Welcome to Review Fix’s newest segment, “Who Deserves a Push,†where every month, we pick one in-ring competitor from the professional wrestling world, whom we feel deserves a shot at superstardom.
This month, it’s the WWE’s Zack Ryder, who in spite of a huge following on Youtube and Twitter, hasn’t been able to crack the WWE lower-midcard.
Here’s what Ryder has that separates him from the pack.
Charisma: He’s proven all by his lonesome, without the support of the WWE, that he can be significant in one way or another and attract fans. Sure, it’s in the virtual world, but that counts for something, right? When fans think of Ryder, they think of a guy who is funny and can entertain- and that’s only if you’re new to wrestling or a younger’ fan. Older fans that remember his stint in ECW know that he is a more than capable singles performer, a talented tag wrestler and someone who can be so much more than the side-act the WWE currently has him as.
In-Ring Ability: Having The Miz as WWE champion proved that a smaller guy with charisma could hold the belt for a decent amount of time and not do much wrestling. However, while Ryder isn’t huge, he’s bigger than Miz and is arguably a better athlete. His inverted-DDT is a solid finisher, but if he went back to his inverted overdrive, “Zack-Attack†maneuver and threw in a snazzy set-up hold into his moveset, he’d be flashier and garner more attention. Regardless of that though, his matches are entertaining.
Can easily be put in the running for the United States Title: He matches up well with someone like Kofi Kingston, a top contender for the title and a super babyface, who, like Ryder, isn’t huge. If these two shared a ring, Ryder would have a big canvas to paint on as a cool heel and Kingston would get over beating on him. Could you imagine the two of them in an angle? Ryder’s mouth alone would make it fun, but athletically, it would be rock solid and be a great opening to a pay per view.
Has a Cult Following: How many WWE Superstars have you ever seen that are rarely ever on television with as many signs as Ryder in the crowd?
None.
For that reason alone, he deserves some TV time to see if he’s a fad or someone that can truly captivate.
If that all wasn’t enough for you, the bottom line is that the WWE needs new stars. John Cena isn’t going to be around forever and if Edge’s retirement wasn’t a wake-up call that new stars need to start being developed right now, then the WWE has lost the creative magic that has kept them pop culturally-relevant for 35 years.
Rather than continue to push the same matches over and over, Ryder should be the first hungry lion that gets a nice slab of superstar beef.
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