World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE (2004–2016) Tough Enough and The Nexus (2004–2010) (FCW) event in 2009 Reeves sent a brief one-minute videotape of himself to become a contestant on WWE's reality television series,
$1,000,000 Tough Enough, and was invited to
Venice Beach with 49 others. During the first week of training, Reeves suffered from
bronchitis and a
rib injury. He eventually became one of the eight finalists to appear on
SmackDown! and the last to be voted off. Even though he did not win the competition, Reeves impressed WWE officials enough for them to sign him to a developmental contract. He spent time healing from his injuries in Las Vegas before heading to
Atlanta, Georgia in March 2005. After training in
Deep South Wrestling (DSW) for most of 2005 and early 2006, Reeves was transferred over to
Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in early March. In July 2006, Reeves was suspended for 30 days due to failing a drug test as part of WWE's
Wellness Program. According to Reeves, he had been taking several
over the counter bodybuilding supplements, one of which caused a positive reading. The supplements he was using were later taken off the market due to this effect and, although his suspension remained in place, Reeves eventually returned to the roster after passing a second test. His case was later placed on the
CNN documentary
Death Grip: Inside Pro Wrestling. After over a year's absence, Reeves returned to OVW under the
ring name Ryback and won the
OVW Heavyweight Championship on October 15, 2008, before losing it in the same month. Soon after the title loss, Reeves was then re-signed to a developmental contract with WWE. From late 2008 to early 2010, Reeves wrestled in
Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) under the ring name Ryback and later Skip Sheffield. with
The Nexus On February 16, 2010, Sheffield was announced as one of eight FCW contestants to take part in the
first season of WWE's new
NXT show, where he finished sixth. On the June 7 episode of
WWE Raw, Sheffield and the seven other
NXT participants interfered in the main event match between
John Cena and
CM Punk, attacking both competitors as well as the announcing team before dismantling the ring area and surrounding equipment. The group, named
The Nexus, would continue
feuding with Cena over the following weeks. This resulted in a seven-on-seven elimination
tag team match at the
2010 SummerSlam, where The Nexus lost to Team WWE led by Cena. In August, Reeves broke his ankle in three places during a match, which made him undergo three surgeries and kept him away from wrestling for over a year until December 2011.
WWE Championship pursuits (2012–2013) in 2012, Reeves was repackaged as Ryback, and he went undefeated throughout the year. Reeves returned to television on the April 6, 2012, episode of
WWE SmackDown, under the Ryback ring name as a
face. He would embark on a thirty eight-match winning streak, mainly consisting of squash matches against numerous enhancement talent until his match against
CM Punk for the
WWE Championship Hell in a Cell in October 2012, where he lost after a controversial
pin by referee
Brad Maddox. He failed to capture the title twice more from Punk, first at
Survivor Series, and then on the January 7, 2013 episode of
Raw, both times being interfered and attacked by
The Shield (
Dean Ambrose,
Roman Reigns and
Seth Rollins). On January 27 at the
Royal Rumble, Ryback entered the
Royal Rumble match as the thirtieth and final entrant and eliminated five superstars before being the last man eliminated by John Cena. Ryback would then resume his rivalry with The Shield on the February 4
Raw, when he teamed up with John Cena and
Sheamus to attack the stable. This culminated in a six-man tag team match on February 17 at
Elimination Chamber, where The Shield emerged victorious when Seth Rollins pinned Ryback for the win following a Spear from Roman Reigns. The following night on
Raw, Ryback and Sheamus teamed up with
Chris Jericho to face The Shield in a rematch, but were again defeated. Ryback then began a feud with
Mark Henry after several non-verbal confrontations led to them attacking
Drew McIntyre with their finishing moves in an attempt to one-up each other. On the March 15 episode of
SmackDown, Ryback defeated Henry by disqualification following interference from The Shield. Afterwards, Henry delivered the ''
World's Strongest Slam to Ryback three times in a row. Ryback and Henry competed in a Bench Press Challenge on the March 29 SmackDown'', where Ryback tied Henry at 53 reps after Henry choked him with the weight. On April 7 at
WrestleMania 29, Ryback was defeated by Henry in a singles match. The following night on
Raw, Ryback saved WWE Champion John Cena from assault by Mark Henry before attacking Cena as well, turning heel in the process. The following week on
Raw, Ryback explained his attack on Cena as stepping out from his shadow and getting revenge for Cena not having his back against The Shield; before Ryback got a measure of revenge later that night, by allowing the Shield to attack Cena. After becoming the number one contender for the WWE Championship, Ryback continued his feud with Cena by attacking him on several occasions while also having confrontations with The Shield. Ryback received his title opportunity in a
Last Man Standing match on May 19 at
Extreme Rules. The match ended in a no contest after Ryback rammed Cena and himself into the electric backdrop at the top of the ramp. The following night on
Raw, Ryback entered the arena in an ambulance and challenged Cena to an
ambulance match for the WWE Championship at the first-ever
Payback pay-per-view. The following week on the May 27 episode of
Raw, Cena accepted Ryback's challenge, but announced their match would instead be a
3 Stages of Hell match; the first fall a
lumberjack match, the second a
tables match, and the third an ambulance match. On June 16 at Payback, Ryback won the lumberjack match, but went on to lose both the tables and ambulance matches and his shot at the WWE Championship, to end the feud.
