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1: Zack Ryder, 2011-2012
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A top AEW star just called one of his colleagues 'spoiled' and 'narcissistic' HERE.
Ryder was never meant to be a star. The company treated Ryder as a joke for years, never allowing him to connect with the fans or develop a character. So he did it himself. Ryder created his own YouTube channel and series that was not affiliated with the WWE. He called it Z! True Long Island Story, even crowning himself the Internet Champion.
His natural connection with fans and the charisma shown in these YouTube clips skyrocketed Ryder’s popularity, and an example of this popularity is when fans at Survivor Series 2011 even chanted “We Want Ryder” during THE ROCK’S PROMO. Yes, they chanted for someone that hadn’t been on TV in months while The Great One was talking, and it got to the point where the WWE couldn’t ignore it any longer. All of Ryder’s merchandise had sold out despite him not even appearing on TV, and so, giving the fans what they want, Ryder was placed in a feud with Dolph Ziggler for the U.S Title, and captured the championship at TLC 2011.
Then, 2012 happened. After doing so well to get himself over without WWE creative’s help, WWE creative managed to force him back down to jobber status. Placing him in one of the worst booked angles in recent times, Ryder saw his crush, Eve, kiss his ‘friend’ John Cena. Stemming from this ‘friendship’ with John Cena (which was really a way of deflecting boos away from the Cenation Leader), Kane began to attack Ryder. A lot.
Over, and over, and over in fact, with Ryder gaining no measure of revenge and failing to retain his U.S. Title due to injuries at the hands of you guessed it, Kane. Losing at Over the Limit to Kane, Ryder fell back to the bottom of the card. One of the worst ways WWE have ever handled a superstar with a TON of momentum, and a testament to how bad WWE Creative can be when they don’t want someone to be a star. All of this was more or less repeated earlier this year, but I’ll save that for another time…
