Zack Ryder Opens Up About Early Battle W/ Cancer, Tough Times In WWE, & Biggest Regret W/ Vince McMahon

On Being 100% DIY On YouTube:

Miz and Morrison had their own video series prior or like Santino Marella and while they did get involved with creative, at the end of the day WWE did it. They put it together. They filmed it. They edited everything, right? This was all me and I’m not this tech savvy guy, believe it or not. So, I was teaching myself how to edit on IMovie, even how to upload it was impossible at first. I just knew I had to create some kind of content to show everyone my voice because if I wasn’t on TV, how would they know what my personality is? How would they know what my character is, all that B.S.? I needed to create – not only a creative outlet for my mind, but for me to get out there, a promotional tool. That’s what it was. It snowballed in ways I could have hoped for; but, never really imagined.

On His YouTube Videos Being Shut Down:

A number of times my YouTube videos were shut down for using WWE footage. Guys, I’m like, ‘I’m in WWE.’ I had to contact WWE, like, ‘I’m in WWE. Can you put my video back up?’

On The Long Island Iced Z Character:

I knew once we split up [Ryder & Hawkins] this was my chance to be as different as possible. If you stood me next to Zack Ryder the Edge Head, I didn’t want to look anything like him, so I cut my hair. I started wearing one-legged tights, as ridiculous as possible, sunglasses or headbands. Really what it was, was I was trying to be a version of myself that I would hate. Like, if you were to close your eyes and think of someone from Long Island – this was before all this Jersey Shore stuff. When people are like, ‘You are a Jersey Shore ripoff,’ it makes me so mad because this was before. I tried to be everything that I would hate. I’d pop my collar up and wear obnoxious colors. The woo woo woo was something I’d say with my friends out at the bar, if a hot girl walked by like, ‘Woo woo woo.’ We thought it was funny; but, it was also annoying, so it became my catch phrase in wrestling and eventually became something people were chanting at Madison Square Garden.

On Biggest Regret With Vince McMahon:

I don’t like living with regrets; but, one of my biggest regrets was not going to Vince McMahon personally at this time and kind of asking what the deal is; but, now I can only speculate. I don’t know if it was, ‘Let’s just use this guy and shut people up,’ or ‘Let’s see what he’s got.’ I don’t know and I can’t speculate. I wish I would have found out for myself and that’s on me. They did start to use me and I started the year as nothing….I ended the year as United States Champion, so 2011 was a hell of a year for me and then it all started kinda going down hill.

On Tough Times In WWE Before Winning The WrestleMania 32 Ladder Match:

When I saw everything slipping away from me and all my hard work getting flushed down the toilet, it was heartbreaking on so many levels. Again, that’s the time where I wish I would have manned up, knocked on Vince’s door and asked him what was going on; but, I didn’t, so we’ll never know. That is on me. I accept full responsibility of what happened to me. It sucked and I was very bitter at the time. Looking back on it with a different perspective, I should have taken control. I should have gone to Vince directly and asked what was going on, so I knew and maybe I could have done something about it; but, to see all that hard work literally disappear, it sucked. It really did…..almost 12 years I’ve had on the roster. I’ve had the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows; but, of course, the end goal is for me to be WWE Champion. I want to be that Grand Slam Champion.

On How The WrestleMania 32 Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match Came About:

I heard these rumblings that Vince saw me wrestle on Main Event or Superstars, not even RAW, the matches they tape before and he said something like, ‘Why aren’t we doing anything with this guy?’ I was like, ‘Vince said that about me? Wow, that’s awesome. Maybe something will happen. Who knows?’ I heard that I was on this list to be in the Ladder Match that year. I was like, ‘What? How am I gonna be in this? That doesn’t make any sense.’ A couple weeks later, I was taken off the list. To met it was kinda cool that I was even being considered considering that the past few years I had been doing absolutely nothing. It sucks to say; but, Neville was supposed to be in that ladder match, but he got injured. On Monday Night RAW, he got injured. He broke his leg or his ankle or something. He was out, so the next day I found Road Dogg and I just pleaded my case to him and said, ‘If anyone deserves to be in this match, it’s me.’ I don’t remember everything I said; but, apparently one of the things I said was, ‘I never heard my music play at WrestleMania.’ That was just a throw away line that just popped in my head. I wasn’t planning to say that. Later on he pulled me aside and said, ‘What you said about your music really got to me.’ I don’t know who talked to who, but long story short, I’m in the match.

Ryder also talks about his backyard wrestling career, his times with Edge as an Edge Head, and what it was like working with Mojo Rawley in the Hype Bros. Readers interested in listening to Prime Time with Sean Mooney in its entirety may do so below:

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