Despite the odd push (if you really want to call them that) here and there, Zack Ryder has largely been ignored within WWE since he made himself a star with his YouTube series. While things were looking good for the former Intercontinental Champion for a while, he soon found himself getting buried and it's clear that the company doesn't even have much faith in him as a mid-card competitor.
During a recent interview, Ryder was asked about being buried by WWE and reveals that he wishes he had gone to Vince McMahon and asked why they stopped using him after his hot streak in 2011.
"I don’t like living with regrets; but, one of my biggest regrets was not going to Vince McMahon personally at this time and kind of asking what the deal is; but, now I can only speculate. I don’t know if it was, ‘Let’s just use this guy and shut people up,’ or ‘Let’s see what he’s got.’ I don’t know and I can’t speculate. I wish I would have found out for myself and that’s on me. They did start to use me and I started the year as nothing….I ended the year as United States Champion, so 2011 was a hell of a year for me and then it all started kinda going down hill."
Ryder's failed push is something of a mystery and it could just boil down to the notoriously picky McMahon deciding that he didn't like Ryder as a top star. Now, it's become clear that Ryder will never be someone who gets back to where he once was and it's honestly surprising that he doesn't follow Cody Rhodes' example by leaving WWE and doing his own thing on the independent wrestling scene.