Zack Ryder

Ryder's first WWE appearance was on April 21, 2005 on *SmackDown!*, where he took on Matt Morgan.

Ryder officially debuted in May 2007 alongside his tag team partner Curt Hawkins, going under the names of **Brett Major** and Brian Major, the Major Brothers. They worked on WWE's ECW brand, winning only their first match until they were drafted to SmackDown! in June. On November 9, they won a battle royal to receive a WWE Tag Team Championship match, but didn't win.

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. 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 Brett being renamed **Zack Ryder**. 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 Brian 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. Their victory meant that they were the youngest team to hold the championships. By SummerSlam in August, La Familia had begun to fracture and Ryder, with Hawkins, went back to appearing on their own. 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. On April 15, 2009 Ryder was drafted back to the ECW brand as part of the 2009 supplemental draft, separating the team.

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. He lost to Finlay in his first singles match, on the May 7 *Superstars.* His first win was on the May 19 *ECW on Sci Fi* over a jobber. On September 15, Ryder won a 10-man battle royal to earn contendership to the ECW Championship but lost to the champion, Christian, the following week. On the November 3 episode of *ECW*, Ryder entered a love angle with Rosa Mendes who became his valet. He also feuded with Tommy Dreamer, culminating in a match on December 29 where Ryder won to force Dreamer to leave the company.

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. 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, 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. The two new pairings faced off in a mixed tag team match on the May 17 episode of *Raw*, which Ryder and Fox lost. Ryder had a return win over Bourne on May 27's *Superstars*. 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. During the June 7 Viewer's Choice episode of *Raw*, Ryder was voted to team with The Miz, defeating John Morrison and R-Truth. The next week, Ryder had a title shot in a fatal four-way match for the United States Championship, but lost. Months later, in August, he was given a WWE Championship match against Sheamus that lasted 11 seconds, which was the second-shortest WWE Championship match in WWE history, in an attempt by Sheamus to circumvent the company's 30 day championship defence policy.

During this time, Ryder became a mentor on the second season of *NXT* to Titus O'Neil. They debuted in a losing effort against John Morrison and Eli Cottonwood; O'Neil was the first rookie eliminated from the second season, on June 29. 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. 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.

As a result of being underutilised on television, Ryder became dissatisfied with his place in WWE and he started a YouTube web series called *Z! True Long Island Story* in February 2011 to promote his character. The web series soon earned Ryder a dedicated fan following: his T-shirts sold out despite not appearing on TV 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.

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. On June 6 Ryder had his first match on *Raw* in 2011, losing to Kofi Kingston. 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. 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*.

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. 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. 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. At Survivor Series later in November, with Ryder not wrestling on the card, there were multiple "We Want Ryder" chants, including during the U.S. title match and during The Rock's show-closing speech.

On the December 5 episode of *Raw*, Ryder lost a match to Cena and a chance for a WWE Championship shot, but Cena surrendered his WWE Championship match so Ryder could have a second chance, but for the U.S. title. This second chance was a no disqualification match against then World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry, which Ryder won with interference from Cena, thus earning him a United States Championship match at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, which Ryder won over Dolph Ziggler to capture his first ever singles title. Shortly after, Ryder left his position as assistant to the SmackDown General Manager due to his championship commitments.

Going into 2012, Ryder started trying to romance Eve as part of a romantic storyline. 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 kayfabe rib injury he suffered at the hands of Kane; Ryder never received an automatic title rematch despite being the former champion. Ryder's injuries mounted after he was chokeslammed through the *Raw* stage and tombstoned at the Royal Rumble. On the February 13 episode of *Raw*, 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. 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. Ryder returned on the March 5 episode of *Raw*, confronting Eve on her recent actions, but she managed to seduce him. 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 match, and she added further insult to injury by giving Ryder a low blow after the match. 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 Over the Limit. He won 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.

On 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.

During the debut episode of *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. 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).

In 2013, Ryder most commonly appeared on *Superstars* and lost all his singles matches on *Raw* and *SmackDown*. Ryder entered the 2013 Royal Rumble match (his only PPV match for the year) and was eliminated with no eliminations after two minutes. 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 beat-down by The Shield and Randy Orton on the September 16 *Raw*. 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. 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.

Ryder was also unsuccessful in winning three battle royals: the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX, a battle royal for the United States Championship in May and a battle royal for the Intercontinental Championship at Battleground. On the July 21 episode of *Raw*, Ryder picked up his first singles victory on *Raw* since December 2012, but it was only after Layla interfered against Ryder's opponent, Fandango. In November 2014, Ryder announced that he had torn his rotator cuff. John Cena gave a storyline explanation that a comment on Twitter led to The Authority punishing Ryder.

