WWE Superstar Zack Ryder recently injured himself during the #1 Contenders match on SmackDown. Though there hasn’t been an official announcement on his injury status, Cagesideseats states that the reconstructive knee surgery has gone well, but Ryder will be out of action for six months.
This week’s SmackDown Live! episode hosted two #1 Contender’s matches along with a Championship match for SmackDown Women’s Championship.
In the #1 Contenders match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, the Hype Bros. team of Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley emerged victorious to become the #1 Contenders for the titles currently held by The Wyatt Family.
Unfortunately, Zack Ryder injured his knee during the match and was later seen hopping to the back with the aid of trainers. The WWE later released a fallout video of Zack Ryder being examined backstage:
According to Cagesideseats, the reconstructive knee surgery for Zack Ryder’s injury has gone well. But unfortunately, Zack Ryder will be on the shelf for the next six months until he recovers from the surgery. This will surely leave the #1 contenders spot vacant for the Tag Team Championship.
Zack Ryder had his fairytale moment when he became the Intercontinental Champion at WrestleMania. But he lost his title shortly thereafter to The Miz the following night and has been struggling for opportunities to make it on the main roster ever since. This unfortunate injury may well delay his long-deserved push even further.
The other correlation to the event is the status of Mojo Rawley. As Zack Ryder is out of action for six months, Mojo Rawley is now without a partner.
Also read: 5 things you should know about Mojo Rawley
It will be interesting to see how WWE handles Mojo Rawley after this. Will WWE send back Mojo Rawley to NXT or give him a singles run until Ryder returns is yet to be seen. Since Rawley has the physical attributes in his favour, it will probably be the latter.
The main fallout of this injury is how WWE deals with the vacant #1 Contenders spot.
Since The Wyatt Family is a heel faction (at least on paper), WWE will likely field a face faction against them. This will likely rule out The Usos as their opponents. This will probably mean that American Alpha might become the #1 Contenders for the titles.
Zack Ryder tweeted about it when a fan asked him:
Here’s a video from the match that saw Zack Ryder get injured:
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