Zack ryder

**Matthew Brett Cardona** (born May 14, 1985), better known by his ring name **Zack Ryder**, is an American professional wrestler and singer, currently signed to WWE. Cardona wrestled mostly with his tag team partner Brian Myers/Curt Hawkins on the independent circuit and initially in WWE, where they won the WWE Tag Team Championship. After the team split in 2009, Cardona was featured sparingly on WWE television. In 2011, Cardona began using various social networking websites in order to establish a niche fan following, helping him elevate his status in WWE while also capturing the United States Championship. *Hoe*

## Professional wrestling career

### New York Wrestling Connection (2004–2006)

Main article: Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder

Cardona debuted with New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) in 2004,
using the name Brett Matthews. By 2005 he began regularly teaming with
Bryan Myers and the duo of Myers and Matthews
 went on to defeat the NYWC Tag Team Champions Dickie Rodz and Mason
Raige by disqualification, for which titles do not change hands.[6] At the next event on June 4 they won a rematch decisively to become Tag Team Champions.[7]
 Later that month they were attacked by The Dead Presidents (Lo Lincoln
and Boog Washington) to set up a feud where they eventually lost their
titles against them in July.[6] on August 27.[7]
 On September 23 they were entered into a three way match with the
champions but Team Tremendous (Dan Barry and Ken Scampi) ended up with
the belts.[6]
 After continuing to win matches they re-earned a match against Team
Tremendous and won the titles for the second time on January 25, 2006.
They held the titles until they faced the B.S. Xpress (Tony Burma &
Mike Spinelli), who defeated them for the titles on March 26.[7]

### World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE

#### Developmental territories (2005–2007)

Zack Ryder (left) and Curt Hawkins in 2009.

Main articles: La Familia and Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder

Cardona's first WWE appearance was on April 21, 2005 on *SmackDown* where he, performing as a jobber, took on Matt Morgan.[8] On February 24, 2006, Matthew Cardona signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.[1] In Deep South Wrestling in Georgia, he was renamed Brett Majors while Myers was renamed Bryan Majors. By October they won the DSW Tag Team Championship from The Untouchables (Dice Domino and Deuce Shade) and held them until the end of November, losing them to Urban Assault (Eric Pérez and Sonny Siaki). After the titles were vacated in the following year, they became two-time champions defeating the new team of Siaki and Afa, Jr (The Samoan Swat Team) and the Blue Bloods (William Regal and Dave Taylor).[9] Later in 2007 they moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship once, reigning from June 15 to 29.[10]

#### La Familia and WWE Tag Team Champion (2007–2009)

Main articles: La Familia and Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder

The team was moved from the developmental league to the main roster
in May 2007, changing their last names from Majors to Major. They worked
 on WWE's ECW brand, winning only their first match[11][12][13] until they were drafted to SmackDown! in June.[14] On November 9 they won a battle royal to receive a WWE Tag Team Championship match, but didn't win.[15]

Ryder (left) posing with Edge and Hawkins.

At Armageddon, the duo dressed up like Edge and interfered in the World Heavyweight Championship match, replacing Edge at several points along the match to help him win the title and thus turning heel for the first time in their WWE career.[16] On December 21, the Major Brothers were revealed as an acquaintance to Edge and his lover, *SmackDown* General Manager Vickie Guerrero. The Major Brothers were repackaged and renamed, with Cardona being renamed Zack Ryder.[17] Occasionally referred to as the Rated-R Entourage by commentators Michael Cole and John "Bradshaw" Layfield, the group allied with Guerrero's nephew, Chavo Guerrero and his enforcer Bam Neely as the group La Familia, which dominated SmackDown's storyline through 2008. Ryder and Hawkins interfered in Edge's match at WrestleMania XXIV against The Undertaker, but Undertaker eventually won the match.

At The Great American Bash on July 20 Curt Hawkins (the former Bryan Major) and Ryder won the WWE Tag Team Championship from John Morrison and The Miz in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse and Festus and Finlay and Hornswoggle after Hawkins pinned Jesse.[18][19] Their victory meant that they were the youngest team to hold the championships.[20] By SummerSlam in August,[21] La Familia had begun to fracture and Ryder, with Hawkins, went back to appearing on their own.[22][23] On the September 26 airing of *SmackDown*, Hawkins and Ryder lost the titles to The Colóns (Carlito and Primo) in their first televised title defense.[24] On April 15, 2009 Ryder was drafted back to the ECW brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft, separating the team.[25]

#### The Long Island Loudmouth (2009–2011)

"It was way before The Jersey Shore. I was with Curt Hawkins as the
Edge Heads—a long haired blonde kid. And I needed a change. I needed
something different. So I just took my real personality, turned the
volume way up, cut the hair, went to all the clubs on Long Island, like
GLO, and fist pumped with all my broskies until I finally found who I
really was, and portrayed it to the world, throwing up the ‘LI’ hand
signal."

