Former WWE Superstar Ryback got some people talking this week when he brought up an interesting bit of trivia regarding Wrestlemania 30 in 2014. When talking about the big event on his podcast Conversations with The Big Guy, Ryback revealed that a very intriguing possibility was brought up to him prior to the show. If what he claimed on the podcast is true, Ryback was originally scheduled to face WWE Hall of Famer The Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 30. Ryback instead teamed up with Curtis Axel on the pre-show of Wrestlemania that year in a Fatal 4-Way match for the WWE Tag Team Championships. The match was ultimately won by The Usos.
On the most recent edition of his podcast, Ryback claims that Mark Carrano showed him the card for Wrestlemania early that year and that he was slotted to face the wrestling legend on the show. He stated on the show that “I just said, ‘cool.’ But, in my head, at the time, it was during my heel deal, that first one, where it probably wasn’t gonna be a favorable position for me as far as all that. But I was excited, because I figured it was his one last moment in WWE. So, I thought it would be really cool. I didn’t think I would necessarily be the right guy for that, because I didn’t know anything about him. I didn’t know what kind of shape he was in, if he could wrestle or not, but I 100 percent would have done it, because I did everything that they asked me there.” The former Intercontinental Champion claimed that he had concerns about the match, mainly that it was only supposed to last about a minute or two, which he thought would damage his character at the time.
The Ultimate Warrior did not wrestle at Wrestlemania 30 that year, opting instead to headline the WWE Hall of Fame class as the main inductee. Warrior’s widow, Dana, has since responded to Ryback’s claims of a match and she denied that it was ever in the cards. Via Ultimate Warrior’s Twitter account, Dana tweeted “Not true. It always saddens me when people tell untruths on a man’s grave to promote their lives. Do your OWN work.” Furthermore, Warrior’s former manager Steve Wilton commented that he negotiated Warrior’s entire return to WWE that year and that he had no intention of getting back in the ring. Wilton stated via Twitter:
Zero truth. I negotiated the whole deal with Warrior. He wanted to be nothing but an ambassador for the company and mentor the young talent.
— Steve Wilton (@SteveWiltonUK) July 14, 2017
Zero truth to Ryback vs Warrior at WM30. Warrior had no intention of ever stepping in the ring. Listen to his speech. It was never discussed
— Steve Wilton (@SteveWiltonUK) July 14, 2017