**MERGED** What To Do With Zack Ryder

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

See, I feel quite divided on this issue. There is no questioning that Ryder plays that character to perfection. Not to mention he's all right in the ring, and he's unique in the particular way he uses social media to get noticed/garner attention. And the fact that Cena is clearly pulling for him.

This is one of two possible things in my opinion.

I. Pandering to the base.

On WWE's part, I mean. They could be thinking, "Those IWC chaps will do us the courtesy of not slagging us off quite so much on their damned message boards if we put that Zack fellow on screen for a bit!", with no real intention of pushing him.

II. The "Surprise" push.

The actual time he's given slowly increases, but he is kept in everyone's minds as nothing more than a joke-character/cameo guy until he comes out, does something like screw Cena out of the title, and then is revealed to be very cunning and threatening, using the Broski/Stupid Guido persona as a facade.

Preferrably I'd pick option II but you know how the WWE are.

 

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

I think at this stage it's beyond "WWE is considering bringing managers back" when they clearly already have. Vickie's been around since like 06, Ricardo fills a similar function to manager for Alberto and Tyson has Michael Hayes. Miz has Riley and Cole manages whoever the hell can get him what he wants. This is a good thing for me because it's refreshing for youths but also nostalgic for older fans.

Now as for Edge, yes, he certainly could manager Ryder/Hawkins, but then it's so recent since Edge left, and so long since Hawkins/Ryder were relevant to the upper card, so with this you run the risk of bringing about what I like to call the MMO (no, not a type of game), the "Manager More Over" scenario.

Edge should only be managing in about 5 years time when people have had a chance to let someone else's awesomeness begin to fill the hole Edge has left. Ryder and Hawkins need someone like Paul Heyman or hell, even Michael Hayes again if you want, someone the audience sorta knows but doesn't risk taking away from the actual team themselves.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Um..I would not read into this much at all. I don't even think that it is much of a bromance. Ryder is acting more like an attention seeking child while Cena is acting like what he does in real life, always listen to his fans whatever they may be like.

Actually Ryder reminds me of this:

[YOUTUBE]pfFQqrorqRM[/YOUTUBE]

If you don't get it, it is that mentally challenged kid with a crush on HBK I am talking about.

That being said, this could lead to a push for Ryder. After all there are too many heels around on Raw and WWE could use a lower midcard face or two. Ryder fits the bill.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

It's worth proposing the idea that Zach Ryder is an IWC darling, Cena is an IWC divider. I don't know if it crossed anybody else's mind that the person benefiting from this isn't actually Ryder, it's his bro Cena.

Zach Ryder appeals to exactly those people that Cena fails to. Zach Ryder is a guy who is trying to get noticed and failing, Cena is a guy who got pushed to the moon without much (no offence) willing on his part, in short he didn't really engineer his own push. If Cena hangs around with Ryder it may seem as if he is putting his name forward to back his broski getting the push, and that's going to appease a lot of those whooping and hollering that Zach Ryder should already be president of the galaxy and gain him a lot of teenage or adult fans who are the main demographic Ryder appeals to.

I don't know if it is intended by WWE or Cena, or if they are actually using Cena as a propulsion tool for Ryder but it is a curious alternate vantage point and it's quite possible that the real beneficiary is the one who is already the big star. I'd say it's entirely pssible.

 

[eliarbaiza]

I think they should've used Ryder to interfere on Cena's behalf, at least it would've made it more believeable. I'm a huge Cena mark and he's my favorite wrestler, but the match would've been better had, say for instance, when cena was getting thrashed if Ryder had come in, hit Alex Riley with a steel chair then did the same thing to The Miz, he takes both of them out, Cena recovers then Ryder keeps Riley occupied in a fight while Cena then eventually, after a good fight with the Miz, would've made him tap to the STF. I enjoyed the ending to the match because I love Cena, but I think that scenario would've been better. And it might've given Ryder a big rub.

 

[Dagger Dias]

This would not work. Edge is done onscreen. Ryder will get over on his own if he ever gets to do more than hang out backstage during Raw. Hawkins needs a new character and he might get over. They could tag team again I suppose, but Ryder deserves a singles run. They do not need Edge and it's a bad idea because Edge would overshadow them and they deserve a shot at getting over on their own.

