The WWE Future Files - Zack Ryder

[Dave]

As much as it pains me to do this, I have decided to make a Future File about one of the vastly over-rated superstars currently adored by the IWC and WZ Forums. Personally, I can’t stand the guy so expect a lot of negativity and points that you can easily tear apart because of me being blinded by my hatred. Regardless of my feeling towards the douche, Zack Ryder falls into the WWE Future Files spotlight as we examine the possible future of Mr Ryder… Woo! Woo! Woo!

Since Ryder came back to the WWE, all tanned up with spiky hair and sunglasses in a darkened arena… He has become somewhat of a darling with the IWC. In fact, he is pretty God-damn over. What’s more surprising is that the WWE have actually listened to the fans over the last few months. The fans wanted to see more of Ryder and see him get a push and wouldn’t you know it, in a matter of months, he is feuding with people like The Miz and John Morrison instead of running backstage promos with Tiffany. ECW was a long time ago and the less I talk about it, the better… Trust me!

However, after coming to Raw after ECW was liquidated, I think he has started to make waves. Considering I am writing this file for him, I would suggest that he is even starting to make me notice him. He is decent in the ring, isn’t he? He is nothing special but he is certainly good enough to be competitive anyway. The fact of the matter is, though, that you don’t necessarily need to be that great in the ring anymore. This is especially true when as much charisma as Zack Ryder certainly does have. When it comes to people like him and The Miz, people have very little interest in seeing him compete in the ring. If they do want to see him in the ring, I am willing to wager that that want is dwarfed by the want to see him cut a promo. I know it is certainly the case for people like The Miz.

When he came back to ECW, he was a different superstar from his look all the way down to his catchphrase. Now, I hate catchphrases if they are as unimaginative as this. “Woo! Woo! Woo!” and “You Know It” are pretty lacklustre, aren’t they? I mean, even Skip Sheffield tried it! “Yip! Yip! Yip!” and “What It Do” are not a million miles away from Ryder’s, are they? That’s all I see Zack Ryder as right now, a glorified and more successful Skip Sheffield. Sad but definitely true.

Now, I don’t want people to get this twisted, I do think that Zack Ryder has some potential. For example, his entrance theme is fucking catchy. All day at work on Saturday, I couldn’t stop singing it but a good entrance theme will only get you so far. His look is fucking atrocious and although it sets him apart from the rest of the cocky generic heels, I just don’t like it. He looks like a gay pornstar. That being said, he could be moderately successful in this gimmick. For me, Zck Rder is stuck in a corner and I don’t know how his future is going to go. I think it will come down to one of two options.

Option 1

Ryder drops his current look and actually tries to become a serious competitor. The WWE tries to treat him like a legitimate wrestler and gives him a good feud with someone like Jack Swagger. However, he has lost his flair and thus, has lost what made him over in the first place. He fails to make any waves in the WWE and is ultimately cut because he can’t be taken seriously out with the comedy jobber role.

Option 2

Ryder doesn’t drop the look and gimmick and continues to be a darling of the IWC. However, the WWE soon gets sick of him and wants to change his gimmick. I mean, he’s not John Cena! He will undergo a gimmick change at some point. Even Randy Orton, a guy who plays gimmicks with ease, underwent a gimmick change so Ryder is not exempt from this either. The gimmick change either works for him and gives him a stage to ply his trade and be entertaining on the mic, or it completely fails and ends in much the same way that Option 1 did.

Personally, I don’t like to think that he wont be with the WWE. I honestly do think that he has some talent and potential and that it would be a waste to see him drop of the radar altogether. However, I hate his gimmick just now and I just don’t think he will ever make in-roads in the WWE whilst he is sporting his current gimmick but I could be very wrong. So with that being said, I have a couple of questions for you.

-Do you think Zack Ryder has a future with the WWE?

-Do you think that Zack Ryder is being held back by his current gimmick and do you think he could be more successful with a different gimmick?

-How do you rate Ryder and where do you see him in 5 years?

 

[LigerBomb]

-Do you think Zack Ryder has a future with the WWE?

Potentially, yes. I kind of see him as a modern day Billy Gunn. Yes he has the tools --or at least you would think so--, but some how he doesn't captialize on them and simply earns a pay check for a decade or so, neither rocking the boat nor setting the wrestling world ablaze. His best (so far) is good, not great.

-Do you think that Zack Ryder is being held back by his current gimmick and do you think he could be more successful with a different gimmick?

Though the IWC love him (i don't know why) I don't think he's doing a good job of being a heel and getting heat. And at least from me the little heat he does get is not the right kind of heat but rather "Ugh, this guy is a douche bag, I'm going to flip the channel" heat. So 'yes' he probably would do better for his career all things considered if he were in a different gimmick. That said, I say let him ride this gimmick into the ground, gain some perspective and then when WWE repackages him perhaps he'll have learned a bit. Repackage him now and I feel it would be a waste, as he's not accrued much insight from his current predicament yet.

