Former WWE star Ryback is mourning the death of his dog Popcorn, who passed away at 11:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
The loss came days after The Big Guy asked fans for prayers during a medical emergency, when scans raised fears of two ruptured discs in her back and a possible hernia.
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Popcorn deteriorated before that next step could happen. Ryback explained how the news reached him:
“Her doctor, who successfully performed all of Sophie’s surgeries, called tonight to say Popcorn was worse neurologically. Her front legs were weaker, and she struggled to lift her head. She warned that the myelomalacia was progressing quickly and could take away her ability to breathe.”
He went to see her hoping to comfort her through the night and wait for a morning evaluation. Instead he found her shaking and struggling to lift her head, and the doctors warned he might get a call within hours if he left and not make it back in time.
“I could not leave my baby to suffer overnight just to face the same decision tomorrow. Letting her go peacefully was the hardest goodbye of my life.”
Popcorn came into his life on July 10, 2024, through the Henderson Animal Shelter in Nevada. Ryback wrote that she slept on his shoulder every night, was only four years and four months old, and that he never saw this coming because Sophie, his other French bulldog, had never had myelomalacia.
The year had already taken his mother, and the former WWE star shared how both losses have hurt him immensely:
“Losing my mom earlier this year, who helped take such wonderful care of Popcorn, broke my heart. With that loss and others, I had some time to prepare. With Popcorn, I had none. This has been the hardest death I’ve ever experienced with half of the most important things in my life suddenly gone 6 months apart.”
He added that a part of him is gone after Popcorn’s:
“I’m at peace knowing she is no longer suffering, but a piece of me will forever be gone with her.”
Ryback ended the message by thanking all those that were supporting him in these difficult times.
Check out Ryback’s Instagram post below:
Ryback’s exit from WWE in 2016 ended an 11-year run
WWE announced on Aug. 8, 2016, that it had parted ways with Ryback, days after the then WWE star said on social media that the two sides would no longer be doing business together. His last match came on May 1, 2016, a loss to Kalisto in a United States Championship match on the Payback kickoff show.
The peak arrived a year earlier, when he won the vacant Intercontinental Championship in the Elimination Chamber in May 2015 and held it for 112 days before Kevin Owens beat him at Night of Champions. The WWE Championship he chased against CM Punk in 2012 never followed.
He last wrestled anywhere in August 2018 and has said he is still not cleared to wrestle.
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Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim
