Former WWE superstar Ryback (Ryan Reeves) released the debut episode of his “Conversations With The Big Guy” podcast with co-host Pat Buck on iTunes, Soundcloud and other platforms earlier today and opened up on what led to him departing the company.

Reeves said that he was thankful for everything the WWE gave him and appreciated how it shaped him into who he is, but noted that he did not agree with them on a business standpoint on a lot of things and said that he does not live in fear and that led to him doing things the way that he did. Reeves said that he was never the WWE’s guy (the company guy) and wondered why they put the WWE Intercontinental Championship on him back in 2015 and said that after winning the title, he was presented by the company with a new contract offer and said that he was not happy with the offer, considering what he had done for the company.

Reeves said that he did not leave the company because of the monetary value of the offer stating, “not about a money issue, just so everybody knows. I walked away from the WWE, the contract offer that I walked away from was a three-year, $1.5 million contract”. Reeves said that there were other things that he was not happy about and said that there were merchandising opportunities that did not pan out and discussed how expensive travel expenses were, stating that the way professional wrestling has always done things is not always right.

Reeves said that he had been lied to at many times in his career about booking and other opportunities and claimed that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon told him that he would be the number one heel in the company and have the title put on him if he listened to Vince McMahon and read his promos as they were scripted and claimed that he was supposed to face AJ Styles at WrestleMania 32 and that Vince McMahon told him that he would “squash that little twerp” and said that though he was told that by Vince McMahon, he did not necessarily believe it, due to how Styles was brought into the company and noted that plans changed and he went on to face Kalisto on the WrestleMania 32 Kickoff Show and said that he was set to sign a new contract, but then sent a revised offer to the company after not being happy about how he was handled on WWE television.

Reeves said that on his last day at WWE television, he knew that WWE was not going to accept the revised offer and thought that the booking of the show was intended to make him look bad before he left the company and claimed that he told Mark Carrano to take him off WWE television, but said that he did not talk to Vince McMahon, because he had been lied to too many times before. Reeves said that he will always be thankful for the WWE, but he is allowed to feel betrayed about certain things and does not have to go home and not talk about it and said that once again, he does not live in fear and said that he did not burn a bridge and was only telling the truth.

Reeves claimed that he was offered magazine covers, but the company would not let him do them, despite allowing other talent to and that WWE wanted Roman Reigns to appear on a cover instead of him at one point. Reeves’ co-host Pat Buck asked him if he felt that it was a personal decision by the company, to which Reeves said that it happened to others as well and said that he feels like WWE’s goal should be to make sure that every wrestler’s brand is as strong as possible.