The Underused Zack Ryder - WWWYKI?

Let me get the unimportant, personal opinion out of the way. I am not a Zack Ryder fan. I have never been a Zack Ryder fan. I do not even watch his little show. I do not hate the guy. He is simply not my taste. However, I will not deny that he is a solid worker. I will not step into any argument against a Ryder fan to argue why they shouldn't be a fan of this guy. He definitely has earned his fanbase. That is one reason that, although I am not one of his fans, I can respect him a bit. He got over without the WWE wanting it to happen and trying to make it happen.

It would be a crime for someone like me, a blogger trying to support this idea that the WWE picks which divas they really want to succeed and uses the rest as jobbers and filler, to pass by talking about Zack Ryder. I was thinking about bringing him up when there was that incident about a Ryder fan getting their sign taken away. More recently, the WWE was in Long Island, NY, not too far from where I live myself. More importantly, it was Ryder territory. He was not used for anything at all on Raw. He was used on Superstars, where he won a match. But how relevant is that show? More or less than NXT? And what happens to NXT winners? They get released for Christmas? Point is, Superstars is the jobber show. Any other week of the year, any other city, I can see using Ryder on Superstars. But in his own hometown? A 3-hour Raw? Given that he has been gaining popularity? Here is the real kicker for me. Over the past few weeks, he has been having these meaningless segments with John Cena. They couldn't even hand him one of those, but with a little more lines so he can at least be entertaining? Many people can see this as a snub. It is insulting.

Not only have fans talked about it, but so have a few wrestlers. Over the last few weeks, guys like CM Punk, Steve Austin, and Chris Jericho have been talking well of Ryder and poorly of the WWE's use of him. It has not gotten him much. Those meaningless segments with Cena have pretty much been it. And if that itself ends abruptly with no proper finish or point, which it probably will, it would have been as effective for the person opposite Cena as his romance angle with Mickie James in 2008. And let me say something again, until I see otherwise, I do not see legitimate proof that Cena and Mickie really dated outside of that storyline.

Back to Ryder. It is obvious this guy is only in the WWE to be a jobber. Jobbers can be released easily and replaced. Look at Funaki. In fact, it probably is just connections Ryder may have that are keeping him in the company. Combine that with the fact that, as a man, if they ever did choose to push him, there could be multiple spots for him. Without even getting him near a World title match, you can push him for a midcard title, pair him with someone who the WWE is more interested in pushing and have them go after the tag titles, or put him in a non-title feud, even a lower-midcard one like Swagger/Bourne. Build up his credibility and put him in a triple threat or other multi-wrestler match for the US title. I think that last choice seems like the best option out of everything else I have said. Sad fact is, Vince isn't choosing to do any of it. I don't blame "Creative" for anything. If Vince McMahon really wanted someone pushed, he could override pretty much anyone in the company to get some kind of push going.

Before I move on, let me just mention how this guy got over. For those fans who only watch Raw, you may not see the big deal. You may not have even cared that much for the guy even when he was booked SO much better on ECW. It is the internet. Twitter and videos. He is showing the charisma and character to connect with the fans. This is how he was able to get over on his own. He is interactive. He is becoming a successful pro wrestler without even getting anywhere near the booking to get the job done. I am not talking about kayfabe success. True success in pro wrestling is judged by how well you can perform out there to connect with the fans. Let me go back and eat my words. Is Ryder really a successful pro wrestler then? He isn't getting over by how he handles himself when he comes out on Raw. Granted, that is because he is not even being booked to come out on Raw. But with so much value already in this guy, and value he made on his own, I think he deserves at least a shot to see how well he can carry it into a push. Let's see how strong that connection with the internet fans is.

Now, moving on to the divas. I just talked about a man the WWE obviously does not want to become as over as possible. I am always saying that there is a class of diva in the diva division that the WWE does not want to become as over as possible. These are the women they use to put over the women they do want as over as possible. Let me point out another thing about Ryder. Not only do they not want him to be as over as possible, they are not going to let what overness he has earned himself or what potential he may have lead to a push for the guy. This is pretty much a variation of what happened with Mickie James. Mickie James belonged to that class of diva meant to put over the centerpieces. Through her own performance and ability to connect with the fans, she became very over and stayed that over. Unlike Ryder, Mickie didn't do it with the internet. Also unlike Ryder, Mickie would still get used more often than he would. As I have pointed out many times, if you analyze the pushes Mickie did get, however, you would see she was often just being used to put someone else over, being given a filler push because the person the WWE wanted to push was away, or not getting a storyline that would see a finish at all. In other words, the WWE still wasn't really interested in doing her any favors to be as over as she was, and yet she stayed that over. It is like Ryder's meaningless segments with Cena or winning on Superstars. That will not help his overness go to monster new levels. Back to Mickie, the WWE did not let that overness Mickie earned, or what potential she may have had to go to another level if pushed like either a Lita or Trish, change the fact that she was a credible jobber. In her final feud, her farewell feud, she put over Michelle McCool, a centerpiece, in a feud designed to get McCool the heat she could never get on her own. Mickie James then hit a spiked ceiling and was released. If she could turn into a meaningless jobber and accept the fact that she was never meant to be great, she may have been around to this day. She would have been one of the extras standing around during the huge diva tag last Monday and danced like a moron after.

Zack Ryder will probably not end like Mickie James in the WWE. As I just pointed out, it does not have to. It would be so easy to push this guy in some way on Raw without ruining the push of major guys. Even one good segment on Raw this week would have been respectable. Nothing. Why should a jobber get something? I would like to see how the WWE reacts to the bad press this may bring. Will he get a short-term push just so the WWE can sell the idea that they care about the fans? Yeah, and he'll be back on Superstars and Twitter a week after it all ends. Internet Champ! WWWYKI!