Zack Ryder = Most Popular?

[TJWWE]

In WWE right now, I would say that Zack Ryder is the most popularist man in 'E. Look at Cena, he's getting more boo's, I've not heard massive chants for Orton in a long while & The Rock doesn't count.

Ryder is very clever for what he has done, 6 months ago, look where he was to where he is now.

So, is Zack Ryder the most popularist man in 'E?

 

[Punkses]

I admit it's amazing to see one of the most underutilized and most deserving finally get the push he deserves and the crowd agrees he is arguably one of if not the most popular superstar wwe has.. Heck the crowd interupted the rock to chant we want ryder.. Whens the last time the crowd chanted for somebody else whilst the great one is in the ring.. Only big things are coming zacks way and the first step is the us championship at tlc or the rumble or better yet zack wins the rumble and faces punk or del rio at wrestlemania for the wwe championship.. Ok now i'm alittle to excited about my broski haha

 

[Dmbfantomas]

I'd pick CM Punk over Ryder, but Ryder is getting massively close. The pop he got on SMACKDOWN was huge. Ryder Revolution is full swing, baby.

 

[conici]

Firstly There Is No Such Word As Popularist Its Popular And I don't think so its a hard battle between him and CM Punk and since punk is top of merch
he is technically the most popular as he is drawing in the most money instead of john "cash cow" cena
AnyWay With Zack Getting arguably one of the biggest Pops at SS WWE has no choice but to put him in the spotlight and well deserved to
we shall just see how well he does as US Champion as I can see dolph going to ME

 

[Unsold Bacon]

Just because Cena gets boos does not mean he is not popular. In wrestling 'Popular' could just be defined to crowd reaction as Michael Cole says "Cena evokes the most emotion out of the crowd out of any of the WWE Superstar".

Zack Ryder is indeed one of the most popular. I don't understand what so orgasmic about him. Don't get me wrong I don't hate him. I like him just not massively.

 

[Da Truth]

Zack Ryder is up there, and may be getting closer to the top dog in popularity status. However, the most popular guy is CM Punk cause he has crossed over into mainstream media. Ryder is almost getting to that point also. I hate to say it but the WWE is being very smart with their use of Ryder; they don't want to go full steam right now because they know the people want Ryder so badly. It's the simple concept of supply and demand. It's going to be interesting to see how his popularity holds up when he's on television & ppv's on an consitent basis.

 

[themusicman]

Just because Cena gets boos does not mean he is not popular. In wrestling 'Popular' could just be defined to crowd reaction as Michael Cole says "Cena evokes the most emotion out of the crowd out of any of the WWE Superstar".

Zack Ryder is indeed one of the most popular. I don't understand what so orgasmic about him. Don't get me wrong I don't hate him. I like him just not massively.

I am totally with you! I thought I was on my own in this, but it appears not. I dont hate Ryder, I think he's ok, a solid mid-carder but thats about it. What he has done well is make the most of 'social media' to get himself in the lime light and fair play for that but when he gets in the ring I just feel he lacks 'it' to really get to M.E. level on a permanent basis. So in answer to your question I think that currently he is extremely popular but I predict it will be for a short period of time.
To clarify again before I get loads of abuse, Im not anti-ryder at all, I think he's done a good job Im just not convinced he's the big deal everyone is currently saying he is.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Just because Cena gets boos does not mean he is not popular.

Of course. In sports entertainment, "popular" has a different meaning than in other places. In high school, the most popular student is the one who's most liked. In pro wrestling, however, the most popular is the one who gets the biggest reaction; the one who gets the most response from the audience.

The guy who gets the biggest boos is just as "popular" as the one who gets the biggest cheers. I can't think of how many times I've seen folks presume that the performer who is booed the loudest must be considered the most unpopular wrestler......but it isn't true, not by a long shot.

As for whether Zack Ryder is the most popular superstar, it's subject to opinion. If you go by crowd reaction, I'd say he's pretty close to the top.

