Zack Ryder reveals being heartbroken following WWE run with John Cena seeing his push disappear

Zack Ryder was one of the Superstars who were a part of the casualty list in April when a large number of wrestlers were laid off from WWE. Ryder was a part of WWE for a long time, and during his run with the company had a few pushes, but none of them really lasted. His first notable big push came when he was a part of a feud involving John Cena and Kane.

Ryder was recently on Konnan's "Keeping it 100" podcast, where he talked about a number of things, including his run with John Cena, and how he realized that his WWE push was coming to an end.

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Zack Ryder talks about his WWE push coming to an end after John Cena run

Zack Ryder was a part of the Edgeheads and La Familia in his first prominent run on WWE's main roster. However, his first solo run came as the Long Island Loudmouth. He was never really used much on television, but due to his popularity among the WWE Universe resulting from his YouTube channel, WWE was forced to give him a big push, and during that time he even won the WWE United States Championship.

Ryder's popularity was through the roof at this time, and his storyline got intertwined with John Cena. Cena was the top WWE Superstar during this time, and Ryder was more than happy to be working with him during this time.

“I started the show in 2011 doing nothing on TV. By the end of 2011, that’s when I finally got on television and ended up winning the U.S. Title. I think the crowd, the people, I have to thank them. They were chanting my name. It got to a point where they said, ok, we have to do something with this kid. Right after that, I won the title in December. In January of the next year, 2012, at the time I’m involved with Cena and Cena is the top guy. Now I’m going to do something with John Cena, holy sh*t, this is great." - h/t Wrestling News Co

Soon after, though, he realized that things were not really going his way. Zack Ryder talked about how he got choke slammed off the stage by Kane and was put in a wheelchair. He then went on to get kicked in the nether regions by his on screen then-girlfriend who also kissed John Cena in front of him.

By the time the WWE storyline was over after WrestleMania, Ryder found that he was no longer there on television and he was not getting a run, with his push apparently disappeared.

Zack Ryder admitted that this was heartbreaking to see but he never approached Vince McMahon to ask for his push back, but he did not at the time.

"Then I get choke slammed by Kane off the stage. I’m in this neck brace and I’m in a wheelchair. I’m thinking what’s going on here. Then at WrestleMania that year, I got kicked in the b**ls by Eve Torres. At the time, I’m thinking I’m working with Cena, I’m working with Kane, I’m in this WrestleMania match. I didn’t really realize it’s over until that WrestleMania ends, and then, pretty much, I’m done. I don’t continue on with Kane, nothing with Eve, nothing with Cena and I see everything I worked so hard for, disappear. I should have said, hey Vince, what’s going on here? The people are into me. I’ve busted my ass. I’m one of the top merch sellers. Why are we doing this? But I didn’t.” - h/t Wrestling News Co