-How do you rate Ryder and where do you see him in 5 years?

Rate him? Ok, on a scale of 1 to 10, I give him 5 fist pumps, 2 cans of hair gel, and 1 bad case of tanning bed induced melanoma, which for those not in the know equals a 5/10. As I said above he's decent for what he is, but he is by no means a compelling watch in or out of the ring.
Moving on, 5 years is a looooong time, especially in WWE years. This gimmick in it's current incarnation won't last 5 years. And if it does someone (or a lot of someones) will have dropped the ball severely. Hell for all I know he could be in TNA by 2015. Bottom line, he either gets better, develops a bit and makes a real run at it; or he grows stagnant, people move on from the one-off Jersey Shore act en-vogue novelty, and he gets left in the dust and possibly released.

 

[Oppurtunist]

I think that Ryder will be released in this/next year, if he won't have a personality change. His gimmick absolutely sucks ass, i mean how much heels with that ' i am perfect ' gimmick we have ?? WAY TO MUCH. He needs new one NOW! Also, he is bad, even as a jobber... So i don't see Ryder in WWE by 5 years.. Hell, i don't see him in WWE in 2012... .

 

[cm ben]

I hated this guy, too, but recently I've found him pretty amusing. That's the thing, though, you're right--I like him because of his comic quality more so than his wrestling ability.

I think that the WWE realizes that this is the case with most people; they won't totally change his gimmick because of this. However, did you catch NXT last week? They showed a more modest side of Zack, when he was talking to his rookie--Zack apologized for hitting him, or something, and admitted that he was sort of a rookie, too. So I think they might be trying to get him over not as a totally new character, but as a more multi-faceted character than he has previously been portrayed.

I don't really know what the future holds for him--he seems to be somewhat over with fans (IWC and IRLWC alike--I think he generates reasonable amounts of heat live), though, so adding more depth to his character can only lead to bigger things. I'd guess a solid upper-midcard position in a few years, maybe with a couple of U.S or Intercontinental title runs?

 

[rocksuperstarkaos]

Good post, but for the most part, the whole "Feuding with Miz and John Morrison" He's not really feuding with anyone, they threw him into a couple of matches where he barely ever gets a move in, he gets his Rough Ryder in there but that's about it, I love the gimmick, but I wish the WWE would let him actually wrestle because the guy has skills, I live on Long Island and I've seen him in NYWC, he has talent, I just wish WWE would let him show it.

 

[ECDublegend]

In the beginning, I had no idea what the hell they were going to do with a guy who wore pants that even David Bowie wouldn't have worn in his prime. Eventually though, Zack Ryder grew on me. His catchphrase, his look, and his in-ring abilities, all of which I could have cared less about when he debuted on ECw, have greatly improved as time went on. I also don't mind his current gimmick as much as some people do. I think in the end, in order to get Zyder into the higher mid-card/possible main eventer, Ryder's gimmick will have to be tweaked. As of now, I'm hoping for the best for this guy, and i wouldn't have a problem if he were to become US champ sometime soon.

 

[Adam08]

I think Zach Ryder has a future as a midcard guy. His gmmick is pretty decent and seems like Dolph Ziggler a little bit to me at least. I think if he ever wants to go beyond midcard he does need a gmmick change. I mean he has a everything just a different gmmick and he might get somewhere.

 

[dotty_84]

I'd prefer him to The Miz anyday lets just say that.

On NXT i think he can only make himself look better i think he's a natural on the mic and i really do feel he has a future.

 

[Ferbian]

-Do you think Zack Ryder has a future with the WWE?

While I am personally not very fond of Zack Ryder, he doesn't strike me as interesting, i shall not let this become a biased thing towards this thread, cause through his popularity with a decent part of the IWC, and the fact that he's getting heat, Zack Ryder does have a future in the WWE.

I do not however see him as anything in a main event material, not yet to say the least, he strikes me as the RAW version of Dolph Ziggler, without being able to put on as great matches, he will achieve things, but ultimately I see him staying in the upper mid-card at best.

-Do you think that Zack Ryder is being held back by his current gimmick and do you think he could be more successful with a different gimmick?

I do not think he is being held back, he doesn't strike me as interesting as I noted, and I do think it could be due to his gimmick, but I do not see it as a thing that is holding him back, because as I said, he has interest from the IWC, and gets heat from the crowd, that's what matters to be popular with a gimmick.

Zack Ryder although do have potential to carry another gimmick, and I would personally think differently of him if he got another gimmick, all depending on how I look at the gimmick when it is introduced.

-How do you rate Ryder and where do you see him in 5 years?

I rate him as mediocre at best right now, and I see him sticking to that, he has potential sure, but I do not see it yet, so I do not see him ever reaching a world championship to be honest, he will most likely become a somewhat more accomplished John Morrison, but ultimately will have the same fate, stuck in the mid-card.