 

[Top Gun]

Its not a bad Idea but I don't think WWE would ever consider something like that. Plus I couldn't imagine such a great former WWE superstar like Edge managing anyone. If Edge ever did anything in WWE it'd be just like what Triple HHH does backstage, pushes superstars and helps them get better at being a professional wrestler.

 

[911 JP]

Im a huge Ryder fan and all.. A Broski!!!, but Edge coming back to manage Hawkins and ryder at this point in their career just wont happen. if Edge ever came back to manage anyone it would be Christian, even if a face or heel these two have history (obviously) but that would 9 times out of 10 be the only person he'd manage.

To tell you the truth, I dont think these two will have a manager because both of them being back to together is only filling in time till one gets pushed and the other goes back to jobbing, and you know which one is which.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

Nah not now if ever. As some have mentioned before, if Edge manages them so soon after retiring he would overshadow them completely so again no. Another thing, even if he wanted to, managers have to take bumps and there is no way in hell that Edge should take bumps, because 1 wrong bump and Edge is dead or paralyzed 4-life. So again no.

 

[Long Island Iced WXYZ]

I love what they're doing.

Ryder getting TV time and with JOHN CENA to boot is something to be happy about.

Hopefully when Ryder actuallt gets some tv time by himself he can make it work. They're doing a slow build here.

Kudos to Cena for yet again helping another new guy get some recognition.

 

[Genius_Deadman]

i just watched his new YouTube vid and wondered, "yeah this isn't the type of stuff that gets you pushed". he's entertaining and a good worker, but WWE doesn't view his online following as important. so i was thinking:

why not keep him on Superstars wrestling and have him on RAW/SD as an interviewer? the interviewers they got right now are just horrible and bland. don't know the guy's name that interviewed Show/Kane but he's just really bad for this job. no personality, doesn't have "something" to be entertaining a bit (this guy makes Kevin Kelly seem like Mean Gene in comparison).

what do you guys think? he's surely got personality and can probably get over as a performer in the C show and WWE can satisfy his fans somewhat by a better role interviewing instead of just 5 seconds on RAW before a commercial break?

 

[Macho_King]

lol you moron not to be mean but that bland boring guy is like Zach ryders biggest supporter and hes in Zach ryders youtube videos every week. He was the game show host on this weeks video. And no he needs to get a push wrestling to get anywhere in the wwe at his age

 

[Version4]

You know, this ain't a bad idea. I seem to remember WWE doing something like this with a wrestler before (can't for the life of me remember WHO it was). Having Ryder doing inteviews would definitely add to the flavor of the promos that are cut. The main thing is that you don't want him to be turned all the way up when he's doing the interviews... just dial his outrageousness back a little bit so that he can somewhat be taken seriously as an interviewer. Remember Macho Man's backstage interview days? It was phenominal to see the repoire he had with the heels and disdain he had for the faces. it made for good tv, even during random backstage promos. It also led to some good character development for superstars... having their gimmicked personalites paired with Macho Man's charisma.

Now of course, I AM NOT comparing Ryder to Savage. But i believe the same approach used back then could work. It could help build upon a superstar's actual gimmick just by presenting it in contrast to Ryder's slightly downplayed gimmick. The one thing you can say about Ryder is that he does have charisma. Hell, maybe to prolong a storyline every once in a while for development, he could have a blow off match with an angry superstar who he was interviewing... giving creative other options of developing a feud. Then, Ryder can wrestle on Superstars as well.

I like this idea more and more everytime I think about it. Raw needs to pack something interesting in every second of its programming. Ryder might help with that a lot.

 

[jccool420]

Not too bad of an idea... Helms used to play that role...

Who is the big o Guy?

I would prefer wwe to give him a chance as a wrestler... maybe a stable of broskis???

 

[jobesukulele]

Man I think you should remove the Genius from your name.

I think you're right about the E not taking Ryder's Youtube success too seriously, but the flood of Ryder signs at their live events is something else altogether.

WWE is going to go one of two ways with Ryder. They're going to give him a push and see how it takes, or... They're going to release him and aggressively remove any Ryder signs they spot at their shows.

Wasting a wrestler as a backstage interviewer, even if he is on Superstars is silly. Making Z Long Island True Story into a in ring segment might work, something similar to Piper's Pit.