But, if Zack is the most popular, I confess to being a little disappointed in what the fans find pleasing. In other words, I think if behaving like a clown is what's doing it for Zack, then good for him for finding the formula.....and bad for the crowd for following it.

His facial expressions remind me of a 3-year-old who's just been scared by jack-in-the-box popping up. If you like that kind of thing, more power to you, I guess.

 

[PeaceAndLove]

I think he is becoming one of the top three popular guys i mean from survivor series to smackdown this past week i will go out on a limb and say he has been getting pops like austin used to. Is he as popular? thats a funny joke but the moral of the story is big things are in the kids future in my opinion.

 

[dtroppe]

There is no chance this is the case! None. I know you cant define popular- but Ryder gets chants from the marks. Thats it. People don't tune in to see Ryder- or buy tickets to shows because Zack Ryder is on the card. Lets not let a little internet buzz and partial crowd chants define the guy as most popular. Maybe up and coming. But come on Cena is the guy. When the Rock is there, Rock is the guy. CM Punk is a more popular guy. HHH is still a decent draw. WWE has only one full time star (Cena) and its good that guys like Ryder are coming up- but lets not mistake it for what it is guys.

 

[OwenHart100%legend]

Of course. In sports entertainment, "popular" has a different meaning than in other places. In high school, the most popular student is the one who's most liked. In pro wrestling, however, the most popular is the one who gets the biggest reaction; the one who gets the most response from the audience.

The guy who gets the biggest boos is just as "popular" as the one who gets the biggest cheers. I can't think of how many times I've seen folks presume that the performer who is booed the loudest must be considered the most unpopular wrestler......but it isn't true, not by a long shot.

As for whether Zack Ryder is the most popular superstar, it's subject to opinion. If you go by crowd reaction, I'd say he's pretty close to the top.

But, if Zack is the most popular, I confess to being a little disappointed in what the fans find pleasing. In other words, I think if behaving like a clown is what's doing it for Zack, then good for him for finding the formula.....and bad for the crowd for following it.

His facial expressions remind me of a 3-year-old who's just been scared by jack-in-the-box popping up. If you like that kind of thing, more power to you, I guess.

Mustang I have to say that I generally find I agree with many of your posts and find them well balanced, well informed and generally on the money. However your opinions of Ryder that I have read over the past months IMO are very short sighted. Ryders popularity at this moment is up there with the top guys and for that he deserves much credit. He has carved out this position for himself off his own back and went from jobber probably future endevoured to cult hero status. Why is it such a bad thing that people like him? Why is this bad for the fans? Bad because people for whatever reason people like him, want to support him, buy his mechandice, emotionally invest in him? Bad because he generates a reaction, gets the audience involved?

Ryder is the best thing that has happened to the WWE in years, he has proved to every jobber out there that no matter the gimmick, no matter if your not over or in favour or even getting TV time there is still hope, take the bull by the horns and do something about it! Ryder has made people care and made them want to invest in him, his character and his story and that rather than being a bad thing for fans is a great thing.

 

[chilly]

I don't see Zack Ryder being the most popular. Sure, he may be the "hottest" thing in wrestling but not the most popluar. People root for him because he's the underdog they want to see succeed. I don't think people root for him because of his skills in the ring, his work on the mic, etc. I don't think we have seen enough of it to judge that. Anyway, I think the most popular wrestler has to be John Cena. Like him or not, he's a celebrity that everyone knows even if you don't watch wrestling (Even rapper Lil' Wayne mentions John Cena in a hip-hop song.) Second, would be Triple H, then CM Punk...IMO of course.

 

[The Caselock]

Firstly There Is No Such Word As Popularist Its Popular

Cannot wait to see where to it goes from here! Ryder or Riot!

 

[routron]

There is no chance this is the case! None. I know you cant define popular- but Ryder gets chants from the marks. Thats it. People don't tune in to see Ryder- or buy tickets to shows because Zack Ryder is on the card. Lets not let a little internet buzz and partial crowd chants define the guy as most popular. Maybe up and coming. But come on Cena is the guy. When the Rock is there, Rock is the guy. CM Punk is a more popular guy. HHH is still a decent draw. WWE has only one full time star (Cena) and its good that guys like Ryder are coming up- but lets not mistake it for what it is guys.

