Zack Ryder - I'm a mark... woo woo woo!

There are few truly awesome wrestlers on the WWE roster: Danielson is up there, Morrison is getting there, Taker, Triple H, Alberto Del Rio... but none of these guys have entertained me nearly as much as Zack Ryder.

Judging by the way he is represented in WWE, we see him maybe once every couple of months doing some backstage skit, if we are lucky (only if we are lucky), we get to see him job to the likes of the Great Khali, it is easy to dismiss Ryder as a jobber, undercard at best... not so.

Check out his Youtube channel LongIslandIcedZ, it is brilliant. If the WWE are interested in entertainment, then, gosh darn it, this guy needs more exposure. Ask yourself this: what would I rather see: Randy Orton delivering a slow monotone promo about hurting someone, or watch Zack Ryder beat the Rock with his wrestling figures? (It's the second one, dummy).

The fact is that Zack Ryder is developing a strong fan base because he is making an effort to connect with the fans - much to the chagrin of the WWE it seems. He keeps in character, he's entertaining, he even keeps Kayfabe... but he's still on Superstars (a show which gets less viewers than his Youtube channel). There're a lot of wrestlers who use social media to destroy their images as performers (Matt Hardy and Hulk Hogan come to mind), but Ryder has taken the initiative and bolstered his gimmick.

I heard recently that at a recent taping of Raw in the UK, a fan had a 'Ryder = Ratings' sign confiscated by security. A guy gets over on his own, his shirts sell on wweshop.com almost immediately, but instead of capitalising on this unforseen success, WWE seem to have attitude of: 'we didn't put you over, so you are not over'. Maybe it harks back to the criticism of Danielson and Lo-Ki in that they are both seen as 'internet stars', meaning that if you have worked your ass off in the indies, wrestled in Japan and Mexico, you are somehow inferior to a model/bodybuilder who has spent six months in development in FCW.

I hope that Zack gets a bit of push, wins a few matches on Raw, gets a little bit more TV time, because he's certainly doing positive things for the company. I can see him in TNA in a bad tag team with Robbie E within six months though :( - don't let this happen WWE!