10 Ridiculous Wrestling Booking Decisions Nobody Can Explain
3. The Murder Of Zack Ryder
Poor Zack Ryder.
The guy is evidently a major fan of WWE; his adult bedroom resembles a childhood paradise writ large, and he "enjoys" a sort of Stockholm Syndrome relationship with company. He epitomises what Dolph Ziggler has referred to as the "Gratitude Era". Ryder isn't just happy to be there; he is absolutely thrilled.
This was probably his undoing, let's face it. For whatever reason - pure vindictiveness, sadly, is the likely root cause, especially armed with the knowledge of how WWE reacted to AJ Lee's celebratory tattoo - WWE enjoyed draining Zack Ryder of his momentum via exsanguination. He got over with the hardcore portion of the fanbase, even those who deemed Z! Long Island True Story a bit naff, purely because his enthusiasm was so infectious, his drive so admirable. A token United States Title win, at TLC 2011, felt like a real accomplishment to the fans - but, given what followed, it was probably a cruel rib; a tantalising taste of achievement spooned out purely to take it away.
There's a weird "missed opportunity" narrative surrounding Ryder, which isn't true. Had WWE pushed him to the main event level, there's every chance his exposed in-ring game would have eroded the feel-good factor - but, Christ almighty, what a devastating cautionary tale this was, for talent and fans alike.
Don't dream, don't get over if we don't want you to get over - because if you do, the Big Red Machine will come after you. And he'll push you off a stage while you're in a f*cking wheelchair, for f*ck's sake.