Ryder on his new character after he stopped teaming with Hawkins.[26]

Ryder made his return to ECW on May 5, 2009 in a backstage segment with General Manager Tiffany.
 He now sported short hair, tanned skin, sunglasses, a headband,
half-trunks/half-tights, displaying something of an arrogant Long Island
 guido character and more frequent uses of catchphrases "woo woo woo" and "you know it", that he had used sparingly in the tag team.[27][28] He lost to Finlay in his first singles match, on the May 7 *Superstars.*[29] His first win was on the May 19 *ECW on Sci Fi* over a jobber.[28] On September 15, Ryder won a 10-man battle royal to earn contendership to the ECW Championship[30] but lost to the champion, Christian, the following week.[31] On the November 3 episode of *ECW*, Ryder entered a love angle with Rosa Mendes who became his valet.[32] He also feuded with Tommy Dreamer, culminating in a match on December 29 where Ryder won to force Dreamer to leave the company.[33]

Ryder with his signature pose

When the ECW brand came to an end in February 2010, Ryder and Mendes
moved to the Raw brand, making his debut on the February 25 episode of *Superstars*, defeating Primo. Ryder made his *Raw* debut on March 1, losing to Montel Vontavious Porter in a Money in the Bank qualifying match.[34] He participated in an untelevised 26-man battle royal at WrestleMania XXVI, being the last person eliminated by the winner Yoshi Tatsu. Mendes was drafted to SmackDown as part of the 2010 Supplemental Draft without Ryder,[35] so Ryder sought a new valet, trying to impress Alicia Fox and Gail Kim while they watched his matches at ringside. During a match with Evan Bourne on the May 10 episode of *Raw*, Fox attempted to interfere on Ryder's behalf but was stopped by Kim, leading to Bourne winning the match.[36] The two new pairings faced off in a mixed tag team match on the May 17 episode of *Raw*, which Ryder and Fox lost.[37] Ryder had a return win over Bourne on May 27's *Superstars*.[38] The next week on *Raw*, Fox attacked Ryder with an axe kick after Raw guest host Ashton Kutcher put a bounty on Ryder's head.[39] During the June 7 Viewer's Choice episode of *Raw*, Ryder was voted to team with the Miz, defeating John Morrison and R-Truth.[40] The next week, Ryder had a title shot in a Fatal Four Way match for the WWE United States Championship but lost.[41] Months later, in August, he was given a WWE Championship match against Sheamus

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that lasted 11 seconds, which was the second-shortest WWE Championship

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match in WWE history, in an attempt by Sheamus to circumvent the
company's 30 day championship defence policy.[42]

During this time, Ryder became a mentor on the second season of *WWE NXT* to Titus O'Neil. They debuted in a losing effort against John Morrison and Eli Cottonwood;[43] O'Neil was the first rookie eliminated from the second season, on June 29.[44] On the July 27 episode of NXT, Ryder lost against Percy Watson, making him the first mentor of season 2 to lose to a rookie in a singles match.[45] For the remainder of the year and well into 2011, Ryder mostly became used on the non-branded *Superstars* show, occasionally teaming with Primo. Ryder won a 2010 Slammy Award for Most Annoying Catchphrase in December.[46]

#### The Ryder Revolution (2011–2012)

Ryder with his Internet Championship.

As a result of being underutilised on television, Ryder became
dissatisfied with his place in WWE and he started a YouTube web series[47] called *Z! True Long Island Story* in February 2011[48] to promote his character.[49] The web series soon earned Ryder a dedicated fan following: his T-shirts sold out despite not appearing on TV[49] and by June, "We Want Ryder" chants were started by the audiences of *Raw* and the Capitol Punishment pay-per-view without Ryder appearing on the show.[50][51]

