WWE: Is Zack Ryder a Trendsetter or Did He Just Steal Matt Hardy's Blueprint?

Hear me out before you get all up in arms, Ryder fans.

I want to preface this article by saying that I am not a hardcore fan of either. This is just something I have observed and wanted to share.

Over the past year, Zack Ryder went from jobber to star, and no one can take that away from him. Ultimately, he worked his tail off to get recognition from fans and the WWE. Ryder saw what appeared to be an untapped market in social media, and he utilized it to get his name and brand out there. This allowed him to stay relevant and bring in some buzz.

Since his turn-around, fellow WWE stars have attempted to strike the same magic, but have failed.

Now, I just mentioned the words "untapped market." Normally, that means no one has attempted to use it, and using it successfully means you're a ground-breaker.

Don't get me wrong, Twitter and You Tube were not foreign tools on the web, as thousands of careers have been launched just off of those platforms alone. But the WWE as a company stayed away from this platform and until recently did not know enough to benefit from it.

Although Ryder's bosses stayed away, he didn't, and he has reaped as much benefit as one can for talking the reigns.

However, Ryder wasn't the first wrestler to reach his fans via social media.

Matt Hardy really had the vision in 2009-2010 and started posting to his legions of fans. Granted, Hardy was well established by this point, but he still managed to garner some press off of his tweets and videos.

Initially, Hardy's vision gave fans some bonus material of the star's life in and outside of the ring. However, unlike Ryder, Hardy felt the need to continue to up the ante and seemingly became addicted to the hype.

This brings me to Ryder. I think it's safe to say that Ryder learned from Hardy's mistakes and came up with more unique ways to get noticed without harming himself or others. Ultimately, his ideas were original, and getting fellow wrestlers involved didn't hurt his cause.

Even though Hardy's route cost him two jobs from both of the biggest national wrestling companies, his ideals may have been the fuel behind Ryder's fire.

In the end, Ryder built his brand through social media, but it would be hard to argue that Matt Hardy didn't lay the blueprint for him to follow.

Now that you have heard my argument, it's your turn to weigh in. Did Hardy lay the foundation for Ryder? Or was Ryder's social media rise coincidental?