Zach Ryder Injury Update: The former Intercontinental Champion returns to a WWE ring for the first time since injury
What’s the story?
WWE’s Youtube channel posted a video in which Zach Ryder reflected on his ten-year stint with the company and stepped foot in a ring for the first time since his injury.
In case you didn’t know...
On the December 13th episode of SmackDown, The Long Island Iced-Z and Mojo Rawley participated in a tag-team battle royal to determinate the #1 contenders for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship. Even though his partner was eliminated, Ryder held on and won the match.
However, he injured his knee and had to use crutches. It was later reported that the former Intercontinental Champion had suffered a torn ACL.
The heart of the matter
In the video, Zack Ryder claimed that he hadn’t been in a ring since his injury in December. He also said that he didn’t want to reinjure himself and that he was keen to ensure his rehab wasn't all for nought. The 31-year-old also maintained a positive outlook and stated that he was excited to perform for an audience again. Here are his exact words:
"I haven't been in the ring since December, since I got hurt. I haven't put on my boots since then. I'm a little nervous but not nervous that I'm going to reinjure myself, I'm just nervous that... okay, all this rehab, all this time off, all this just sitting home doing nothing, I just want it to pay off. That's on me. It's been 10 years and I'm not thinking about the next 10 years, I'm thinking about the next month, the next two months, the next however long it takes for me to walk through that curtain again, to walk down that ramp, and just do everything I know I'm meant to do."
Also read: 5 times the WWE proved they care about the fans
What’s next?
This is obviously a step in the right direction for Ryder and while we hope to see him perform in the WWE as soon as he is allowed to, we also hope he doesn’t re-injure himself trying.
Author’s take
Whenever he’s been given an opportunity by the brass, Zack Ryder has proven to be a competent babyface. Here’s to hoping that he has a creative direction on his return to WWE.
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