WWE News: Is CM Punk Partly Responsible for Zack Ryder's Big Push?

You may have noticed that the WWE has been pushing several new superstars as of late, with Zack Ryder being one of those young guns who’s getting his chance in the spotlight. 

Ryder started off 2011 as a relative afterthought, but has slowly risen up the card over the last few months to become one of the WWE’s most important performers. 

Ryder deserves a lot of credit, but he also owes a big thanks to a top WWE star who has helped him get to his current spot in the company.

And it’s not who you might think it is. 

From PWInsider.com (via WrestleZone.com): 

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While many are under the belief that Zack Ryder's push has come from officials being impressed by his ability to create such a following courtesy of his YouTube show, PWInsider.com reports that CM Punk is the main reason for Ryder's career moving to the next level. Punk has gone to WWE management several times saying they need to get behind Ryder. 

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Hmmm. That’s pretty interesting. 

I thought one of the WWE’s biggest stars was helping push Ryder toward the top of the card—but I wasn’t talking about Punk. I was, of course, thinking it was John Cena who was behind Ryder’s rise. 

It’s long been known that Cena is a supporter of Ryder—given their interactions on WWE TV and the way that Cena pushes his Twitter followers to follow Ryder. Thus, I thought for sure that it was “The Champ” who had gone to WWE officials and told them to give “Long Island Iced Z” the push he deserved. 

Nonetheless, it appears as if Punk is just as big of a Ryder fan—if not a bigger one—than Cena and has helped Ryder get to the highest point of his WWE career. 

It really shows what can happen when you have the support of the right people in the WWE. Ryder has obviously benefited from the support of both Cena and Punk. But I don’t want to take anything away from Ryder. 

Even though both Cena and Punk have played big roles in getting Ryder to his current position as an upper mid-carder, I think it’s safe to say that Ryder has done his fair share of work along the way. He has promoted himself through Twitter and YouTube, and he’s improved as a wrestler, a talker and a performer in 2011. 

Ryder is where he’s at right now for many reasons, but it's his talent—not the help of Cena and Punk—that's the main one.