Did you watch Survivor Series?

I was there, and the whole building chanted "We want Ryder", "You're not Ryder", etc throughout the matches. If it's not popularity, then I don't know what is popularity.


Sure, he started as IWC darling with his webshow, but it's obvious that's the formula that works for him. He's been getting the loudest pop compared to the other wrestlers, so I can't see how he's not popular lol. Everyone even chanted Ryder's chant when Rock was doing his promo after the match. He is popular. Everyone's buying him, there's no reason not to say he's popular.

 

[XXJJ]

Yes he is very popular. He has outpopped Raw's two biggest babyfaces (punk and cena) a couple of times.

But his character is a joke. You can never book him in anything serious. Hornswoggle and Santino would get loud pops too. That doesn't mean they should be wrestling for the WWE title.

He has kind of turned into the new flavor of the month. We will see if he can last a year or two from now.

 

[Krossbreed]

when i saw the fans chant we want ryder while the rock was talking...it proves that people are really entertained by zack ryder. Cena, cm punk and all those top guys like hhh were putting him over almost as a joke before...but now he is very credible...now i can see how hard it is to predict what the fans want...months b4 everyone wouldve expected ryder to get released now...he is hands down one of the more fun characters.

Zack use of the whole under dog thing and his own youtube show is what did it...plus everyone likes the feeling they get when they say woo woo woo...u know it...zack is gr8 for pop culture!

 

[GameOver]

you do realise not all chants are real right? there is this thing called canned laughter which gets used on shows and it doesn't have to be laughter.

the chants in WWE atm seem to be exactly the same voices and even the same words that are on TNA shows albeit alot louder zzzzzzzzz but that's just me

Personally he's entertaining and funny which wrestling can never do without, but he's not the next big thing. Santino v2 with a rediculous look and allowed to actually look somewhat good in the ring. The novelty will wear off within a year mark my words. Santino is far more entertaining to me, but he's stuck doing what he's doing and making others look good.

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

I think he is becoming one of the top three popular guys i mean from survivor series to smackdown this past week i will go out on a limb and say he has been getting pops like austin used to.

No. Absolutely not. Ryder is not getting anywhere near the pops Austin got at the height of wrestling. Maybe if you're talking about Austin right now, maybe it can possibly get close...maybe.

As for Survivor Series, an NYC crowd is very different than a crowd just about anywhere, plus Ryder is from Long Island, just outside of NYC.

I honestly think that the fan reactions are almost TNA like. Meaning that people are trying to be part of the show. I don't think they're rooting for the kid to win the title, and I certainly don't think he's the most popular. I doubt anyone would buy a PPV to see him headline.

However, I am happy for the guy. He works his ass off and did something on his own and is reaping the rewards. Let's just not get out of hand with this.

 

[Gilly?]

It's amazing how much a few measly YouTube videos can propel someone to the top. Obviously, Zack isn't there yet but his initiative to do something completely different which could have easily failed is a testament to how much he wants to succeed in the WWE.

I'm not sure how far he could go though, he's in the US title hunt at the moment and the pop he gets currently is overwhelming. Does he have the in ring ability to take it further? Granted he's not had a great deal of ring time at length to really show what he's got but what he's done so far suggests that it's touch and go as to whether he could push it outside of the US title frame.

I love Ryder, his gimmick is annoyingly likeable and his catchphrase even more so. Weekly I refuse to miss an episode of his YouTube show, episode #41 was gold.

 

[MikeyTheAwesome]

Zack Ryder may not be the most popular, but like someone already stated, he's the hottest thing going on right now. As you can see through my avatar, I am a huge Ryder fan. Loved him as a major brother, loved him as an edge-head, and I love him now. Sure, I may joke when I say "Zack Ryder for WWE champion" and "Ryder vs Taker 19-1", and even though I would love for it to happen, it's good to have some sarcastic fun nowadays.

