YouChoose Reviews: Zack Ryder: Superstar Collection

Welcome to a brand new set of reviews that I’ll be writing up for 411. I have a huge wrestling collection and this is a decent way to justify watching (and buying more DVDs) to my wife!

Here’s where the “YouChoose” gimmick comes in. At the end of each review, I’m going to list three options that will range from compilations, single events, shoot interviews, and everything in between. YouChoose what I’m reviewing next. These three DVDs and tapes will be selected at random. How will they be chosen at random? Well that’s simple. I’m going to send my three year old daughter, Madison, to the shelves and let her grab whatever seems appealing to her at the time. At the end of each column you can decide to make me watch something awful, or perhaps you’ll throw me a bone? It’s up to you. This should be interesting.

Also, a huge thanks to @KhrisJWilson for the banner!

– Okay, so there’s no voting this time considering this is the first report. I’m sending Madison over to the collection to select my first review. Lets see if she’s going to be eating gourmet or bread and water for dinner. She’s pulling them out, looking at the covers, and putting them back. She has decided!

Madison: “THE ONE WITH THE GLASSES!”

– She’s running to me and I have no idea what the hell she means. She’s holding… “Superstar Collection: Zack Ryder.” Well, it’s time for some Ryder matches. Don’t wanna read it? That’s fiiiiiiine, but scroll down and vote for the next DVD you want me to enjoy or suffer through!

– The DVD starts off with a quick little video package of clips from “Z True Long Island Story” and Ryder entering the ring a bunch of times. Anyways, they gloss over a majority of the clever jokes he’s made during the show. My personal favorite was him trying to “get over” a fence. The video package concludes with him holding up the Internet Championship outside of an arena before we head to our first match.

ECW Championship: Christian (c) vs. Zack RyderChristian cuts a promo before the match, saying that winning the ECW championship for the second time was just as sweet as the first time. He mentions defeating Tommy Dreamer for the title, and puts him over a bit. This brings out Dreamer who tells Christian that they have an Extreme Rules rematch scheduled for next week. Even in the main event, Ryder comes off like an afterthought. Poor guy. The announce team could have taken care of that announcement. This brings out the “Woo Woo Kid” himself, donning an ugly purple jacket with his ridiculous one legged tights. Hey, you can’t blame a guy for trying to stand out, right? Despite him playing a heel at this point, you can tell the crowd is already digging the gimmick as they chant “woo woo woo, you know it” along with him. The match didn’t start until after a break. They should have cut this entire verbal exchange out. It’s pretty irrelevant to the DVD.

-Commercial Break-

The bell rings as we come back from break. They lock up to kick things off and Ryder shoves Christian into the corner. Christian chops him across the chest when Ryder doesn’t let go quick enough. Ryder is FAR more believable as a heel here. The intensity is all there, his movements are a bit robotic but would become more fluid in time. I’d really like to see Ryder get a real shot at a heel run before Creative says that they have nothing for him. Christian goes right to work on the left arm of Zack. Ryder battles out of an ARM BAR and hits the ropes! Christian ducks twice and delivers a nice elevated dropkick! Ryder lands throat first on the bottom rope and Christian proceeds to choke him out. Ryder gets to his feet by using the ropes to assist himself up before getting nailed with a stiff clothesline. Christian goes for an Irish whip one too many times and Ryder blocks it and sends him chest first into the adjacent corner. Christian always took that spot well. Ryder goes for an axe handle from the top but Christian catches him and delivers a flapjack! Sunset flip by Christian! Ryder kicks out that and rolls to the outside for a breather. Christian hits him with a dropkick through the ropes followed by a crossbody from the top rope as we go to break! Good match match so far.

