Ryback Talks Finally Winning a WWE Title, Maintaining His Physique with the Hectic WWE Schedule and More

WWE Intercontinental Champion Ryback recently spoke with The State-Journal Register to promote this Friday night’s WWE Live Event in Springfield, IL. Below are some interview highlights:

On finally winning a title in WWE:

“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 maintaining his physique with the hectic WWE 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.”