But anyways, Ryder went from being a regular on WWE superstars and almost fired, to a hot commodity. His T shirts and headbands have sold out numerous times, you see Zack Ryder signs everywhere and you hear "we want ryder" chants in almost every show. And to the person who says those chants are canned, the WWE wouldn't waste their time doing that. He has a lot of steam and WWE is taking one step at a time to build Ryder up as a serious contender for any mid card title. I read somewhere (I would provide a link if I could) that WWE finally wants to push guys that have gotten themselves over with the wwe crowd (I refuse to call it "universe"), hence why you are seeing Ryder and Dibiase on TV a lot more. In a way, it's a reward for working hard in getting a reaction (something that many superstars have struggled in), merchandise sales etc. With his Z!TLIS webisodes, the WWE is finally giving Ryder the opportunity that he's been asking for. The Ryder fans love it, the WWE roster loves it and now the casual fans are getting behind him, which is important for a face. A wise man once said that it's a lot easier to work the crowd as a heel than a face, and kudos to Ryder for getting the fans behind him as a face. That is something that many superstars within Ryder's level have failed to do so. Superstars that were better heels like MVP, Vladimir Kozlov, 2006-09 CM Punk and John Morrison, failed to get that massive pop that Ryder has generated recently wherever he goes. And before people start hating on me for comparing Punk to Ryder, Ryder right now is at a similar level where Punk was prior to Punks MITB wins. But anyways, Ryder did what was best for his career and it's paid off.

But as much as I love Ryder on my tv screen, the WWE can't be showing Ryder in almost every backstage segment. Like I said, he's a hot commodity right now and they need to be careful because we know what happens when the WWE crowd sees too much of the same person.

 

[Kizzani]

Zach Ryder is popular without reason, he is not different that CM punk, Stone Cold or more recently John Morrsion. Whoever the WWE has deemed not not worthy the fans like to rally behind like their voice matters. TNA tried the same gimmick "the jersey shore reject" and it sucked just as much as Zach Ryder sucked. The only difference is that Ryder went to build a fan base from the scum of the world "youtubers" people that spend hours making stupid video or spending time commenting on lamer videos.
How can you tell? Just listen to them talk about how great he is and how he deserves so much, He can't carry a match, his wrestling skills set is on par but below John Cena's famous five. Ryder can get those mediocre pops all he wants it will not take him to any world title. Once he gets his title (US) and stops his stupid you tube show the fans will feel content and ryder will be back on superstars where he belongs.

 

[Harakiri]

I have a hard time taking Zack Ryder serious. In my opinion WWE better not put any belt on this man before he has gone one year without saying "woo woo woo" or any "broski" or wtf. he is going around saying. I can understand people when they think The Miz`s "Really" is annoying,but "woo woo woo" goes beyond annoying.

Ryder`s skills are not that bad,but the whole character he is portraying is like having the muppets there every week. That people likes him is ok. for me,but disturbing anyway. In my mind it is anyway more disturbing that there are grown up men liking Cena.

I am new to post here,but I have been reading here for a long time now. Since I am new I want to point out a very important thing: When I say I don`t like a wrestler or someone in WWE it is the character he/she is portraying I don`t like/hate. The person behind might be the coolest person in the world for all I know.

It is a long time since I did write on an forum in English so I might be out of practice. Sorry for any wrong spelling I did. Hope it was possible to read anyway.

 

[Tommy Terrific]

Woo Woo Woo! You know it! That's really catchy and yes I am a mark for Zack Ryder. I mean the work ethic to go from jobber to one of the most popular guys in the sport is pretty impressive. As a far as pops, he is the most popular. However, if we go by pops then Vickie Guerrero is the biggest star in WWE. The most popular star however is Mr. U Can't See Me. When he turns heel (the obvious) it will be the biggest thing since Hollywood Hogan. The possibility to make that kind of impact speaks volumes.

I would like to see a Santino/Zack tag-team though lmao!