Ryder returned on January 25, 2015 at the Royal Rumble in the Rumble match at number nine and was quickly eliminated by Bray Wyatt. Ryder participated in the 2nd annual André the Giant Memorial battle royal at WrestleMania 31 which was won by Big Show. Ryder, being accompanied by the cast of *Entourage*, answered Cena's United States Championship open challenge on the May 25 episode of *Raw* in his hometown and in the final WWE event held in the Nassau Coliseum, but failed to win after a countered 450 Splash. On the June 4 episode of *SmackDown*, Ryder accepted Kevin Owens' open challenge for the NXT Championship, which he lost.

In June 2015, Zack Ryder began appearing in WWE's developmental system *NXT*, where he formed a tag team with *NXT*'s returning Mojo Rawley. After a month-long feud with the likes of The Mechanics (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) and Jason Jordan and Chad Gable, along with countless victories over the teams, The Hype Bros teamed up with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady to defeat The Mechanics, Jason Jordan and Chad Gable in an eight-man tag team match at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn. On the October 16 episode of *NXT*, The Hype Bros competed in a match for the NXT Tag Team Championship in a losing effort. On the October 22 episode of *NXT*, Ryder competed in a 26-man battle royal to determine the number one contender for the NXT Championship. Ryder was unsuccessful, although he was among the last few competitors in the match.

Meanwhile, on the main roster, Ryder continued wrestling on *Superstars* and *Main Event* from June 2015 to March 2016. He suffered singles losses to Bo Dallas, Rusev and The Miz, but managed to trade singles wins and losses with Adam Rose, Heath Slater, Stardust and Tyler Breeze.

On the March 21 episode of *Raw*, Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens set up a match between Ryder, Stardust and Sin Cara to determine the challenger for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 32, as Owens' rationale was that he wanted lower-tier wrestlers as his title contenders. During the match, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler and The Miz confronted Owens at ringside as he had denied them title opportunities. Owens then interfered in the match for a no contest result, and the seven men brawled. Afterwards, Stephanie McMahon decreed that the seven men would wrestle in a ladder match for the title at WrestleMania. On the March 24 episode of *SmackDown*, the seven men brawled again, with Ryder emerging as the last man standing. On the March 28 episode of *Raw*, Ryder defeated Chris Jericho (after interference from AJ Styles), but was attacked by Jericho post-match. At WrestleMania 32, the ladder match featured Ryder diving from on top of a ladder with an elbow drop onto the Miz. Later in the match, Ryder capitalized on Miz's premature celebrations to push him off the ladder and capture his first Intercontinental Championship. Post-match, Ryder's father joined Ryder in celebrating in the ring. He lost the title to The Miz the following night on *Raw*, after a distraction from Miz's wife Maryse as she attacked Ryder's father. Three days later on *SmackDown*, Ryder received a rematch, where Maryse helped Miz to retain.

On the May 2 episode of *Raw*, Ryder competed in a battle royal to determinate the #1 contender for the United States Championship, where he was one of the last two wrestlers in the ring, alongside with Rusev, who won the match. On the July 4 episode of *Raw*, Ryder competed in the main event, where he was part of "Team USA", consisting of himself, Big Show, Kane, Apollo Crews, Mark Henry, Jack Swagger and The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) and they faced off "The Multinational Alliance", which consisted of Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio and The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto and Sin Cara), where Ryder and Big Show were the sole survivors. That same week on *SmackDown*, Ryder defeated Sheamus in a singles match. After the match, Ryder challenged Rusev for the United States Championship.

The following week on *Raw*, after Ryder's loss to Sheamus, Rusev attacked him and accepted his challenge, and a match was set up at the Battleground pay-per-view, where Ryder was defeated after submitting to the *Accolade*. After the match, with Rusev continuing to beat down Ryder, Ryder's former tag team partner Mojo Rawley would make the save, thus reforming The Hype Bros tag team. On August 21 on the SummerSlam pre-show, The Hype Bros teamed with The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) and American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable) to face The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch), Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango), and The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) in a 12-man tag team match, where Ryder's team was victorious.

The Hype Bros later participated in an 8-team tournament to crown the inaugural WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions, where The Hype Bros defeated The Vaudevillains in the first round, before losing to Heath Slater and Rhyno in the semi-finals, removing them from the tournament. However, after American Alpha were removed from the tournament after being attacked by The Usos after defeating them that same night, it was announced that The Hype Bros would face The Usos at the Backlash pay-per-view to determinate who would face Slater and Rhyno in the finals, but The Hype Bros would go on to lose the match. On the October 25 episode of *SmackDown*, The Hype Bros defeated The Ascension to qualify as part of Team SmackDown for the 10–on–10 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination match at Survivor Series on November 20, in which Team SmackDown was defeated by Team Raw. On December 4 at the TLC: Tables Ladders and Chairs pre-show, The Hype Bros teamed with American Alpha and Apollo Crews to face The Ascension, The Vaudevillains and Curt Hawkins in a ten-man tag team match, where The Hype Bros, American Alpha and Crews were victorious.