-Commercial Break-

Christian is climbing to the top rope as we return from break. Ryder shoves him to the outside and Christian collides into the barricade. Ryder focuses on the mid-section of Christian with a bevy of strikes. Christian hits the ropes but Ryder catches him with a knee to the gut. Ryder gets a two count and stays in control by applying the body scissors on Christian. Christian fights out and Ryder corners him and delivers two shoulder thrusts. Christian tries to fight him off and go to the top rope but Ryder is quick to follow. SUPERPLEX~! Both men are down for the count. Ryder lifts Christian up to his feet and puts him on top of the adjacent corner. Christian pushes him off and hits a huge crossbody! ONE. TWO. NO. Christian slaps him in the face and hits a reverse DDT. TWO!!! Christian goes back up and delivers a missile dropkick. He gets up and delivers a second one! TWO. Ryder escapes a tornado DDT attempt and hits the Rough Ryder for two! Christian hits the tornado DDT this time and he goes for a cover… TWO AND A HALF. Ryder charges at Christian in the corner but there’s nobody home. Christian hits the Killswitch and it’s over. These two put on a terrific sprint of a match. Christian was bouncing all over the place and really took a lot of punishment for Ryder. ***

Zack Ryder (w/ Hugh Jackman) vs Dolph Ziggler (w/ Vickie)Oh man, Cole is in full heel mode here. Ryder goes for a quick roll up and Ziggler escapes. Two years and some YouTube shows later, the entire arena is chanting for Ryder, Ryder charges at Ziggler in the corner but gets a boot to the face. Dolph follows up with a nice reverse neckbreaker. Ryder gets another close call with a roll up. They grapple in the middle of the ring and exchange blows. (giggity) Vickie slaps Ryder in the face and gets sent to the back! Hugh gets on the apron and punches Ziggler right in the jaw. Zack Ryder hits the Rough Ryder and it’s over. This was a quick little match that was more about Dolph taking a punch to the face by Hugh Jackman. The angle received a bit of mainstream press at the time. *

One of the better uses for a guest host.

Zack Ryder and John Cena vs. The Awesome TruthThis was on the road to Survivor Series, in which the same match would happen on the PPV with The Rock in place of Ryder. I believe this is the first (and last?) Raw main event for the Woo Woo Kid. John Cena and R-Truth start us off. Truth locks in a side headlock but gets whipped into the ropes and shoulder blocked to the mat. He stalls for a moment and tags in Miz. They lock up and Cena connects with a sloppy single leg take down. He splashes Miz in the corner and follows up with a clothesline. TWO. The crowd is chanting “we want Ryder” as Truth tags in. Cena doesn’t tag in Ryder. What a douche. Cena shoves Truth and Truth hits the mat and rolls to the outside. The crowd is chanting for Ryder as Cena and Truth attempt a test of strength. Cena stops halfway and tags in Ryder. *POP* Ryder hits a flapjack on Truth and tosses him to the outside. This has been pretty sloppy so far.

-Commercial Break-

We’re back as Ryder delivers a nice dropkick off of the second rope on Truth. In comes Cena and Awesome Truth begin to double team him. Truth locks in a sleeper hold and Cena makes it to his feet. Truth stays in control by cornering Cena and pummeling him with a flurry of rights. Truth locks in another headlock as the crowd continues to rally on another Ryder tag. Truth hits a nice face buster for two and tags in Miz. They’re doing a good job keeping him on their side of the ring. Miz chokes Cena on the bottom rope and tags in Truth. I wish their conspiracy theory angle actually had an ending. Truth beats him up some more and tags in Miz. Cena ducks a clothesline and dives to TAG IN RYDER! DOUBLE BROSKI BOOT IN OPPOSITE CORNERS! Ryder misses the Rough Ryder on Miz and Truth catches him with a punch to the face. Miz and Truth give him a double gut buster and Truth locks in a camel clutch. Quick tags from the heels as they continue to beat down Ryder. Miz has a front face lock applied on Ryder as Ryder reaches for Cena. Ryder grabs a quick roll up for TWO! Miz quickly regains control and delivers his clothesline to Ryder in the corner. Miz tags in Truth and they hit a nice double team series of kicks, Truth locks in a headlock. He has it locked in for what feels like an eternity before Ryder escapes and we get the double clothesline spot. Both men are down. Hot tags to Cena and Miz. Cena hits his moves of doom on both Miz and Truth before calling in Ryder for the double five knuckle shuffle. Ryder tosses Truth to the outside. Miz escapes an AA attempt and manages to cover Cena. Truth holds Cena’s legs down from outside of the ring which allows Miz to get the three count. All things considered, this match was just plain bad. The crowd wanted Ryder and he was on the apron or getting his ass kicked the majority of the time. That would have been fine if he ever had a moment in the spotlight that he didn’t have to share with Cena. By the end of the match, the crowd was no longer invested. When you have the audience rabid right out of the gate and proceed to lose them, you’re not doing your job right. 3/4*

