Ryback On What Zack Ryder Failed To Do To Get Over In WWE

Zack Ryder was one of the dozens of WWE talent released recently due to business changes related to the pandemic. It ended his 15-year run with the company and Ryder said on Talk is Jericho that he felt some resentment from WWE for trying to get himself over on social media.

Ryder was pretty over in WWE from 2011-12 and was even involved in a storyline with John Cena. Ryback was with WWE at that time and he weighed in on Ryder's comments while speaking to Wrestling Inc. President Raj Giri on the Ryback TV Shooting Blanks Wrestling Report With Raj Giri.

"His problem is that he never stood up for himself. Standing up for yourself isn't going to make a difference when bookers have made their minds up but I promise you he didn't," said Ryback who then talked about Ryder creating a name for himself on his YouTube series only for WWE to shun what he accomplished.

"That's the system and it's hurt them. What happens is that you miss out on huge stars. That's how huge stars are made and they've taken that away to creating their own manufactured stars. They pay them a certain amount and it's all about control.

"He was really, really over for a period of time and they destroyed that. Then they took him off TV and he would be on and off. They raped him from every which way and my thing is that he never stood up for himself."

Ryback said Ryder is a nice guy and that may have hurt him backstage as he wasn't outspoken about his character. He added that Ryder should have approached wrestling as more of a business than just his dream.

"The bad thing about it is that it destroys your soul. You start questioning your own value and you see it with people. You use guys for a certain way for so long that if you finally tell them, 'Ok, go get over,' they don't even know how anymore because they've been destroyed," revealed Ryback. "Psychologically, it wears on you that that's what you are. That to me ? I'm not playing that game. I know what the f*** I am but I've seen it time and time again with a lot of people."

Ryback said that once he noticed that WWE was starting to play that game with him, he wasn't having it and went home on his own.

"It will be really cool to see ? if he goes to AEW ? to see how over he can get now. The potential is there. Once you get over once, you can do it again," said Ryback. "But is he hungry enough to get over again mentally?

"Rusev's another one. Bring him in and, man, that roster a year from now can be something really, really f***ing good."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Ryback TV Shooting Blanks Wrestling Report With Raj Giri with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.