Ryback

Ryback Reeves (born Ryan Allen Reeves; November 10, 1981) is an American former professional wrestler and YouTuber.

He is best known for his tenure with WWE, where he performed under the ring name Ryback.

One of the eight finalists on Tough Enough 4, Reeves later signed a developmental contract with WWE and performed under the ring names Ryback and Skip Sheffield in its developmental territories Deep South Wrestling (DSW), Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), and Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW).

Ryback Reeves was born Ryan Allen Reeves in Las Vegas on November 10, 1981.

He started watching professional wrestling at the age of eight, and was a guest bell ringer at a live World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE) event at the age of 13.

Wanting to become a professional wrestler, Reeves began lifting weights at 12 years old and was nicknamed "Silverback" as a teenager after a friend joked that he resembled a gorilla, later adopting part of it as his name.

He excelled at baseball and football while attending Western High School and Palo Verde High School.

He also played baseball during his freshman year at the Community College of Southern Nevada, but broke his leg and missed two seasons.

He attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, entering its fitness management program.

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.

In 2010, as Skip Sheffield, he participated in the first season of NXT, joined WWE's main roster as a member of The Nexus, and headlined SummerSlam before being sidelined by an injury.

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 during a match, which made him undergo three surgeries and kept him away from wrestling for over a year until December 2011.

He returned under the Ryback ring name in 2012, going on to headline multiple pay-per view events (usually as a contender for the WWE Championship) and becoming a one-time WWE Intercontinental Champion before being released in 2016.

Reeves returned to television on the April 6, 2012, episode of WWE SmackDown, under the Ryback ring name as a face.

Ryback's 38 match winning streak ended in a WWE Championship match against CM Punk at 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.

He would compete on the independent circuit for the next two years until his last match to date in 2018.