Zack Ryder's Gonna Be Just Fine, Folks

They cared enough to tape his ribs, that counts for more than losing.
Photo Credit: WWE.com

The reaction on Twitter to Zack Ryder losing the United States Championship last night would have made it sound like the guy was given the Shelton-Benjamin-as-Yoshi-Tatsu's-first-opponent treatment and then given no attention before or after the decision. (Aside, remember when Yoshi Tatsu was a thing instead of just some dude with awesome face paint wasted on dark matches? I miss those days.) Let's forget the fact that he got a chance to cut a valiant babyface promo beforehand, had a built-in excuse as to why he lost, fought tooth and nail despite his obvious injury, was the victim of his boss withholding information AND had one of the three biggest stars in the company go to bat for him afterwards. Nope, he was buried. BURIED I SAY.

Many fans on the Internet have this tendency to overreact to things that happen even if there's evidence that WWE has faith in a guy. While that faith is bungled or acted upon at a glacial pace most of the time (if not all the time, I'm not a WWE apologist and as I've noted before, their booking can suuuuuuck), they do move on guys. Look at Daniel Bryan or even Miz. They suffered hard times, and now they're in WWE's long term plans, or at least they seem like it.

The truth is, Ryder got attention last night. Was it all positive? No, Ryder went through hardships, but if no one went through hardships, then would the stories be worth telling? I covered this on Fair to Flair today, but it's worth reiterating. To experience daylight, guys have to go through darkness. For how "buried" he was, he sure seemed like a vital cog in one of the top two stories on RAW. While the United States Championship probably shouldn't have been a prop in the whole ordeal (and that's a separate issue altogether), there's no question that Ryder, the character, is important here.

So again, I call for a moratorium on using the word buried to use when talking about every day speed bumps. The follow-up is going to be important here, but I feel like Ryder is going to be fine.