RybAxel (2013–2014) partner
Curtis Axel in April 2014 Ryback then began feuding with Chris Jericho, which led to a singles match on July 14 at
Money in the Bank, where Ryback emerged victorious. In August, Ryback debuted a new gimmick, where he began bullying various backstage workers. Also as part of the gimmick, Ryback would back away from fighting opponents of equal size and taking advantage of smaller and vulnerable opponents. On September 15 at
Night of Champions, Ryback aligned himself with
Paul Heyman after helping him defeat
CM Punk. Despite being a bully himself, Ryback claimed he hated bullies and vowed to stop CM Punk and anyone else who acted as such. On October 6 at
Battleground, Ryback was defeated by Punk in a singles match following a low blow from Punk. On October 27 at
Hell in a Cell, Ryback and Heyman were defeated by Punk in a 2-on-1 handicap Hell in a Cell match. The feud ended the following night on
Raw, when Punk defeated Ryback in a Street Fight match after forcing him to submit to the
Anaconda Vise, marking Ryback's first ever submission loss. On the November 11 episode of
Raw, the alliance between Ryback and Heyman came to an end when Heyman verbally berated him. On November 24 at
Survivor Series, Ryback was defeated by the returning Mark Henry after he answered Ryback's open challenge. Ryback then began a tag team with fellow former Paul Heyman Guy
Curtis Axel collectively labelled as "
RybAxel", and on the December 6 episode of
SmackDown, they defeated
WWE Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Goldust in a non-title match to earn a shot at the titles. RybAxel received their title shot on December 15 at
TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, but were defeated by Cody Rhodes and Goldust in a four-way elimination match, also involving
Big Show and
Rey Mysterio and The Real Americans (
Antonio Cesaro and
Jack Swagger). RybAxel received another shot at the WWE Tag Team Championship on April 6, 2014, on the
WrestleMania XXX pre-show, but were defeated by defending champions
The Usos in a fatal four-way elimination match, which also included
Los Matadores and The Real Americans. At
Payback, RybAxel defeated Cody Rhodes and Goldust in a tag team match. At
Money in the Bank, RybAxel lost to
Gold and Stardust. On July 2, it was announced that Ryback and Axel would be competing for the vacant
Intercontinental Championship in a 19-man
battle royal at
Battleground, but neither Ryback or Axel managed to win. On August 26, 2014, Ryback underwent hernia surgery.
