10 Gimmicks WWE Cancelled For Being TOO SUCCESSFUL

4. ‘Long Island Iced Z’ Zack Ryder

Rusev Day Vince McMahon
Matt Cardona

"Someone who succeeded in spite of the WWE machine".

There's nobody that statement rings true for more than one Zack Ryder. Matt Cardona was working as a lowly-broski on episodes of Superstars and ECW when he cleverly got ahead of the curve by using YouTube as his main platform. That was borderline revolutionary stuff back in 2011.

Ryder's 'Z! True Long Island Story' show brilliantly cast him as an everyman who had always dreamed of becoming a WWE star. His self-deprecating humour endeared him to viewers, and it wasn't long before booming chants of, "We Want Ryder" were ringing out at episodes of Raw and SmackDown.

WWE resisted this for a while before acknowledging Zacky's popularity, sticking him in segments with John Cena and then giving him a run as United States Champ. None of it lasted long, and it became crystal clear that Vince McMahon just wanted those pesky chants to go away.

The alignment with Cena, and a terrible on-screen relationship with Eve Torres, WWE-ified someone who had shown stunning initiative.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.