WWE: Power Ranking Zack Ryder Against WWE's Assistant GMs

While it was known by many all week long, last night saw the debut of SmackDown's new Assistant General Manager, Zack Ryder.

It isn't exactly the push that his fans were hoping for, but there are hardly any complaints. While many would have preferred a push within the ring, pulling Ryder to the backstage and giving him authority is still a good thing.

For one, it gives Ryder a chance to show off his mic skills that have brought a following from his YouTube channel. It also gives him some time on television, something that has been rare to see for Ryder in 2011.

Ryder is not the first superstar to be made into an assistant general manager. In fact, since the general managers were put in place just over nine years ago, there have been a handful of familiar faces to once be given the label of assistant GM.

7) Chief Morley

Known to most as Val Venis, Sean Morley appeared on WWE programming again in November 2002 as Chief Morley, the Chief of Staff to Eric Bischoff on RAW. Morley would accompany Bischoff backstage for about six months. Morley ditched his Val Venis gimmick at that time and was upset at any mentions to it. Morley would set some matches and even put himself in a few. He gave himself and Lance Storm the World Tag Team Championships, which they defended on Sunday Night Heat right before WrestleMania XIX. Morley and Storm would lose the belts right after, holding them for just a week.

6) Johnny Nitro

Johnny Nitro was the assistant to Eric Bischoff. His name of Johnny Nitro came after a few other names first. It eventually settled on Nitro after the old Monday night show that Bischoff ran. For three months in 2004, Nitro would accompany Bischoff during his announcements and backstage segments. Nitro would eventually be sent to OVW for repackaging to a part of MNM, but not before losing a match to Eugene with the loser getting fired.

5) Zack Ryder

Riley has only been an authority figure for one episode of Smackdown, but has already done pretty well. He helped keep Mark Henry at bay by giving him an opponent, even if the shrimpy got squashed. Ryder was appointed by Triple H to be Teddy Long's right hand man. With his charisma and popularity, Ryder's move to Smackdown is well worth it.

4) Michael Cole

While not an official Assistant GM, Michael Cole has acted as the Official Spokesman since the anonymous RAW GM storyline began in June 2010. The e-mails don't come as often as they used to, but it definitely helped Cole get over as a heel and made Cole the person to take the frustrations out on. Rarely have others acted as the spokesman besides Cole, but that is because Cole is the only one who can say "And I quote..." and get the best reaction from it.

3) Jonathan Coachman

Jonathan Coachman was appointed an Executive Assistant on a few occasions from 2006 through 2008. The Coach drew a couple of enemies and even got to wrestle a few times. Coach even appeared in a Royal Rumble match. Coachman was there to take the brunt of blame when things went awry. After these stints, Coachman left the spot to join ESPN as an anchor.

2) Tiffany

The lovely Tiffany comes in at number two on this list for her great job under Teddy Long in ECW. She learned from a great general manager who made a lot of pushes for New Superstar Initiatives. Tiffany kept those thoughts going along when she became GM of ECW in June 2009 after the shift in general managers had Teddy Long going back to Smackdown.

Her mic skills were okay at best and her theme music was a little suggestive of a nymphomaniac, but Tiffany was a fair and great authority figure. It was a little odd to see her pushed back into matches after ECW went off the air.

1) Vickie Guerrero

Vickie Guerrero commands an audience, whether she has a microphone or not. She is one of the best authority figures in the era of general managers. Only her and Stephanie McMahon can lay claim to being a general manager of both RAW and Smackdown. While Stephanie knew the people to make her GM off the bat, Vickie began as an assistant GM to Teddy Long on Smackdown. After being GM, she was hired back as a consultant to Smackdown before being with Dolph Ziggler on RAW in the present day.