7 Observations From Attending WWE Raw Live In Missouri
4. Don't Sleep On Ryder
If WrestleMania 32 proved anything, it was that the crowd was not done with their lovefest for the ultimate underdog, Zack Ryder. Zack has been through the ringer over the past few years in the WWE, and for whatever reason, creative decided to give him a fleeting, everlasting moment of eternal greatness by capturing the WWE Intercontinental Championship in the Ladder Match to open the show, if only for 24 hours. A loss to the Miz and a forgotten rematch that ended in interference antics on Smackdown relegated Ryder back to NXT in his tag team with Mojo Rawley.
With a terrific interview by Michael Cole for WWE.com, Ryder made the Internet once again fall in love with him. Gone was the goofy, outdated Jersey Shore gimmick, and what we saw underneath it was a man who wanted nothing more than his dream to come true. He had been mistreated and overlooked for so long by the company that when something finally positive happened to him, we as fans didn’t realize just how badly we needed to see it happen.
This momentum continued on WWE RAW, as Zack Ryder found himself as defenseless prey in a sea of sharks. The former League of Nations ganged up on the poor guy before eventually betraying one another, with Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio getting eliminated at the hands of Rusev. Before we knew it, it was one-on-one between the Bulgarian Brute and our timeless runt, and the crowd started to go ballistic. Of course, Zack Ryder wound up heartbroken on the outside of the ring shortly thereafter, but every time he is put into these situations, he reminds those backstage that the crowd still does care when he loses, which equates to more airtime.