10 Wrestlers Who Suffered For Being Too Good

3. Zack Ryder

Zack Ryder
WWE

Was Zack Ryder too good in-ring for his own good? Not particularly. Was he too good on the mic for his own good? Again, not particularly.

The reason for Ryder's inclusion here, then, is down to his own creativity being too good for his own good.

Fed up of creative having nothing for him, the Long Island Iced Z decided to start up his own YouTube story in the shape of Z! True Long Island Story. Within a matter of weeks, this online series became absolutely must-watch for any and all wrestling fans. Taking shots at his current WWE situation, Ryder's hugely entertaining approach to this show well and truly made the real-life Matt Cardona standout from the pack in a major way.

While Z! True Long Island Story was absolutely genius, it ended up coming to bite Ryder on his backside. Like anything that gets even the slightest of buzz about it, WWE soon opted to take ownership of Z! True Long Island Story - which quickly took a huge amount of the lustre away from the YouTube series.

Ryder may have had a cup of coffee in the big time off the back of Z! True Long Island Story - being shoehorned into a rivalry involving John Cena, Eve Torres, and Kane - but the brilliance of the YouTube show was both the reason for its white-hot success and its ultimate downfall.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.