WWE: 7 Ways Zack Ryder Can Regain His Legitimacy

What the hell is going on with Zack Ryder?

If you can answer that question, you're a better man than me because, for the life of me, I can't figure out what the WWE is doing to him.

Six months ago, Ryder was rapidly climbing the ranks of the WWE. But today, he's nothing more than another guy.

That's not through his own doing (as far as we know), either. It's purely the fault of the creative team.

Some think that Ryder is screwed for good, and while I'm not overly optimistic about his chances of climbing back up to the top of the WWE anytime soon, I do think he can do it.

Here are seven ways that Zack Ryder can regain his legitimacy that the WWE has flushed down the toilet.

7. Use Him to Help the Revitalized Tag-Team Division

You know what's better than jobbing? Anything else.

Zack Ryder is really no better off now than he was a year ago, but the WWE's tag-team division, on the other hand, is.

There are actually makings of a reincarnated tag-team division, so if creative can't find any use for Ryder as a singles wrestler, then they might as well put him in a tag team.

Even though tag-team wrestling is on its way up, we all know that the tag division still needs a couple of more teams to legitimize it.

So, how about using Ryder to legitimize the tag-team division and, in turn, legitimize Ryder?

While Ryder's doing virtually nothing these days, we would at least be reminded that he's on the WWE roster if he were a member of a tag team.

He's got plenty of experience as a tag-team wrestler, and given how over he can be with the crowd, he's a perfect fit as the guy who gets the hot tag during his matches.

6. Make His Losing Streak Mean Something

I have no idea what Zack Ryder's record is in 2012 is, but I do know that it's not very good.

If I had to guess, I'd say that Ryder has probably lost five times as many matches as he's won, and it seems like he's been on a bit of a losing streak as of late.

If Ryder's going to have a losing-streak storyline, though, the WWE needs to have it lead somewhere.

For example, MVP's lengthy losing streak in 2008 led to a baby-face turn, while Daniel Bryan's losing streak in 2011 played into his Money in the Bank cash-in.

The problem with Ryder, however, is that we haven't seen his losing streak result in any substantial match or storyline.

He's losing just to lose, and unless the WWE is trying to turn him into a jobber, this booking makes no sense.

You don't book a guy to constantly lose unless it's going somewhere, and perhaps if Ryder's love of losing actually leads somewhere, it will make it all worthwhile.

5. Put Him on Raw Every Week and Give Him More TV Time

Zack Ryder has been left off of four straight Raws now—that's an easy way to forget about him.

I don't care if he appears on Superstars because that show's not even on TV.

If the WWE wants to make Ryder matter, then an easy and logical way to start doing that is by having him get a decent amount of TV time on every episode of Raw.

I'm not talking about a 30-second backstage segment or a two-minute match in which he jobs. I'm talking about substantial TV time that adds depth to his character.

If Ryder continues to show up on one Raw, then miss two Raws, come back for one Raw and then miss two Raws again, then his crowd support is going to continue to diminish, too.

The crowd reactions for Ryder are very tepid compared to what they were just six months ago, and that's largely because no one expects to even see him on TV anymore.

4. Following Through with the Storylines He Does Get

There have been a lot of booking problems with Zack Ryder as of late, but let's just look at the two major ones.

2. What the hell happened with the whole Ryder/Eve/Kane storyline?

Ryder and his relationship with Eve was at the center of Kane's feud with John Cena (even getting absolutely destroyed by Kane on multiple occasions), but there was virtually no follow up to this storyline.

Eve sort of just transitioned into her current role alongside John Laurinaitis, while Ryder never went after the man who storyline-wise almost ended his career.

Sorry, but booking Kane vs. Ryder in a pre-show Over the Limit match doesn't count. That match should have taken place at WrestleMania 28.

1. No United States Championship rematch?

During that feud, Kane injured Ryder so badly that he lost the United States title to Jack Swagger.

That happened about four months ago, but Ryder still hasn't gotten his rematch for the title. And guess what? He never will.

Here's an idea, creative: How about actually following through with the rare storylines that you do give Ryder?

3. Make Him a More Serious Character

I'm a Zack Ryder fan, but let's just be honest—the dude is a bit of a goofball.

His wackiness is what got himself over in the first place, but it's also been somewhat of a curse.

He plays the goofy, Jersey Shore-type guy so well that it's almost as if the creative team—and some fans—can't take him seriously enough to book him like anything but a jobber.

I personally think that Ryder can be funny and still be booked like an upper mid-carder, but creative apparently thinks he's too much of a comedy character to do that.

So, my idea is a simple one: Make Ryder a more serious character.

This doesn't have to mean that creative has to complete drop his Guido gimmick and/or stop him from being funny. It just means that he needs to be slightly less goofy and cut back on the comedy a bit.

If Ryder starts taking himself more seriously, then maybe the creative team and the fans he hasn't won over yet will, too.

2. Stop Jobbing Him out

The title says it all: Stop using Zack Ryder as a jobber.

I get that jobbers are necessary and that the WWE needs to use some guys to make other guys look good, but there are so many betters way to go about this.

Instead of jobbing out Ryder, how about bringing in some indy wrestler to job? What about using one of the 20 or 30 other lower-card workers on the WWE roster to job instead?

WWE fans actually care about Ryder, but they're not going to be complaining if Yoshi Tatsu, JTG or "fill in the blank" indy worker loses in a quick squash match.

Yet, for some reason, the creative team decides to use Ryder as a jobber against guys like Alberto Del Rio and Daniel Bryan rather than someone who couldn't possibly be hurt any more by doing the same thing.

Why? I just don't get it.

1. Give Him an Actual Feud and Storyline...and Have Him Win It

Remember the fall of 2011 when Zack Ryder spent roughly four months pursuing Dolph Ziggler and the United States Championship before finally beating Ziggler for the title at WWE TLC?

That was a really good mid-card storyline, one that helped Ryder get even more over than he already was and had a big payoff when he won the US title after spending a third of the year chasing it.

If the WWE wants Ryder to succeed at all, then they're going to have to start booking him in more storylines like that.

That angle with Ziggler told a really good story and gave Ryder an actual sense of direction, which is what any and all good story lines should do.

Creative needs to try to mimic this on a consistent basis by giving Ryder actual feuds and story lines and having him emerge from those better than he was before.

Ryder will not get over without a storyline or any real rivalry. Feuds and angle are the basis of pro wrestling, and without one, Ryder has nothing.

Drake Oz is the WWE Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions (to be answered in the B/R Mailbag) on Formspring.