8 Ups And 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (May 9th)
4. Owens KOs Ryder
It might seem odd to list a Zack Ryder thrashing as a positive, but you have to consider where Ryder was two months ago. Long Island Iced Z wasnt even on Raw, unless it was as part of the background, or if someone needed to get beaten up in the ring.
But since WrestleMania, Ryder has won (and lost) the Intercontinental Championship and come close to winning a #1 contenders battle royal for the United States Championship. Zack got a little time to chat with Shane McMahon about wanting to be a player in WWE, and battled Kevin Owens for a spot in the IC title fatal fourway.
Even though KO knocked him off, Ryder hung in there for a while, getting a lot more out of that match than he typically would. At the same time (hence the items title), Owens needed to win convincingly, and he did. Ryder, however wasnt just a sacrificial lamb, and his match was given real stakes, giving fans a reason to care about him and the bout, even if the outcome was never really in doubt.