Zack Ryder is a perfect example of what happens when a guy takes a ball and runs with it, blowing up into something that nobody thought would ever even sniff superstardom.
Last year around this time, Hawkins and Ryder were nothing more than jobbers. Their tag team title reign was long over, and their reign was nothing to write home about to begin with. They were collateral damage in the slow breakup of La Familia. They didn't sniff television, and every now and then, they'd go ahead and make guest appearances on The Dirt Sheet and the god-awful Scotty Goldman show. Around this time, Ryder started "Woo woo woo" and he kept on getting on the webshows saying that line. Soon enough he was drafted to ECW and was slowly starting to get built up. He had the awesome music (it goes to show that a wrestler's entrance music really does go a long way), and the unique tights. He would also "douche up" his look, with the spiked hair, the headband, the ridiculous tights, the sunglasses, and soon enough wearing what is basically a negligee to the ring.
But also, he became a hell of a wrestler. The jumping leg lariat is one of the coolest moves in the WWE today. He's put on a bunch of great matches with the likes of Shelton, Goldust, and most importantly, three PPV quality matches with the ECW Champion, Christian. Also, he's really improved in backstage segments and on the mic.
I do think he needs time on ECW to continue to improve. Hopefully he won't get drafted in a few months when the WWE reshuffles after Wrestlemania, because he definitely isn't ready for Raw (look at Swagger and Bourne as small fish in the big pond), and he's not quite ready for Smackdown yet. He can still do a lot on ECW though, and I hope he keeps improving. I think he's going to be a major player years from now, which is a huge improvement from a year ago at this time when he was a strong candidate for future endeavors.