Intercontinental Champion (2014–2015) After a two-month injury, Ryback returned on the October 27 episode of
Raw as a
babyface, returning to his old "Feed Me More" gimmick by defeating
Bo Dallas. Ryback would later end his association with Axel on the November 6 episode of
Superstars. Four days later on the November 10 episode of
Raw, Ryback appeared to join
Team Authority for
Survivor Series after attacking John Cena, but attacked his supposed teammates after they interfered in his match against Cena, joining Team Cena the following week. Ryback was eliminated by
Rusev, but Team Cena won the match, putting The Authority out of power. Ryback defeated Team Authority member
Kane in a
Chairs match at
TLC. After
Seth Rollins coaxed Cena to bring The Authority back into power, Ryback, along with
Erick Rowan and
Dolph Ziggler, were (
kayfabe) fired by
Triple H on the January 5 episode of
Raw as punishment for insubordination, but they were re-hired after Cena defeated Rollins, Kane and
Big Show in a handicap match due to the distraction caused by
Sting, on the January 19 episode of
Raw. On the January 22 episode of
SmackDown, Ryback defeated Rusev via count-out to earn a spot in the
Royal Rumble match, where he was eliminated by Big Show and Kane. At
Fastlane, he teamed with Rowan and Ziggler in a six-man tag team match against Rollins, Big Show and Kane, but lost. Ryback participated in the
André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at
WrestleMania 31, but was eliminated by the eventual winner, Big Show. On the
Raw following
Extreme Rules, Ryback was attacked by
Bray Wyatt (who sent a series of mysterious promos aimed at Ryback weeks prior), leading to a match at
Payback, which Ryback lost. At
Elimination Chamber, Ryback won the vacant
Intercontinental Championship, his first
professional wrestling championship in WWE, by defeating
Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler,
R-Truth,
King Barrett and Mark Henry in an
Elimination Chamber match. The following night, before Ryback was scheduled to make his first title defense against
The Miz; Big Show attacked Miz and confronted Ryback, starting a feud between the two. At
Money in the Bank, Big Show defeated Ryback by disqualification after Miz attacked him; Ryback retained the title as a result. Ryback was scheduled to defend the title against Big Show and Miz in a triple threat match at
Battleground, but the match was postponed after Ryback developed a
staph infection in his knee; the match was rescheduled for
SummerSlam, where Ryback pinned The Miz to retain the title. Ryback once again defended his championship against Big Show on the August 31 episode of
Raw, where he pinned Show after a distraction from The Miz, ending the feud. On the September 11 episode of
SmackDown,
Kevin Owens, who was one of the lumberjacks, cost him a win against Seth Rollins. Three days later on the September 14 episode of
Raw, it was announced that he would face Owens at
Night of Champions for his Intercontinental Championship. Owens won the match by pinfall after he raked Ryback's eyes, ending his reign at 112 days. After initially failing to regain the title using his rematch clause after Owens proceeded to get himself counted out, Ryback defeated Rusev to earn another opportunity at
Hell in a Cell, where Ryback failed to regain the championship from Owens, ending the feud.
Final feuds and departure (2015–2016) in 2016 On the November 12 episode of
SmackDown, Ryback would enter the 16-man tournament to crown the new
WWE World Heavyweight Champion, but he would lose to
Kalisto in the first round. At
Survivor Series, Ryback participated in a five-on-five elimination tag team match, teaming with
The Usos and
The Lucha Dragons to defeat
The New Day, Sheamus and King Barrett. In December, Ryback started a feud with
Rusev after interrupting Rusev and the returning
Lana on
Miz TV, which would lead to a match between the two at
TLC, where Ryback was defeated by Rusev by technical knockout. On January 24, 2016, Ryback competed in the
Royal Rumble match for the
WWE World Heavyweight Championship as the ninth entrant, but was eliminated by Big Show. On the February 4 episode of
SmackDown, Ryback debuted a new look, abandoning his
singlet and now sporting black trunks, where he defeated
Erick Rowan, but was attacked by
The Wyatt Family. Ryback teamed up with Big Show and
Kane, being billed as "the titans" of WWE, to defeat Wyatt Family members Erick Rowan,
Luke Harper and
Braun Strowman in a six-man tag team match at
Fastlane, with Ryback pinning Harper for the victory. The next night on
Raw, during a rematch between the two teams, Ryback walked out on Big Show and Kane, and later proclaimed that he was tired of being in tag team matches, turning
heel for the first time since 2014. On the March 7 episode of
Raw, Ryback confronted
United States Champion Kalisto backstage, leading to a title match between the two on the
WrestleMania 32 pre-show, which Ryback lost. In a non-title rematch between the two on the April 21 episode of
SmackDown, Ryback defeated Kalisto to reignite their feud. With the win, he earned another shot at Kalisto's United States Championship at the
Payback pre-show, but was again defeated; this marked his final appearance in WWE. On May 2, it was reported that WWE had sent Ryback home from television due to a contract dispute, and he did not participate in the battle royal match for which he was scheduled. The following day, he explained on his
Tumblr page that he had made the decision to go home, citing a lack of equal pay for talent and creative frustration as primary reasons for his departure. On August 5, Reeves announced via
Instagram that he and WWE had parted ways, though he was not officially released until August 8.
Independent circuit (2016–2018) Immediately after his WWE departure, Ryback began taking
independent bookings. He wrestled between August 2016 and August 2018. == Persona and reception ==