Zack Ryder's Top 4 Battle Royal Wins

Zack Ryder wins battle royals. That's what he said on his most recent edition of Z! True Long Island Story, and it turned out to be prophetic as he would win again in the Night of Champions preshow, continuing his winning streak, earning a spot on the pay-per-view and finally getting his rematch for the United States Championship.

In honor of that, let's take a quick look back at his previous wins and rank them all.

Ranking is based on a combination of opposition, eliminations made, the stakes of the match and the ensuing results.

No. 4: SmackDown Nov 9, 2007: No. 1 Contenders for the Tag Team Championships

 

The Moment

SmackDown, November 9, 2007

 

 

The Stakes

No. 1 Contendership for the Tag Team Championships (held by MVP and Matt Hardy)

 

 

The Opposition

Deuce 'n Domino, Dave Taylor and Drew McIntyre, Shannon Moore and Jimmy Wang Yang, Jesse and Festus

 

 

The Eliminations

Deuce 'n Domino

Dave Taylor & Drew McIntyre*

 

 

The Results

Ryder and Hawkins (wrestling as Brett and Brian Major) faced MVP and Matt Hardy later that night and lost.

 

 

The Legacy

While they failed to capitalize on the win with championship gold that night, the pair would join with Edge in La Familia the following year, and also win the tag team titles once, becoming the youngest (combined) pair to do so. Both men are still on the roster today.

 

 

The Ranking

 

The opposition was not that stiff, including one pair of recent champions in Deuce 'n Domino. Shannon Moore's biggest accomplishment was being Matt Hardy's underling. McIntyre would become "the Chosen One" two years later, and eventually become an Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion. At the same time, Jesse and Festus would return as Slam Master J and Luke Gallows for a short time before their releases. The longest continually signed wrestler of the eight was Jimmy Wang Yang, who never made much of an impact.

The stakes were fairly high, especially for a young duo, but success would elude them for several more months, and would only come after aligning themselves with Edge.

The two were overlooked for most of the match before struggling their way to a pair of eliminations, culminating with Ryder pulling the rope down for a charging Deuce 'n Domino.

Plus Ryder has to share this win with Hawkins, and while it was a 10-man battle royal, only five men were thrown over the top rope. (Only one partner needed to be eliminated to eliminate each team.)

It started it all for Ryder, but this is his least momentous battle royal win.

*I'm pretty sure this elimination was by partner Curt Hawkins

No. 3: ECW Sept 15, 2009: No. 1 Contender for the ECW Championship

 

The Moment

ECW, September 15, 2009

 

 

The Stakes

No. 1 Contendership for the ECW Championship (held by Christian)

 

 

The Opposition

 

Sheamus, Ezekiel Jackson, Vladimir Kozlov, Shelton Benjamin, Tommy Dreamer, Goldust, Yoshi Tatsu, Tyler Reks, Paul Burchill.

 

 

The Eliminations

 

Goldust

Tommy Dreamer

 

 

The Results

 

Ryder would fail to defeat Christian for the ECW Championship the following week.

 

 

The Legacy

 

Ryder never won the ECW title, and the show would end in favor of NXT. He would, however, defeat Dreamer in a match that retired the ECW original.

 

 

The Ranking

 

Sporting a new look and a new attitude, and breaking out as a singles performer that year, the competition was pretty solid, as it amounted to practically the entire ECW roster at the time. Goldust and Dreamer were in the tail ends of their careers but well respected. Kozlov and Jackson were being sold as major threats. Benjamin was well respected. And while Sheamus was newly arrived, he would capture the WWE Championship three short months later.

Also a step up from the previous match, Ryder managed to eliminate someone before the final competitor.

Taken together, it all helped sell Ryder as at least a credible underdog threat as a singles wrestler.

No. 2: 2012 Great American Bash: 20-Man Battle Royal for Interim GM of SmackDown

 

The Moment

SmackDown, Great American Bash, July 3, 2012

 

 

The Stakes

 

Appointment as Interim SmackDown General Manager for one night.

 

 

The Opposition

 

CM Punk, John Cena, The Big Show, Kane, Alberto Del Rio, Daniel Bryan, Tensai, Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, Kofi Kingston, Brodus Clay, Santino Marella, Christian, The Great Khali, Jack Swagger, Damien Sandow, Ezekiel Jackson, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater

 

 

The Eliminations

 

Kane

 

 

The Results

 

Ryder hosted SmackDown the following week, doing nothing much of note.

 

 

The Legacy

 

Ryder continued to struggle to find wins, or even matches on TV. But he'll always be a former Interim General Manager of SmackDown.

 

 

The Ranking

 

This could have been No. 1, and really should be, based on the value of the prize, the fact that he actually lived it (as opposed to failing to earn any of the titles he received shots for), the greater number of competitors, and the higher overall talent level inside the ring.

Every major star available was tapped, and the bottom of the barrel was for once not scraped to pull together a complete 20-man battle royal. Winning this match was a huge achievement and a true long shot.

Unfortunately, it falls just short due to the fact that Ryder didn't eliminate any extra competitors, and squandered his prize.

No. 1: 2012 Night of Champions Pre-Show: No. 1 Contender for the US Championship

 

The Moment

Night of Champions (Pre-Show), September 16, 2012

 

 

The Stakes

 

No. 1 Contender status for the United States Championship

 

 

The Opposition

 

Primo and Epico, Titus O'Neil and Darren Young, Tyson Kidd, Justin Gabriel, Brodus Clay, Santino Marella, Tensai, Jinder Mahal, Drew McIntyre, Ted DiBiase, Heath Slater, Michael McGillicutty, JTG.

 

 

The Eliminations

 

Drew McIntyre

Titus O'Neil

Darren Young (Shared with Tensai)

Tensai

 

 

The Results

Ryder went on to face Antonio Cesaro for his United States Championship but lost.

 

 

The Legacy

Ryder finally got his U.S. title rematch, and his gold-less position is now finally legitimate. Combined with his recent RAW win streak, hopefully this close loss on a PPV will be a sign of better things to come.

 

 

The Ranking

The competition here is solid but not stellar, featuring fifteen of the company's mid-carders and side acts. Notably, Santino and Epico and Primo had recent runs with titles, the Prime Time Players had their chance at the Tag Team Titles and Tensai, Brodus Clay, and, to a lesser extent, Jinder Mahal have had their moments in the past few months. Notably absent in what was an odd 16-man battle royal were the Usos, considering the appearance of all the other tag teams.

Ryder had already held the United States Championship, having taken it from a bigger star than Cesaro in Dolph Ziggler, and he failed to reclaim it, which hurts this match's standing.

However, that's more than made up for in Ryder's three and a half eliminations and the bigger stage it set in offering a spot on a major PPV as opposed to an episode of ECW or SmackDown.

Final Thoughts

So, somewhat disappointingly, each of Zack Ryder's battle royal wins was bigger than the last.

For a guy who has struggled to maintain his position on television, will this growing run of battle royal wins lead to anything?

Could Ryder gain a reputation as a slippery, crafty or even lucky competitor who does his best work amidst the chaos and confusion of mass combat?

Could this storyline play out leading up to the Royal Rumble, and could it again bring him up against Kane, whose own affinity for such matches is well documented?

Could Ryder be the first true underdog to win the Rumble, and what kind of title match could he enter into at WrestleMania, only to get blown up in short order?

Could he demand to defend his Internet Championship?

Probably not to all the above.

But more importantly:

Is it battle royal or battle royale?

And what does that have to do with cheese and the metric system?