest Opponents, More

WWE Superstar Ryback recently spoke to DirecTV while promoting the Royal Rumble pay-per-view:

Any surprise entrants you’d like to see come back so you could take a crack at them? Or even just from a fan perspective?

I’m sure a lot of people would love to see Goldberg show up and spear me right over the top rope. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen. But I also heard Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts mention that he wanted to be in the Royal Rumble. Obviously, from watching him as a kid, it would be pretty cool to be in the ring and hear that music hit. Or someone like Hulk Hogan would be pretty surreal. But I wouldn’t hesitate to throw either one of them over the top rope. My main thing is going out there and winning it. 

You mentioned Batista. What are your thoughts on his return at the Rumble?

I’m offended that he’s back. I’m the one and only “Big Guy” in the WWE. I go out there each and every night. I work the full schedule. I do all the cool power moves that you don’t see anybody doing anymore. I go out there and wrestle for 30 minutes, which you don’t see a lot of 295 lb. guys doing. I take a lot of pride in being big and having a lot of endurance and doing things that not everyone can do. So Batista is back, and it’s cool from a fan’s point of view, and I know he has some lofty goals, but this is my time now. I’m not taking a backseat to anyone. So if we end up in the ring together, it would give me great pleasure to throw him right over the top rope.

Who have been your favorite Superstars to go up against? Who has been the toughest?

I enjoy wrestling so much of the roster, but Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler come to mind. I absolutely love wrestling those guys. We’ve had some real good battles at live events. Me and Ziggler have been going 20-25 minutes as of late and those are some of the most fun matches I’ve ever been a part of. Same with Kofi.

As far as the two toughest, easily CM Punk and John Cena.

Do you have a dream opponent?

Undertaker at WrestleMania is one my goals. I have it on my vision board at home. That is one thing I am dead set on happening at one point in my career – being in that ring at WrestleMania and hearing Undertaker’s music hit and pushing him to his limits. A lot of people say it, but I actually mean it. I believe I can deliver on it.

You’ve had a hell of a couple years in WWE. What’s next for Ryback?

22 months to be exact, if we’re counting, but they have been amazing. You can’t always be in the main spotlight so the chase to get back there is very exciting to me and I’m working harder than ever. I rose really quickly and I remember Arn Anderson pulling me aside and telling me “Kid, I want you to realize that you rose really, really fast and usually every time this happens you’re going to hit eventually and you’re gonna go down. But I fully expect you to get back up and be back on top.” That was a very serious, very real conversation and at the time I thought “I’m not going anywhere.” But he’s been around long enough that he knows how things work. And, of course, he was right. So I appreciate my time in WWE and I admire guys like John Cena, guys like CM Punk , Randy Orton, The Big Show – guys who have been on the top for so long. I respect them and I admire them for all their hard work, but I am here to be #1. I’m not like a lot of these new guys who come in and bow down to them. I don’t care who you are or what you’ve done, it’s all the past to me and I know what I’m capable of and what I want to do. I am there to be the best. Obviously, winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship would prove that.That’s my goal in 2014.