WWE Battleground: WWE United States Championship - Rusev (c) vs Zack Ryder

[Trill Co$by]

Confirmed by WWE.com the reigning United States Champion, "The Bulgarian Brute" Rusev (with the Ravishing Russian Lana in tow) will go one on one with the WooWoo Kid from Long Island named Zack Ryder. Zack Ryder is a former United States, Intercontinental, and Tag Team Champion so there's no denying the young man's will to succeed, but after a vicious assault on Raw from the Brute himself, can Zack Ryder rally up the Zack Pack one more time to become a 2x United States Champion or will the Brute vanquish another fan favorite in the WWE Universe?

WWE Confirmed Battleground Article

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I personally feel like Zack Ryder will be walking out with the United States title. Why? Because Smackdown is going to need a championship, and I'm pretty sure Rusev will be going to Raw. The US Title, to me, has always been a Smackdown title so it only makes sense to put Ryder with the US title onto Smackdown.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Ryder asks for a title shot, loses, gets one anyway. Mania feels like a lifetime ago and Ryder shouldn't be anywhere near Rusev.

This show is obviously a burden to WWE. They're just treading water until SummerSlam.

 

[OYDK]

God, I hope Rusev destroys Ryder. I never understood the fascination with him. He's like a shittier version of Robbie E.

Having Ryder beat Rusev after getting punked by Sheamus would be terrible, terrible booking. For the love of all that is holy WWE, don't do it.

 

[Trill Co$by]

Ryder asks for a title shot, loses, gets one anyway.

Are your eyes not working? Or did you just miss the part where he was attacked from behind before the match? I'm guessing it's the former since you made such a stupid remark.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

So Ryder should get a title shot just because he was sneak attacked? A proper, credible challenger would've rebounded and won the match. Thus deserving his title opportunity.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'm not overly wild about this because I'm just so over Zack Ryder. I was never really into Ryder all that much back when he was a fad in late 2011 to early 2012 and all he's really done since then is job to whomever. I've seen Rusev squash Ryder in so many matches that I can't help but groan whenever I see them inside the ring together.

WWE is obviously going for the whole underdog thing with Ryder, which is been played to death when it comes to Ryder and it's just not all that appealing to me. Ryder's a hard worker and he does have some genuine talent, I give the guy all the props for that. I just can't suddenly get behind this guy after years of being WWE's highest profile jobber for the vast majority of the near decade he's been in the company. The booking last night with his match against Sheamus only reinforced just how over I am with Ryder's underdog persona. I feel they could have accomplished just as much by having Rusev just suddenly come out and start beating Ryder down at any random point during the match. Of course, the way it went down also seems to point to a rubber match with Sheamus, possibly on SmackDown or Raw next Monday, in which Ryder gets his win back and spends the rest of the time focused on Rusev.

Zack Ryder isn't a credible challenger in my opinion because he's just been jobbed out for too long to too many guys. His win at WrestleMania ultimately amounted to looking like it was nothing more than a fluke, so that plus him being the determined hard worker who always manages to come up short just doesn't spark my interest. I'm not saying that my opinion can't be changed somewhat between now and Battleground, but it's much too soon for Ryder to have another title win.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Another filler match and a great chance for Rusev to show dominance and destroy Zack Ryder in order to head strong into Summerslam.

 

[Woodstuff]

I'm not too thrilled with Ryder challenging for the US title, but I will be invested in the match because I'm praying WWE don't end Rusev's title reign before at least Summerslam.

That being said, it's hard to imagine WWE will go that route. Chances are, fans would go quiet on Zack just as quickly as they did during his first big push back in 2012. People stop caring when he stops being the underdog.

 

[ShinChan]

I hope that Zack Ryder doesn't ruin Rusev's championship stint by defeating him. It would be a terrible decision if Ryder won.

Rusev needs to crush Ryder as soon as Sheamus did. Rusev should have a reign atleast until Summerslam. Then he can lose the strap to either Bray Wyatt or Apollo Crews and move on to upper midcard and main event level.

 

[Trill Co$by]

So Ryder should get a title shot just because he was sneak attacked? A proper, credible challenger would've rebounded and won the match. Thus deserving his title opportunity.

No. Majority of the time, they end up falling short just like Ryder did. This happens to virtually every light heavyweight face ever when they're up against Super Heavies like Sheamus and Rusev. And then they get awarded their title shot because the authority figures that if you're near 7ft weighing a quarter ton, and have to blindside your smaller opponent then you must be scared. That's called booking a show, it's called building a storyline that people invest in. It's the underdog story that's led people to world championship reigns. So please, for the love of God, please stop being ignorant about this stuff.

 

[kadroan]

I'm hoping this match ends quick and Rusev's next opponent is actually somebody legit. Have his next opponent come out and challenge him. I'd love to see Sheamus turn face and come out and face him. A dominant face Sheamus vs. Rusev would be good.