As noted, former WWE Superstar Ryback (Ryan Reeves) revealed during a recent Las Vegas-based radio interview that he is considering moving over to the MMA world if he can secure a deal that would satisfy him on a financial level, noting that he has already gone as far as to reach out to Bellator MMA about potential interest in his services. Soon after his interview, Bellator MMA President Scott Coker confirmed the rumors to MMA reporter Dave Meltzer, and now he's back with more.
On the latest edition of former WCW (World Championship Wrestling) Executive Vice President and former WWE on-air performer Eric Bischoff's official podcast, Coker was interviewed and elaborated on his recent meeting with the former WWE star who has been using his nickname "The Big Guy" while making appearances at smaller pro wrestling shows since parting ways with WWE.
As the current Bellator MMA promoter pointed out during his appearance on the podcast, the talks with Ryback haven't gone that far and aren't exactly promising due to the lack of experience on any kind of competitive level that the pro wrestler has in any form of combat sports.
"I can comment on it and really it's a very short conversation because their management did reach out. We had a very brief conversation. I'm not sure where it's at but I don't think it went very far. If they don't have some type of background in either jiu-jitsu or collegiate wrestling or tai boxing or a combat sports background... it's tough for them. It's like someone from a martial arts background trying to be a pro wrestler. If you're not schooled and don't go through the education process of how to do it then you're going to have a hard time. I think that's what you saw with the CM Punk situation."
As he continued, Coker spoke further about the comparison he drew between Ryback and CM Punk, who coincidentally enough have somewhat of a storied history of legitimate beef with each other dating back to issues they had working together while they were both in WWE. As Coker spoke further on the topic of Ryback and Punk, he also addressed the recent comments made by UFC President Dana White regarding his opinion that if Punk does indeed continue to fight in MMA after his devastating one-sided loss to rookie MMA prospect Mickey Gall as he claimed he would during multiple post-fight interviews after his quick submission defeat at last month's UFC 203 pay-per-view, he shouldn't expect to do so on a level as big as the UFC this early into his foray into the sport.
"I think he's in a tough situation. He fought on a pretty big card and fought a pretty tough kid. It's back to the drawing board in my opinion. He's going to have to go back and really think about whether he wants to continue fighting. If he does he's got to stay at Duke's gym and keep training. Maybe another year from now or eighteen months from now he can try it again. To think it's going to be any other outcome fighting a guy of that caliber in any league I think is irresponsible."
To listen to the complete Scott Coker interview from Eric Bischoff's podcast from Wednesday afternoon, use the media player below or download the episode by going to AudioBoom.com.
H/T to Raj Giri of WrestlingINC.com for transcribing the above Scott Coker quotes from his appearance on the "Bischoff On Wrestling" podcast.