WWE Vengeance 2011: Zack Ryder's Burial Shines Light on WWE's Biggest Problem

Zack Ryder had a golden opportunity to become a real WWE superstar at Vengeance, where he was matched against Dolph Ziggler in a battle for the United States championship. However, in typical fashion, he was made to look like a dork and will continue to stay at the bottom of the barrel.

Ryder has become one of the most entertaining characters in WWE in recent months. He has been given his own t-shirt—which is selling quite well—and the Z! True Long Island Story is a must-see for wrestling fans each week.

All of this has come at a time when WWE needs to create stars. Ryder might not be the most technically sound worker, or great at cutting a promo, but he is fun to watch. Likewise, the audience has responded to him like few other wrestlers in the company.

But Ziggler, who had just lost a tag team match minutes earlier, was put over Ryder clean. Ryder took a superkick to the face and was down for the count.

Vince McMahon continues to make decisions that boggle the mind. Ryder is an employee of WWE. He works for McMahon and is actually making money for the company but, because the boss doesn’t understand why Ryder is so popular with the fans, he has to knock him down whenever he can.

What kind of business sense does that make? They have a guy who is selling merchandise, but because the powers that be don’t “get him,” he has to be brought down a peg or two.

Ryder deserves a lot better than he is getting from WWE, and the burials continued on Raw when he was jumped by Miz and R-Truth after acting like a dork all show long—so don’t expect his fortune to turn around any time soon.

However you might feel about Ryder is irrelevant. The fact that he has that certain “it” factor the people gravitate towards should not work against him. But, sadly, in today’s WWE it takes more than an audience reaction and some t-shirt sales to get over. 

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