Despite being one of the fan favorites in WWE, Zack Ryder was still released from his contract earlier this year. Speaking on the Keepin’ It 100 podcast with Disco Inferno and Konnan, Ryder talked about his release, and the idea that the company buried him.
When asked about whether or not he believes if Vince McMahon resented him for Ryder getting over on his own in 2011, Ryder didn’t place the blame on McMahon. “Do I think Vince resented it? Listen, did it go the way I wanted it to go, absolutely not, but here’s the thing. I could have easily knocked on his door and said, “Hey, Vince. What’s going on here? Why am I getting pushed off the stage in a wheelchair? Why am I getting chokeslammed through a stage?’,” he said (transcriptions via Cageside Seats). “But, I at the time was a couple of things: I was naive, I wasn’t mature enough, I wasn’t man enough to just knock on his door and ask. So, we’ll never know. So, it would be unfair to me to say he resented it or I was buried, because, you know what? If anyone buried anybody, it was me, because I could have asked. I could have at least asked and inquired.”
Ryder went on to discuss his role within WWE in 2011, when he was rising through the ranks as a surprise superstar. “So, I started the show in 2011, like I said, doing nothing on TV. By the end of 2011, that’s when I finally get on television and end up winning the US title. I think the crowd, the people, I have to thank them. They were just chanting my name at shows I wasn’t even at. It got to the point where I feel like they said, “Okay, we got to do something with this kid, because they wouldn’t shut up.” And then right after that, I win the title in December.”
The former WWE superstar ended things by saying he wishes he would have gone up to McMahon during 2011 to ask for more to do. “To piggyback off that, by the time I realized what was going on, I had not ground to stand on. What was I going say? I had nothing. At the time, hot YouTube show, top merch seller.”
Unfortunately for him, 2012 would be the time where Ryder began to see less and less big roles, and he would soon be relegated to more of a secondary character. While he seems to hold no ill will, Ryder will likely be looking for bigger opportunities going forward, wherever that may be.
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