WWE TLC 2011 Predictions: Zack Ryder's Push Will Start Against vs. Dolph Ziggler

The WWE has no choice but to book Zack Ryder over Dolph Ziggler. The cries from the fans are just too obvious. 

How many other wrestlers in the history of the wrestling business would draw a chant while the Rock is on the mic? None. But when the Rock spoke to the live crowd after Survivor Series, the "We want Ryder" chants were so loud that even the Rock had to acknowledge them.

Of course, the biggest drawback to putting anyone over is that the loser of the match is going to take a hit, at least in theory. But that's not really the case here.

Ziggler doesn't need the U.S. Title to keep his name up. He's already one of the top names in the company. Losing the title isn't going to hurt him. 

Remember that the next WWE pay-per-view is the Royal Rumble. By default, Ziggler already has a guaranteed match there. The WWE can let his performance there base the direction they put him in as WrestleMania approaches. He doesn't need the U.S. Title for that.

But with Ryder, the title gives the WWE a nice chance to see something. How good can Ryder really be? How popular is he with the whole fan base?

We know he's popular with the IWC, but that's a small portion of the WWE's fan base. The video with the Rock would tend to indicate that the rest of the fans are on board. But remember, that was in New York. 

New York fans are notoriously smarky, and that's also not far from where Ryder grew up. Putting the U.S. Championship on Ryder gives the WWE a chance to test the rest of their fan base. It's the U.S. Title, not the WWE or Heavyweight Title, so a failure wouldn't be the end of the world. 

But at this point, Ryder is still a niche wrestler. A clean win over Ziggler and a run with an actual belt would go a long way in changing that. 

And if Ryder really is just an Internet darling who doesn't appeal to the mainstream fans, this is an excellent way of finding that out. If he's more, then the U.S. Title is a great way to build him to something more. 

This is not a tricky decision. The WWE needs to not throw an unnecessary curveball.

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