The guy with all the personality is Scott Stanford and I'd prefer him over Matt Striker or Todd Grisham on any of WWE's programs.

 

[bigtrav01]

While the interviewers might be boring I don't think this is a good idea, yes he will be on Raw more but it won't help his career as a wrestler at all. Plus you can't say WWE doesn't care about his online fans, they have actually realized he has a big following and they are planning to do some stuff with Ryder, plus he has the backing of some big name guys like Cena and Miz, two guys he is friends with backstage who love the stuff he is doing on YouTube and realize how much potential he has.

 

[Genius_Deadman]

lol you moron not to be mean but that bland boring guy is like Zach ryders biggest supporter and hes in Zach ryders youtube videos every week. He was the game show host on this weeks video. And no he needs to get a push wrestling to get anywhere in the wwe at his age

so Ryder shouldn't even think about it even if he's offered it, because the guy is his biggest supporter? he needs to get a push, but if this is probably his best option, this would be a push compared to what he has (actual airtime on 3 shows, in whatever capacity).

Man I think you should remove the Genius from your name.

WWE is going to go one of two ways with Ryder. They're going to give him a push and see how it takes, or... They're going to release him and aggressively remove any Ryder signs they spot at their shows.

Wasting a wrestler as a backstage interviewer, even if he is on Superstars is silly. Making Z Long Island True Story into a in ring segment might work, something similar to Piper's Pit.

The guy with all the personality is Scott Stanford and I'd prefer him over Matt Striker or Todd Grisham on any of WWE's programs.

very nice, insults and then express you're opinions so they can be taken seriously.

so WWE is gonna do one of 2 things: push him or release him, but wasting him as a backstage interviewer is silly. so let's say he does well as a backstage interviewer, WWE wouldn't cash in on him in that minimal role over having him go to TNA and taking a few fans with him? remember: this is entertainment. if the guy can entertain, he'll be valuable in any role and it wouldn't be "wasted". of course Vince wouldn't waste a guy away in a non-wrestling role right? unless you discount Randy Savage calling commentary for a while in a stage of his career where he could still put up a great match.

my whole point was simple: he'd be better than the Stanford fella. no one's mentioning Striker or Grisham. Stanford is just about as boring as those 2. the only good interview he had was on RAW where Show/Kane cut him off. if all 3 are boring, it's not a stupid idea to upgrade now is it? as good as Ryder is, let's be realistic. he isn't going to be World champion, he isn't going to be a title holder of the 2nd highest strap on a show. if this was 2000, he'd probably get a hardcore title reign and it's not helping much that WWE's been rumored to be taking Ryder signs away either.

 

[Rulk25]

They have done it with a few including Fu Naki, Gregory Helms and even Miz (in his early days). I think it would be great as he is more interesting than Scott Stamford or Jack Korpela or Todd Grisham

You know, this ain't a bad idea. I seem to remember WWE doing something like this with a wrestler before (can't for the life of me remember WHO it was). Having Ryder doing inteviews would definitely add to the flavor of the promos that are cut. The main thing is that you don't want him to be turned all the way up when he's doing the interviews... just dial his outrageousness back a little bit so that he can somewhat be taken seriously as an interviewer. Remember Macho Man's backstage interview days? It was phenominal to see the repoire he had with the heels and disdain he had for the faces. it made for good tv, even during random backstage promos. It also led to some good character development for superstars... having their gimmicked personalites paired with Macho Man's charisma.

Now of course, I AM NOT comparing Ryder to Savage. But i believe the same approach used back then could work. It could help build upon a superstar's actual gimmick just by presenting it in contrast to Ryder's slightly downplayed gimmick. The one thing you can say about Ryder is that he does have charisma. Hell, maybe to prolong a storyline every once in a while for development, he could have a blow off match with an angry superstar who he was interviewing... giving creative other options of developing a feud. Then, Ryder can wrestle on Superstars as well.

I like this idea more and more everytime I think about it. Raw needs to pack something interesting in every second of its programming. Ryder might help with that a lot.

 

[Pieman]

Honestly, I'd send him back to FCW for a year or so. I'm not sure why he's gotten such a big online following. I've never been real impressed by his ring work or his mic skills, and he often comes across as boring, but he may be better after another stint in FCW.

