WWE star Ryback gave an interview to the Phoenix New Times as hype for Royal Rumble. You can read the full interview at http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/jackalope/2013/01/wwe_ryback_goldberg_phoenix_royal_rumble_us_airways.php?page=3. Among the highlights:

Ryback on the Goldberg comparisons: "I've explained this to people before, it's never offended me. It's always great to get a reaction from the people one way or another. And I'm sure there's some fans that do it in a negative way. A lot of 'em, I feel, just do it because there are things about me that remind 'em of him [Goldberg].

"Me being a fan growing up, I understand that we become very loyal to those who were before us and Goldberg had a tremendous following and he was 'The Man' back in WCW. And he was very exciting and fun to watch and brought a new intensity that we hadn't seen in years. And that wasn't the first time that someone was like that, but it had been a while.

"But he has his loyal followers, so when somebody sees somebody that, 'Oh, this guy kinda reminds me of him,' there first initial response is, 'Oh, this guy's a rip-off,' whether he is or he isn't. So I understood that part of it going in that I might get some comparisons, but I knew over time that I just gotta keep being me and that people will eventually, hopefully become loyal to me and followers of Ryback. And I will set myself apart from Bill Goldberg."

Ryback on his TLC match with The Shield stealing the show: "I'm very proud of that. Daniel Bryan is one guy that I'm pretty close with in the WWE, him and Wade Barrett. But to be a part of that match with Kane and The Shield...I firmly believe that those three men [are] extremely talented and when they eventually go on their own, all of them are going to be a big part of the WWE for many years to come. So to go out there and have that kind of match with everyone, it's a tremendous honor. And it was a very physical hard-hitting match. And that crowd in Brooklyn was hot. It felt good to be a part of that."

Shore's Slant: Good interview with Ryback who continues to take the Goldberg questions in stride. I know he's been asked the question before, but that's the point. I know I would get agitated with answering the same question over and over, so it's always interesting to see if you can see some cracks in his responses. So far, so good.

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