WWE: Does Zack Ryder's U.S. Title Loss Mean They've Given Up on Him?

One thing is for sure: Zack Ryder has had a crazy time of it over the past year.

With his uproariously funny, self-made YouTube show Z! True Long Island Story, he won himself a ton of supporters (including top star John Cena), rescued his struggling WWE career from the lower-card doldrums and garnered himself a decent push on the Raw brand, even winning the United States Championship from long-running enemy Dolph Ziggler at the TLC pay-per-view last December.

Alas, it couldn't last, and just as soon as Ryder had managed to snag himself a regular spot on WWE television, the erratic and often counter-productive booking started, and he found himself acting as the whipping boy to Kane in the latter's feud with John Cena. Notably, he lost his United States Championship to Jack Swagger on Raw three weeks ago, which was explained as mainly being due to his litany of injuries from a Kane beating the week before.

Even after his devastating loss, he was subjected to even more violence from “The Big Red Machine” and has now been temporarily written out of the storylines for a while due to a herniated disc in his back, purportedly from one of Kane's attacks. Rumour has it Ryder is off filming a movie, hence while he's off TV.

Over the last month, Ryder fans have decried their man's shoddy treatment at the hands of the booking team, and even wondered whether WWE have given up on the breakout star.

Certainly, Ryder's extremely poor track record when it comes to drawing viewers could have not have helped his case with ratings-obsessed WWE brass. And if we are looking for the main reason for his demotion, this may be it.

While the charismatic, witty Ryder is a cult sensation and hugely over with a certain section of fans who absolutely adore his wacky personality and his sense of humour, this has not translated over to the casual audience, most of whom have never seen his YouTube show and are probably wondering who this lower-card jabroni hanging around with Cena all the time is.

However, while his struggle to get over with the larger audiences may impede any potential main event career, it doesn't look like WWE have completely given up on the Internet star.

For one thing, they've bought the rights to highly-viewed Z! True Long Island Story for their new and improved YouTube channel and are now broadcasting it weekly. That the show was a priority for the company and they were keen to acquire it is a good sign that they still see potential in Ryder and think they can use his talents in the future.

Another thing to consider is the upcoming Ryder/Swagger feud over the United States Title. Swagger and Ryder have taken numerous digs at each other on Twitter and Youtube and a program between the two seems likely when Ryder does return from his injuries. Considering the athletic talents of both men, their in-ring matches would surely be good and worth watching, and the two could churn out a highly entertaining mid-card feud.

It would also help revive Swagger's floundering career. While Swagger may have won the United States Title, he gained little credit for that, as most of the credit for the win went to Kane and his destruction of Ryder the week earlier. Swagger has also been stuck on Superstars in recent weeks and barely appeared on Raw despite his status as champion. He desperately needs a high-profile feud to raise his status in the company, and Ryder could provide him with that.

Summarily, upon his return to the red brand, Ryder will have to work incredibly hard to recover from his treatment in the atrocious Kane program, and the booking team (who was responsible for most of that damage) will have to aid him. Personally, we think a storyline with Swagger, and gaining back his United States Title, may be just what is needed to get his career right back on track.