 

[jobesukulele]

Stanford is just about as boring as those 2. the only good interview he had was on RAW where Show/Kane cut him off.

That is because that is exactly what he was supposed to be. The sketch was that he asks a stupid question and gets blasted for it. The fact you thought that means he did his job well.

The interviewer more than anything should be making the talent look good or at least giving the talent the prompts so they can make themselves look good.

If Ryder was doing the interviews there would always be someone that was coming off worse for it, either Ryder would look good and the interviewee would look bad or the other way around. This is the same reason why I got tired of Cole's heel character so quickly, it's because the whole while he was in that character he wasn't doing his job; i.e. getting talent over.

 

[Prestige]

I've actually thought about this before, and for the life of me cant understand why anyone could hate the idea. Isn't the idea these days to better the product in anyway it can be? Isn't that what pisses so many of the fans off? Let's face it, there are less than ten performers in the company who can actually act. Constant entertainment, quality performers filling all on screen roles, and superior acting ability, combined with a more loose stance on what is acceptable in-ring, is what made everyone fall head over heels for the attitude era. The latter probably is going to stay that way, but everything else has the potential to be fixed. These days almost none of the mid carders are even handed a microphone because theyre so atrocious. More than half of the main eventers are as bad as any main eventer I can ever remember when it comes to cutting promos. The current World Heavyweight Champion is bland, monotone, and just plain bad on the mic, and yet he is the second biggest star in the company, and people actually think he has CHARISMA. It's so sad how boring the shows are these days, and while more and longer matches would help, that truly is not the root of the problem. The root is that somewhere along the road, Vince forgot to emphasize ENTERTAINMENT to his wrestlers. He added the damn word to his companies name, yet either doesn't care or hasnt noticed that his performers are plain boring. If I were him, I would make it an obligation for any on screen character attend acting classes or bring acting and improv coaches on the road. Yes, the writing is bad too, but a good actor can make a bad segment decent, and a great actor wouldn't need his every damn word scripted for him anyway.

My point is, having horrible interviewers is actually a big deal. And while I wouldn't even consider myself a real fan of Ryder, he is one of the few in the whole company with charisma and who can actually entertain. He will clearly never be a world champion. Why not use him in a capacity in which he could truly benefit the whole product? CM Punk was put in the announcers booth for a while, a very smart move and frankly a surpising move by Vince, and it bettered the product. That should be the stance taken for every aspect and every second shown on television. Just like with anything, practice and being around people who are superior at something is how you get better. A crappy speaker isn't going to get any better being interviewed by someone even worse. It truly is an epidemic in American wrestling presently. Everything is just so..bland. Even the names of the wrestlers. Virtually everyone has a full name. John Cena, Randy Orton, Wade Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, etc. Everyone who doesnt is left over from the attitude era, is a nickname of their actual name(Miz), or is R-Truth or CM Punk, who had that name in the indies. There are no gimmicks anymore, no real characters, just crappy ripoffs. And its probably because no one is good enough to be a character anymore. Compare that to Stone Cold, the Rock, Mankind, Triple H, Undertaker, Kane, etc. Or even HBK or Y2J. There arent even monikers anymore. That's the real difference in the WWE, only a handful can entertain, despite the supposed focus on entertainment. Why not put someone who actually CAN to good use?

 

[DX98folife]

Heres how I feel WWE is going about this and I 100% agree with them.

Leave him be. Why? Zacks getting popular, I mean out of control popular as of late. He took matters into his own hands and is getting over for it. However, that doesn't mean WWE should put this guy on Raw and push him to the moon either. What good what that do? Suddenly the appeal of a man going to youtube to get over is gone and what we have is another main eventer to not be put over by John Cena/Randy Orton. I.E. The Miz/Alberto/CM Punk situations. You also can't reward a guy who willingly blasts your company every week on his show and expects to get somewhere. That's like Batista trash talking Smackdown then going over there and winning the world title.

So what should WWE do? Nothing at all. Leave it for what it is. Let Zack have his fun on youtube, promote himself and watch as he draws people to watch Superstars and buy his merchandise. Have him poke his head out on RAW backstage or whatever to remind us hes there and its all fish and chips. Realistically his demographic is the internet at the moment and it only makes sense to put him on WWE Superstars every week where people are watching him anyway. As for the signs I think its smart for now to confiscate them. Zack Ryders a heel and it makes 0 sense to see a sea of Broski of the week signs in front of the Cena/Mysterio/Show signs every week.

