WWE star Zack Ryder made an appearance on the “Busted Open” satellite radio show this week where he discussed a variety of topics including 2012 being a rough year for him in WWE and making the decision to stop producing his popular YouTube show.
On 2012 being a rough year for him in WWE:
“2011 was the rise of Zack Ryder. I started my YouTube show out of just frustration. The beginning of the year I was a nobody, not even on TV. Through the course of the year from doing the show and being active on Twitter and on Facebook, and then ending the year as U.S. champion. I really thought 2012 was going to be my year and as you saw, it really wasn’t. Kane threw me off the stage and off loading docks. Eve kicked me in the bro-nuts at WrestleMania and from there I was just forgot about. I was losing all the time, barely doing anything on the shows. 2013 better be different. It can’t be worse than 2012.”
On deciding to stop producing his “Z! True Long Island Story” YouTube show:
“Well when I started it, I knew something had to be done. I hated my stock in the WWE. I was a nobody. I wasn’t on the shows. I didn’t even have an action figure. I didn’t have an 8×10 promotional photo. So as far the YouTube show, in February of 2011, my parents got me the flip camera for Christmas. I really didn’t know what to do with it. Maybe I will just start a YouTube show and it kind of took off. I did it for a hundred weeks straight. It should have ended after 50. After I became the U.S. champion, WWE came to me and said “we want to move this to our YouTube channel.” I was really hesitant to do it and I should have said no. That was the end of the Z! True Long Island Story in my opinion right there when I made that switch to the WWE YouTube channel at around episode 51. The fans just assumed I sold out, when I was still doing all the work and putting it on their channel and they instantly turned on it. Then WWE was editing it and taking things out., even though they said they weren’t going to touch it. Then it just became a job and not fun. For the most part the last 50 were horrible, but the first 50 changed the business. Now Raw is all about social media and Tout, and Facebook, and Twitter. They weren’t like that before Z! True Long Island Story.”
Source: Prowrestling.net