Source: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Ryback’s strong push continued on last Monday’s RAW with a decisive win over Tensai and another face-to-face confrontation with WWE Champion CM Punk. There has been a lot of speculation since Ryback’s match with Tensai regarding the botched finish of the match, where Ryback failed to get Tensai up on his shoulders twice and had decided to finish his opponent off with a clothesline instead.
Some people were speculating whether Tensai was “sandbagging” Ryback and intentionally making himself harder to lift. This could have been Tensai being uncooperative and going into business for himself – but it could have also been WWE management instructing Tensai to botch the move as a way of testing Ryback and his reaction. WWE has a history of testing its top performers who are on the cusp of being pushed to the next level with unexpected situations like this to gauge how they handle themselves.
According to sources, Vince McMahon was scrambling backstage at RAW when the incident took place and was instructing production workers to edit the spot and make Ryback look as strong as possible. This is a sign that either Ryback simply had trouble getting Tensai up (he had no problem hitting his finisher on Tensai last week on SmackDown) or Tensai was really sandbagging. It’s worth noting that Ryback’s 2 failed attempts at getting Tensai above his head were edited off WWE’s official Youtube clip of their match.