The web show's popularity led to Ryder having a rise in status,
making more appearances on television. Between April and June, Ryder
appeared during *Raw* more often, often in backstage segments with John Cena.[52][53] On June 6 Ryder had his first match on *Raw* in 2011, losing to Kofi Kingston.[54] On the June 16 episode of *Superstars* in front of his hometown of Long Island his status as a face wrestler was confirmed when he defeated his former tag team partner Primo.[55] On the July 29 episode of *Smackdown*, Ryder was appointed as the assistant to Smackdown General Manager Theodore Long, allowing him to make TV appearances on both *Raw* and *SmackDown*.[56] On the September 19 episode of *Raw*, Ryder won a non-title match against United States Champion Dolph Ziggler with the help of guest star Hugh Jackman who punched Ziggler mid-match.[57] Following his victory over Ziggler, Ryder received a match for the United States Championship the following week and again at Vengeance but both unsuccessful due to interference from Jack Swagger.[58][59] Ryder main-evented *Raw* for the first time on November 7, teaming with John Cena in a losing effort against The Miz and R-Truth.[60]
 Ryder then lost a match to Cena and a chance for a title shot, but Cena
 surrendered his WWE Championship match so Ryder could have a second
chance. This second chance was a No Disqualification match with World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry, which Ryder won with interference from Cena.[61] This won Ryder a United States Championship match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, which he won over Dolph Ziggler his first ever singles title.[62] Shortly after, Ryder left his position as assistant to the SmackDown General Manager due to his championship commitments.[63]

#### Return to lower-tier status (2012–present)

Strong fan support for Ryder as he prepares to face The Miz in April 2012

Going into 2012, Ryder started trying to romance Eve as part of a romantic storyline.[64] As Cena's friend, Ryder also became a target of Kane, who was feuding with Cena at the time and attacked Ryder on several occasions. On the January 16 episode of *Raw*, Ryder lost his United States Championship to Jack Swagger due to a rib injury he suffered at the hands of Kane;[65] Ryder never received a title re-match despite being ex-champion.[66] Ryder's injuries mounted after he was chokeslammed through the *Raw* stage[67] and Tombstoned at the Royal Rumble.[68] On the February 13 episode of *Raw*,

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a wheelchair-bound Ryder saw Eve kiss Cena, after Cena saved her from a
kidnapping by Kane. After a confrontation with Cena, Kane wheeled Ryder
off the stage, injuring him even further.[69] While Ryder was out injured, Eve sparked a heel turn for her character when she revealed that she had never liked Ryder and had disingenuously used him for fame and publicity.[70] Ryder returned on the March 5 episode of *Raw*, confronting Eve on her recent actions, but she managed to seduce him.[71] Ryder then joined Theodore Long's team for a match to determine the General Manager of Raw and SmackDown at WrestleMania XXVIII.
During the match, Eve distracted Ryder, costing him and Team Teddy the

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match, and she added further insult to injury by giving Ryder a low blow

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after the match.[72]

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 After wrestling sporadically, Ryder failed to gain revenge on Kane for
Kane's attacks on him earlier in 2012 when Kane easily defeated Ryder in
 the pre-show match of the Over the Limit.[73] Ryder finally took revenge on Kane by last eliminating him and winning the 20-man battle royal on the special "Great American Bash" July 3 episode of *SmackDown* to become the acting SmackDown (or "ZackDown", as he called it) GM the next week.[74][75]

"He almost immediately lost his U.S. Title, was never afforded the
opportunity to further develop his persona, was entrenched in a terrible
 feud with Kane and John Cena, and was the fall guy in his first
WrestleMania match. Since then, he's become a jobber yet again... With a
 stale gimmick and no attention from Creative, Zack Ryder's 15 seconds
of fame are apparently up."

*Pro Wrestling Torch* analyst Benjamin Tucker on Ryder in 2012[76]

At the Night of Champions
 pre-show on September 16, Ryder won a 16-man battle royal to become
number one contender for the United States Championship. However, later
on in the pay-per-view, he failed to capture the title from defending
champion Antonio Cesaro.[77] During the debut episode of *WWE Main Event* on October 3, Ryder and Santino Marella were entered into a tournament to decide the number one contender to the tag team titles, where they defeated Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd to advance to the semi-finals.[78] The following week on *Raw*, the duo (eventually known as Team Co-Bro) was eliminated from the tournament after losing to Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow).[79][80] As 2012 drew to a close, Ryder commented that 2012 "sucked".[81] Ryder was ranked by *Pro Wrestling Torch*
 analyst Benjamin Tucker as No. 1 in the "Top 10 Crashing Stars of
2012". Tucker noted that Ryder was once again a jobber despite getting
himself over in 2011.[76]