Of course if WWE decided to release Zack Ryder as well; that wouldn't surprise me as well. If somebody goes to youtube and trash talks your company every week and got a push for it, then every superstar would take to youtube to get over. I for one am not looking forward to the Yoshi Tatsu Protein shake taste test show.

 

[93178]

If you really think the WWE is against his YouTube videos and what he says on them then you are playing right into it.....

Do you really think WWE would allow one of their workers under their payroll to put up videos saying how they are dropping the ball with them and all the other things Zach has said against WWE if they where not behind it all or atleast had some say in everything that actually gets put into his YouTube videos.... If he was really doing these agasint WWE and without their permission/supervision he would of been fired after like the 3rd of 4th YouTube video. They wouldn't let someone they are not using blast them every week if they where not Ok with it all. Evermore they wouldn't put that person on TV with the top star (in their eyes) John Cena for little 5 second clips. Even though they are only like 5 seconds WWE is acknowledging him and his relationship with Cena on RAW.

 

[NotoriousMEAT]

I'd keep it simple.

1st, I'd try to get his Z! True Long Island Story web show on WWE.com. As noted, that show gets plenty of views, and that just means more website traffic and more exposure of ads. Plus I'm sure WWE fans would be able to find him easier on WWE.com then Youtube.

2nd, While RAW is Ryder is very catchy, it isn't very likely. It seems they've reunited him and Hawkins. I'd just bring them along on TV as a tag team. I really don't see why they can't just have tag teams fighting each other like they used to. It's not that hard. I'm sure two life long friends just being themselves can get over as a tag team... seems to have worked in the past.

If the rest of the WWE Universe doesn't get behind him like those of us on the internet have, then they'll at least know they tried.. and can let him resume his role as Internet Champion.

 

[Genius_Deadman]

That is because that is exactly what he was supposed to be. The sketch was that he asks a stupid question and gets blasted for it. The fact you thought that means he did his job well.

The interviewer more than anything should be making the talent look good or at least giving the talent the prompts so they can make themselves look good.

If Ryder was doing the interviews there would always be someone that was coming off worse for it, either Ryder would look good and the interviewee would look bad or the other way around. This is the same reason why I got tired of Cole's heel character so quickly, it's because the whole while he was in that character he wasn't doing his job; i.e. getting talent over.

so interviewers are supposed to ask stupid questions and get blasted for them? damn that Mean Gene for not asking stupid questions! Todd Pettingil asked stupid questions and he sucked. Mike Adamle sucked and he was apparently doing what you want them to do already by looking like an idiot on tv. the interviewer isn't supposed to be making the talent look good, the talent should be making themselves look good. if you need an interviewer to put you over, you got major problems.

like someone mentioned, i guess Funaki didn't "put over" someone in an interview, same with Helms? man Miz just took all the spotlight as an interviewer right? what about when they had women in busty clothes interviewing guys in the back? how were they putting over talent or were they themselves, like you would say Ryder would do, take up some attention from the other superstar (since their chests were just staring at the cameras)?

the statement i bolded is the whole purpose of your argument. you're going on your own preference, which is alright, but you can't carry that as fact. just because you didn't like Cole doesn't mean you not liking Ryder doing that wouldn't work.

If you really think the WWE is against his YouTube videos and what he says on them then you are playing right into it.....

Do you really think WWE would allow one of their workers under their payroll to put up videos saying how they are dropping the ball with them and all the other things Zach has said against WWE if they where not behind it all or atleast had some say in everything that actually gets put into his YouTube videos.... If he was really doing these agasint WWE and without their permission/supervision he would of been fired after like the 3rd of 4th YouTube video. They wouldn't let someone they are not using blast them every week if they where not Ok with it all. Evermore they wouldn't put that person on TV with the top star (in their eyes) John Cena for little 5 second clips. Even though they are only like 5 seconds WWE is acknowledging him and his relationship with Cena on RAW.

who said they were against the YouTube vids? they would have him remove them. i said they don't take his YouTube popularity seriously, like Santino's popularity. Santino is way over with the crowd, but you wouldn't think they'd put the strap on him because of that