Maybe I'm partial because I too am a Long Island bro! I wasn't always a fan, though! Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins debuted as the Major Brothers in WWE's ECW brand ten years ago. They were a mediocre tag team and didn't really have characters. They were just kind of there. You could tell there was potential but something was missing. Later that year, they were drafted to the Smackdown brand. They didn't have an impressive win/loss record and didn't do much of the note throughout the rest of the year. 
They started to get noticed when they were repackaged as Edge clones. They interfered in Edge's match with Batista and the Undertaker at Armageddon. The confusion of their appearance and resemblance to Edge gave the Rated R Superstar the advantage to win the World Heavyweight Championship. They were renamed Edge-Heads and were a part of Edge and Vickie Guerrero's "La Familia" stable. They saw some success due to the change by having a reign as Smackdown Tag Team Champions.
In 2009, they were separated by the draft. Ryder was drafted to ECW once again and started to develop his own character. He was a loud mouth from Long Island. I didn't really like or understand this gimmick at first and thought it was a joke. He called everyone bro and had a nonsensical catchphrase: Woo woo woo! You know it! They gave him a moderate push and was the man to retire Tommy Dreamer from the company. He gained a valet in Rosa Mendes but just floundered again for another year or two, participating in forgotten storylines or even not used at all.
Things started to change for Ryder in 2011. After being underutilized for a long time, Ryder took matters into his own hands. He developed his own YouTube show called Z! True Long Island Story. Here's where I started to take notice and became a fan! I became a fan for two reasons. One reason was his show was weirdly entertaining and two, he took the initiative to get himself noticed and get a push because he wasn't given the correct platform to succeed. He got himself over and his fanbase grew. It grew big enough to gain an actual push. His show was hilarious! You'd see several appearances by John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler, Trent Barretta, Ryder's own father, and a friend named "The Big O." He would make a shout out to his "broski of the week" and even created his own Title belt, the Internet Championship. To close out each show, he would say the following: "Like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, and take care, spike your hair. Woo woo woo, you know it!"
Things were looking up. He was put into a program with United States Champion at the time, Dolph Ziggler. The audience was swerved at the Survivor Series when Ziggler's challenger ended up being John Morrison instead of Ryder. It worked out because Ryder finally got his chance at TLC against Ziggler for the US Title. Ryder's father was in the front row to watch the match. After a fantastic match, Ryder was able to make his dreams come true as he became the new WWF United States Champion. He had an emotional celebration with his proud father at ringside and the fans went crazy. He was on top of the world!
Soon after, it all fell apart! He held the title for barely a few weeks before losing it to Jack Swagger. He was never given a rematch. Things really took a turn when he was put into two programs that made him look like a jackass. First, he was destroyed by Kane and ended up in a wheelchair. At the same time, he was put into what looked like a love story with Eve Torres at first. Enter John Cena, and Ryder was basically portrayed as a cuckold. Kane then pushed Ryder, while in the wheelchair, off the stage. He didn't get another push for quite some time after that.
This is what upset me. For one, when Ryder looked on as Torres kissed Cena, he was devastated. He worked things out with her but it was clear she was playing him. He also got absolutely no offense in on Kane. We all saw his push completely stopped at WrestleMania. Ryder was representing Teddy Long's team in a match against John Laurinaitis' team. Torres distracted Ryder, causing him to lose the match, followed by a low blow. My main problem is they gave him the belt for not even a month. Again, I wasn't expecting him to be a World Champion, but would it have been so terrible to let him keep a mid-card title for at least a few months? He should have been able to have one or two successful title defenses before dropping it and becoming an afterthought once again. On the positive side, he was finally given merchandise and it was a big seller.
I just knew it was too good to be true! The next night on Raw, Ryder defended his newly won championship against The Miz. Ryder's dad was at ringside cheering him on. Suddenly, The Miz's wife Maryse returned to confront Ryder's father. The Miz took advantage of the distraction to secure another run with the Intercontinental Championship. I was pissed! It wasn't because I still hated the Miz, and was few months shy of loving the Miz. It was because it was a one day title reign! For the most part, I absolutely despise short title reigns! What was the point of Ryder even winning the title? I would have at least given him two or three months as champion. After that, I knew that Ryder was never going to be used well again!
Ryder then continued to team with Mojo Rawley as the Hype Bros, on and off. During Ryder's brief IC title program, Mojo was injured. Earlier this year, Ryder was injured and Mojo received a slight singles push by winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal thanks to NFL pal Gronk! When Ryder returned from injury, the Hype Bros reformed, only to start a losing streak after failing to win the Smackdown Tag Team Titles. Dissension started between the two men. Seeds were planted for Ryder to turn heel, but the fans were shocked when Mojo turned on his partner. After this feud dies down, it's likely Ryder will fade into the low card once again.I've made peace with the way Ryder will be booked for the remainder of his WWE contract. That's not what this is about. My complaint is mainly that he could have been given a better chance several times. He was a big merchandise seller and I think they missed the boat on selling replicas of his Internet Championship. If his two mid-card title runs were just a bit longer, I might not have complained as much. Again, Ryder was never meant to be as big as John Cena or have multiple World title reigns, and I never expected such. I just felt there were times he was shortchanged. At the end of the day, when he wasn't being used, he at least got paid well and got free meals in catering. Ultimately, when it comes to his pushes; woo woo woo, they blew it!
If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments. Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans. Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport. For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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