Ryder in 2014

In 2013, Ryder most commonly appeared on *Superstars* and lost all his singles matches on *Raw* and *SmackDown*.[82] Ryder entered the 2013 Royal Rumble match (his only PPV match for the year) and was eliminated with no eliminations after two minutes.[83]
 After weeks of the roster's emasculation at the hands of authority
figure Triple H, Ryder and several other babyfaces finally saved Daniel Bryan from a beatdown by the Shield and Randy Orton on the September 16 *Raw*.[84] In response, Triple H arranged for Ryder and Justin Gabriel to face Luke Harper and Erick Rowan of the Wyatt Family on the next *SmackDown*, where Ryder's team lost.[85] On the next *Raw*, Bryan, Ryder and the other babyfaces faced the Shield in an 11-on-3 handicap elimination match; Ryder was eliminated by Roman Reigns, but his team eventually won the match.[86]

"... it really kind of broke the spirit of the locker room. For
years, we were told ... that there's a brass ring ... and it's there for
 the taking if you work hard enough and get yourself over. And [Ryder]
... defied the odds and actually does it, and all the boys are rooting
for him ... He got over without the office, without TV time ... And then
 they did just crush it and take it all away from him ... It's like,
you're not going to get pushed unless they pick you to get pushed, and
that's kind of it."

Ryder's former tag partner Curt Hawkins in a 2014 interview[87]

In January 2014, the *Professional Wrestling Torch Newsletter* released a ranking of WWE's roster; Ryder was ranked as a lower-tier babyface and the third lowest babyface on the roster.[88] Ryder was also unsuccessful in winning three battle royals: the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX,[89] a battle royal for the United States Championship in May and a battle royal for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Battleground.[90][91] On the July 21 episode of *Raw*, Ryder picked up his first singles victory on *Raw* since December 2012,[82] but it was only after Layla interfered against Ryder's opponent, Fandango.[92]

In November, Ryder announced that he had torn his rotator cuff.[93] John Cena gave a storyline explanation that a comment on Twitter led to the Authority punishing Ryder.[94] Ryder returned on January 25, 2015 at the Royal Rumble in the Rumble match at #9 but was quickly eliminated by Bray Wyatt.[95] Afterward he lent his support to fellow social media breakout Curtis Axel[96] who hadn't been eliminated. Although returning he was not 100%.

## Personal life

In an interview with WWE Magazine, Cardona revealed that he had suffered from and overcame cancer while in high school, but had to miss a year of school battling the disease.

## Other media

Ryder started a YouTube web series called *Z! True Long Island Story*
 in February 2011, which has amassed over 12 million views to date. The
web series is a collection of short comments from Ryder, containing
comedic allusions to wrestling and pop culture; it also features cameos
from his friends and family, as well as fellow WWE colleagues.[97] The show's theme song *Just Take Care, Spike Your Hair* was written specifically about Ryder by The Luke & Duane Show. In April 2011, Ryder proclaimed himself WWE Internet Champion[98] complete with a children's replica belt covered in stickers, as it was unsanctioned by WWE.[99] In July 2011, Ryder defended his Internet Championship at a house show in Australia, against Primo.[100] He later said on *Z! True Long Island Story*
 that it was a non-title match, and that he would never defend his
Internet Championship. On a later episode, Dolph Ziggler challenged
Ryder to an Internet title match at WrestleMania 29, and Ryder accepted.[101]
 Ryder soon replaced the toy belt with a $1,500 custom-made belt. The
belt's centre plate features an engraved illustration of Ryder's head
while the side plates display his logo and those of YouTube, Twitter and
 Facebook.[102]

