Has WWE given up on the Zack Ryder experiment?
 

Zack Ryder seemed to have a good thing going after winning the US title. His youtube show was still popular. Then he was made the bitch in the Kane/Cena feud. Then back to obscurity.

Do you think WWE has given up on him? He has potential, it just seems the whole appeal of Ryder has now gone away faster than Kony 2012.

This weeks episode of Z True Long Island Story has been cancelled.

Is he still doing it weekly? Havent watched in ages...

What was there to give up on? He beat his good friend Dolph Ziggler a couple of times and that was pretty much the height of his push.

I think the legacy of Z-True Long Island Story ultimately it showed WWE that they have a bonfide star that has charisma out the ass.

and

He's in the same spot as Santino and Brodus Clay:

Kid friendly mid-carder.

He sells Merchandise without being pushed. Its great business for the WWE.

Im not a Ryder fan, but I did enjoy his run to the "top". The WWE was forced to listen to the fans. Normally they decide who gets pushed, and who is booked. They make that decision and try to convey to the fans who should be over. In this case the fans decidded

Just kind of sucks it wasnt a more revolutional event.

He is what he is: a mid carder. I'm not sure what you people were expecting out of this?

Yeah, I mean, c'mon...it's not like he ever beat Dolph for the United States Championship or any--oh, wait, yes he did.

A Zack Ryder WWE title run. I will not be satisfied with Ryder's career accomplishments until this happens!

I love sassy DAMN iNATOR

What? All I'm sayin’ is give the man a MitB briefcase next year, let him cash in on the current champ at a PPV, only to have the former champ demand an IMMEDIATE rematch for the title, ex-champ wins it back, everyone’s happy. Plus it would add to Ryder’s likability as primarily a now comedy/comic wrestler.

Exactly this. He's a solid, over midcarder that has a good spot in the company, which in itself is an achievement as he's not really that great at anything. But he put the work in and got himself a long term spot in the company, a US title reign, probably end up getting some other midcard titles in his career and he's one of the more popular comic relief guys they've had in a while.

The "Zack Ryder Experiment" was never going to lead to him getting a main event push.

Yes they have but it's the WWE that screwed it up royally by having a 2 hour show that involved him way too much and it ended up being overkill not even Cena had been featured that frequently. Didn't help that during his US title reign that he was injured and ended up jobbing out to Swagger of all people and for him only to be transitional champ for Santino. Bottom line is if he plans to ever to make it to the main event level his character will have to be allowed to evolve I mean look how much other guys have changed so it's certainly doable.

A unified title run and a WM main event?

I don't like Ryder, really, so I don't care. Woo woo woo to Saturday Morning Slam.

Not sure if I'd call it an "experiment" on the WWE's side considering they've basically ignored him besides a couple of weeks while the fans have done all the real work keeping him relevant.

Although Ryder was really successful with the social media experiment and ended up showing the traditional view of tv exposure being the only way to be relevant or move merchandise is no longer true.

Tyson Kidd vs Zack Ryder : 2 hour Iron Man Match at Wrestlemania for every title including the Divas. Book it.

Broski's before Hoski's! :D:cool:

Who said expectations were set at "making the guy a main event talent/world champ"? Why is there no middle ground between "not pushed" and "maineventing mania"?

Zack is popular with the kids and adults alike, he has a personality and its passable in the ring. A strong presence in the middle of the card, a feud once in a while, a US/IC title run here and there, etc. is what they should be using him for. Sporadic appearances and nothing long term going on is what he's got right now.

Seems like a waste to me.

Tyson Kidd Vs Zack Ryder.

THE RYBACK beats them up for 2 hours at Wrestlemania while winning every title except the Divas (he only bangs them in the process but lets them keep the gold).

That's what he's doing right now.

Santino held it for six months more recently, is just as (if not more) over, is a much better talker, was actually given a PPV main event for a World title, and is in the exact same spot. I guess the Santino experiment is over too.

Well middle ground between where he is now and a main event push would be upper midcard level kind of deal with the likes of Ziggler, The Miz, Rhodes, Mysterio etc and he's not really on that level. He's fine where he is, and he does get occasional feuds as far as I'm aware. Hasn't he recently had minor feuds with Cesaro and Jinder Mahal? It might not be amazing booking but he gets more than most other midcard talents.

I believe he said on twitter or some other BS a couple weeks ago that he said he might be surprising everyone and totally repackage himself, to show he doesn't have to fit one specific mold or whatever. I remember first seeing him as The Broski after he was part of the awful tag team with hawkins and didn't believe it was him at first.

No matter what, he will always probably be mid-card, but it could be nifty to see what he says he can do, as far as repackaging.

the Heelski

"The Black Crow" Zach Ryder. Dressed in all black. Instead of Woo Woo Woo goes Caw! Caw! Caw!
Has wings, and attempts to fly.

I see what you did there and lol'd. :y:

Really though, I think with people like Bryan, Punk, Ziggler, etc. the era of the "big man" ideology is slowly dwindling...... with RYBACK being the exception, of course :D

I prefer Zach Gowan.

They gave up on him at the beginning of the year. It's kinda obvious when the Zack Ryder/Eve storyline was won by John Cena.

Have you guys ever listened to the man talk? He warrants no sort of prominent role.

I'm surprised nobody's asked about the "Jerry Lawler" experiment yet. Seems like anything that isn't around anymore is the end of an "experiment."

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They should have given him the chance for a heel turn here, despite Cena being "too big" for a program like that, according to most, if anything, to see where it could have went.

Here's my issue with the term "mid carder" nowadays...

I think a mid carder should actually be able to compete and be competitive in the middle of the card.

Ryder is a jobber who gets wins on Superstars once in a while. Unless we're counting the second match of Superstars as the midcard of WWE, he's just a glorified jobber. There barely are any true midcarders in fact. There's main eventers, guys who stick around and win matches with no real plan to move them up and then there's interchangable filler. Ryder falls into the latter.

<font color=goldenrod>Ryder went into business for himself, had a fun online show going, and got some TV time and a US Title run out of it. He said when he started Z! True Long Island Story that he was going to either get noticed or get fired. He did pretty well for himself.

I like Ryder, and I do feel bad for him to a degree because all indications are that WWE forced him to hand over control of his show. He's said in interviews that they cut out stuff that he films regularly and he's pretty much doing all the work for nothing at this point. But his show was only going to get him so far in the first place. He's clearly saddled behind Santino Marella and Brodus Clay in the comedy face department.

I think a heel turn would do Ryder well, and not in the smarky "serious badass submission machine" way. He bumps well enough and probably be able to thrive in a comedy heel role. It may not be glamorous, but it'd get him on TV more frequently. Heath Slater was the token solo comedy heel but now he's in a stable...so there's now a vacancy for Ryder to take.</font>

I dont even think he is at mid card level though at the moment. Lower-mid at best.

Might explain why there was no episode this week since the WWE probably canned it right before it was planned to be uploaded.

Either they got upset at the tone or didn't want him teasing anything about a heel turn even if it was done as a joke.

Probably the same reason for the lack of Ziggler since the WWE doesn't want him associated as much with the show anymore even though it also helped his character.

It's not a fucking experiment, it wasn't one with Tensai and it's not one with Ryder.

Everything in the WWE is an experiment, it's the World Wrestling Experiment.

Tazz Dan is crying in a corner.