10 Insane Things WWE Stopped Wrestlers From Doing
5. Saturating Z! True Long Island Story
With his career stagnating, Zack Ryder made himself one of the hottest names in the business with his Z! True Long Island Story show.
Taking to YouTube, Ryder brilliantly showcased his creativity as he put together a weekly offering that was entertaining, funny and often poked fun at himself and some of his fellow colleagues. At the time, True Long Island Story was utterly revolutionary, with fans eagerly awaiting the arrival of each new episode.
Despite the Long Island Loudmouth barely being featured on WWE TV at this time in 2011, his merchandise sold out at WWE Shop and "We want Ryder!" chants filled the arenas of shows he wasn't even on.
By January 2012, during Z! True Long Island Story's 50th episode, Ryder announced that the series would be moving to WWE's YouTube channel. And with that, it was the beginning of the end for this once must-see show.
The move to the WWE channel could've been absolutely fine, but the problem was the real-life Matt Cardona was creatively shutdown on so many fronts. As Cardona detailed to Chris Van Vliet, he would now have his Z! True Long Island Story episodes returned to him by unhappy WWE staff, and plenty of what he'd submitted would be edited out of the final product.
It was great while it lasted, but WWE killed Z! True Long Island Story by stopping Matt Cardona from doing what made the series work so well.
Remember, just take care. Spike your hair.