On episode 50 of *Z! True Long Island Story*, Ryder announced the show will be part of WWE's YouTube funded channel.[103] *Z! True Long Island Story*
 ended on January 11, 2013 which was the show's 100th episode. The show
was "ended" by Dolph Ziggler, who attacked Ryder with his MITB
briefcase, setting up a dream sequence
 featuring cameos from people who had previously appeared on the show
while Ryder climbed a staircase to "heaven". When Ryder woke up, he
thought that the Ryder Revolution was all a dream until being told by
his family and friends that it all happened.[104]
 Overall, the series ran 50 episodes on Zack Ryder's YouTube channel and
 50 episodes on WWE's official YouTube channel. Ryder later said that he
 regretted allowing WWE to move his show to their YouTube channel, and
that WWE had removed content from his videos.[105] Ryder teased restarting *Z! True Long Island Story* in both April and May 2013, but the show ultimately did not return.[106][107] On March 10, 2014, Ryder uploaded the first episode of his new series, *Zack Ryder's Last ReZort*,

```
to his own YouTube channel. In this video, Ryder (sans his traditional

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glasses and headband) expressed his frustration regarding his dramatic
plunge to the bottom of the roster, proclaiming his desire to have
"lightning strike twice" and work his way back up the cards.[108] In October 2014, Ryder and Dolph Ziggler "took over" an episode of WWE's YouTube series, *The JBL (Not Cole) Show* for its 99th episode, making it in turn the 101st episode of Ryder's show, *Z! True Long Island Story*.[109]

Ryder has over 1,300,000 followers on Twitter,[110] over 600,000 Facebook "likes",[111] and over 120,000 YouTube subscribers.[112] This led him to be featured in *Sports Illustrated'*s list of the 100 most influential social media users in sports.[113]
 Ryder became the fourth WWE performer to reach 1 million followers on
Twitter on January 14, 2013, minutes after the conclusion of the 20th
Anniversary episode of *Raw*

On January 16, 2013, Ryder released a music video entitled "Hoeski".[114] The song amassed over 100,000 views in 4 days and was also posted on WWE's official YouTube channel.[115] "Hoeski" peaked on No. 92 at the iTunes Pop Music chart on February 5, 2013.[116]

Ryder has appeared in several WWE video games, including *WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009*, *WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2011*, *WWE '12*, *WWE '13*, *WWE 2K14*. Despite never being used on television, Ryder's Internet Championship belt can be defended in *WWE '13*, *WWE 2K14* and, ironically, while Ryder wasn't in WWE 2k15, the belt appears in the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of *WWE 2K15*. IDue to copyright issues, it is missing the stickers of the social networking sites, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.[*citation needed*]

Ryder has also appeared on Travel Channel's *Toy Hunter* documentary.[117]

## In wrestling

Ryder delivering the *Broski Boot* to Conor O'Brian.

Ryder counters an oncoming Miz with a double high knee.

* **Finishing moves**
	+ Lifting inverted DDT[118] – 2008
	+ *Rough Ryder*[119] (Jumping leg lariat)[120][121] – 2010–present
	+ *Zack Attack*[122][123] (Inverted overdrive)[122][124] – 2009–2010
* **Signature moves**
	+ *Broski Boot*[125] (Running facewash, with theatrics)[121][126]
	+ Corner elbow smash[127][128]
	+ Double high knee from out of the corner, as a counter to an oncoming opponent[121][129][130]
	+ Dropkick,[131][132][133] sometimes from the top rope[121][134][135]
	+ Facebuster[121][136][137]
	+ Flapjack[121][138][139]
	+ Flying forearm smash[138][140]
	+ Leg drop, with theatrics[128][138]
	+ Multiple neckbreaker variations
		- Hangman's[141][142]
		- Standing[121]
		- Swinging[143][144]
	+ Plancha,[145][146] sometimes while performing a somersault[147]

* **With Curt Hawkins**
	+ **Double team finishing moves**
		- Double lifting DDT[148] – 2008
		- *Heat Stroke*[3] (NYWC) / *Long Island Express*[3] (DSW / OVW) (Samoan drop / Diving neckbreaker combination)
		- STO / Russian legsweep combination[149]
	+ **Double team signature moves**
		- Double hip toss, sometimes preceded by a double leapfrog or transitioned into a backbreaker[149]
		- Double spear[150] – 2008

* **Managers**
	+ Rosa Mendes[151]
	+ Alicia Fox[37]
	+ Eve Torres[64]
	+ Hornswoggle[152]

* **Nicknames**
	+ **"Long Island Iced-Z"**[153]
	+ **"The Internet Sensation"**[154]
	+ "The Long Island Loudmouth"[155]
	+ **"The (Ultimate) Broski"**[156][157]
	+ **"The Woo Woo Woo Kid"**[158]

* **Entrance themes**
	+ "What I Want" by Daughtry[3] (DSW/OVW; used while teaming with Brian Majors)
	+ "In the Middle of it Now" by Disciple[159] (WWE; used while teaming with Curt Hawkins)
	+ **"Radio"** by Watt White[160] (WWE; May 2009–present)

## Championships and accomplishments

* **Deep South Wrestling**
	+ DSW Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Bryan Majors[9]
* **New York Wrestling Connection**
	+ NYWC Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Bryan Myers[2][7]
* **Ohio Valley Wrestling**
	+ OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bryan Majors[161]
* **Pro Wrestling Illustrated**
	+ PWI ranked Ryder No. **70** of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2012[162]
* **World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE**
	+ WWE United States Championship (1 time)[163]
	+ WWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Curt Hawkins[164]
	+ Slammy Awards (three times)
		- Most Annoying Catchphrase (2010) Woo Woo Woo You Know It[165]
		- Trending Superstar of the Year (2011)[166]
		- Superstar Transformation of the Year (2011)[166]

*ski*, his first music single, peaked on No. 92 at the iTunes Pop Music chart in February 2013.