On the December 13 episode of *SmackDown*, The Hype Bros competed in a tag-team battle royal to determinate the #1 contenders for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship. Despite Rawley being eliminated, Ryder won the battle royal for his team and become the #1 contenders. However, during the match, Ryder injured his knee and was seen using crutches backstage. After six months of inactivity, Ryder returned on the June 13, 2017 episode of *SmackDown*, reuniting with Rawley. On June 18, on the Money in the Bank pre-show, The Hype Bros faced The Colóns in a winning effort. Two days later on *SmackDown,* Shane McMahon announced that Ryder and Rawley would have an opportunity to become number one contenders for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at the June 27 episode of *SmackDown* in a match against tag team champions The Usos, in which they lost. On the September 12 edition of *SmackDown*, The Hype Bros lost to Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin. After the match, Rawley shook hands with Benjamin and Gable, but Ryder simply walked away. Throughout the next few weeks on *SmackDown*, Ryder and Rawley would shown signs of dissension as Rawley would constantly tag himself into matches, which ultimately caused them to lose when they began arguing. After yet another loss, Ryder and Rawley agreed to become more aggressive in the ring, but still weren't able to win matches. On the October 10 episode of *SmackDown*, The Hype Bros faced Benjamin and Gable, Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango), and The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) in a tag team fatal 4-way match to determinate the #1 contenders for The Usos' SmackDown Tag Team Championship, in which The Hype Bros were unable to win.

On the November 21 episode of *SmackDown Live*, the Hype Bros faced The Bludgeon Brothers in a losing effort. The duo challenged The Bludgeon Brothers to a rematch the following week, and were again defeated. Following the loss, Rawley assaulted Ryder, thus dissolving the team. Two weeks later, Ryder challenged Rawley to a match at Clash of Champions, in which Rawley later accepted and won. Ryder lost to Rawley on the January 9, 2018 episode of *SmackDown Live* in the first round of the United States Championship tournament. On the January 30 episode of *SmackDown Live*, Ryder was unsuccessful in a United States Championship No. 1 Contender's Fatal 4-Way match also involving Kofi Kingston, Jinder Mahal and Rusev. At WrestleMania 34, Ryder participated in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, where he was eliminated by Mojo Rawley.

On April 16, Ryder was drafted to Raw brand as part of the Superstar Shake-up. Before the April 23 episode of *Raw*, Ryder suffered a knee injury in a match against Mike Kanellis in a taping for that week's *Main Event* show. As a result, Ryder missed the Greatest Royal Rumble event. However, Ryder revealed the following day that he had only suffered MCL, ACL and calf muscle strains. Ryder returned on the May 7 episode of *Main Event*, defeating Curt Hawkins. On the October 8 episode of *Main Event*, Ryder reignited his feud with Mojo Rawley, who was also drafted to Raw in the Superstar Shake-up. In the match, Ryder defeated Rawley. On December 31, Ryder competed in his first and only match on *Raw* in 2018, competing in a battle royal to determine the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship but was eliminated by Baron Corbin.

On the January 21, 2019 episode of *Raw*, Ryder saved his former tag team partner Curt Hawkins from an attack by The Revival, foreshadowing a reunion. The following week on *Raw*, Ryder and Hawkins teamed up for the first time in nearly a decade, where they were defeated by The Revival. On April 4, WWE announced that Hawkins and Ryder would be facing The Revival at WrestleMania 35 for the Raw Tag Team Championship. On the WrestleMania pre-show, Ryder and Hawkins successfully defeated The Revival to capture the titles. The next night on *Raw*, Ryder and Hawkins made their first successful title defense, defeating The Revival in a rematch. Following that, the team was largely absent from television mainly appearing on live events. Even though they were the champions, they only made one appearance on WWE programming during the month of May, a loss to the Viking Raiders on May 6. The duo returned during the 51-Man Battle Royal at the 2019 Super Showdown, but they were both eliminated during the match. On the June 10 episode of *Raw*, Ryder and Hawkins dropped the titles back to The Revival in a tag-team triple threat match, which also involved The Usos. On November 14 at a live event in Mannheim, Germany, Ryder and Hawkins defeated The O.C. (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson), and The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) in a triple threat tag-team match to become the #1 contenders for the Raw Tag Team Championships for the November 17 episode of Raw. The match, however, never took place.

On April 15, 2020, after thirteen years in WWE, Ryder was released from his WWE contract.