Zack Ryder Talks Not Being Used On WWE RAW
During the 2018 Superstar Shake-up, Zack Ryder was drafted to Raw. That may come as a surprise to some, as Ryder is nowhere to be found and has yet to wrestle a match on Raw. His last match on WWE's flagship show was over two years ago and many are wondering what his future holds within the Raw brand.
Ryder joined Lilian Garcia's podcast in which he talked about not being used on Monday Night Raw.
"At the end of the day, like right now with Monday Night Raw, I am not being used," Ryder told Garcia. "Can I cry about it or can I be grateful and say that I am still here. I mean, you can go to a toy store and buy a Zack Ryder action figure today so my life can definitely be a lot worse.
"What am I going to do, sit around and be bitter? I hate when people do that. Like, poor me. Come on, we're here in WWE. Can things be better? Yes! But they can be so much worse. I am not a super positive person, but come on. You have to look at yourself in the mirror. Trust me, there have been times where I have been bitter, but what does it solve? Nothing."
Ryder had an immensely popular YouTube channel that was then moved to WWE's official YouTube page. Much of the content which made it so successful was then censored by WWE and as Ryder's social media popularity plummeted, so did his status in WWE.
"I was doing the YouTube show and it was at the peak of its popularity before it went to sh–," Ryder said. "That whole process where I basically had to hand over my YouTube show I saw my hard work literally go down the drain, and everything I did to earn my spot on television only to see it bump down lower and lower. I will admit, I was bitter. I was asking myself why all of this was happening. I had proven myself and I felt like i was being punished. I was definitely bitter for that."
He discussed what he would have done differently back then.
"I think I could have done a couple of things," admitted Ryder. "I don't really have any regrets, but three in particular with one of them being that time period I should have went and knocked on Vince McMahon's door and asked what was going on here but I didn't. Was I afraid or intimidated? Maybe, but I didn't do it, and that is one of my biggest regrets because I didn't have any ground to stand on. Since then we have built a relationship, but then when I was in my hottest point and was in the top three of merchandise selling at one point I should have went in there but I didn't, which is on me. It was nobody else's fault but mine.
"I could have been in better shape, a bit bitter. I was still kind of skinnier there; perhaps not by much but 10 lbs makes a big difference but back then I didn't know what I was doing. All that is on me. I am not blaming anyone else but myself."
If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia
Peter Bahi contributed to this article.