Zack Ryder vs. John CenaIf Zack Ryder wins, he gets a shot at Dolph Ziggler’s United States championship. If he loses… well shit, Cena doesn’t want that title. So it’s a #1 contendership match for Ryder only. Cena starts us of with an arm wringer and follows that up into a float over side headlock. Zack makes it to his feet and Irish whips Cena. He follows up with a nice clothesline and locks in a side headlock of his own. Cena gets out of that and Cena leapfrogs over a charging Ryder. Cena hits a shoulder block and locks in another headlock. Ryder escapes, hits a flapjack, and applies a… you guess it. A headlock. Cena escapes by powering Ryder up for the AA but Ryder face plants him down and goes back for the headlock. Cena’s begins working his way to to his feet before Ryder stops him dead in his tracks with a reverse neck breaker for TWO. Time for another headlock by Ryder. Cena powers out with a suplex and charges at Ryder in the corner. Ryder gets his knees up and follows through with a dropkick off of the top rope! TWO! Ryder goes back upstairs but Cena grabs him for another AA attempt. Ryder fights that off and hits a pretty SIIIICK looking tornado DDT. A pin attempt by Ryder gets 2.55555! Ryder signals for the Rough Ryder. Cena ducks it and hits his signature moves we all love so much. FIVE KNUCKLE SHUFFLE. He goes for the AA but Ryder grabs the ropes and escapes! Cena runs at Ryder in the corner and gets the Broski Boot! He’s setting up for the Rough Ryder again! Ryder slowly makes it to his feet but Cena catches him. He delivers the AA and it’s over. The match was alright. They never gave us a feeling that Ryder could pull out a victory, which made it feel like a longer than average squash. It fell short and the crowd was deflated by another Ryder loss. If Cena was that close with Ryder, couldn’t he have just laid down for his buddy? *3/4

Zack Ryder and Randy Orton vs. Dolph Ziggler (w/ Vickie Guerrero) and Wade BarrettI think Barrett got a better reaction in 2011 than he does now. Sometimes it’s hard to tell with all the canned heat on Smackdown though. Ryder is starting off with his nemesis, Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler locks in a side headlock. Ryder tries rolling him up but Dolph locks it back in. Ryder makes it to his feet and whips Dolph into the ropes but gets shoulder block take down. They exchange some Irish whips that Ryder comes out on top of with a flapjack, before tagging in Orton. I never realized how often Ryder utilized the flapjack until watching this DVD in full. Orton does his vintage series of stomps on Ziggler’s limbs before delivering a sloppy suplex. Quick tag to Ryder. Ziggler takes control quickly with a flurry of punches and tags in Barrett. Barrett corners Ryder and delivers some BARE KNUCKLE OFFENSE before throwing him down to the mat and getting a two count. Ryder is quick to kick out and delivers his own series of strikes before tagging Orton back in. Barrett wants none of Orton and tags DZ in. Ziggler hits a toe kick to Orton’s gut and tosses him in the corner. Orton fights back with a clothesline and knocks Barrett off the apron. This gives Ziggler enough time to get back on offense with a sneak attack from behind. Ryder comes to Orton’s aid with a dropkick that sends Ziggler to the outside as we head to commercial.

-Commercial Break-

WE’RE BACK. Orton hot tags Ryder in and Ryder takes control of Barrett. BROSKI BOOT! He sets up for the Rough Ryder and Barrett tosses him over head. He lands right into a right hand from Ziggler on the apron. Ziggler in! Ryder gets a roll up on Ziggler for TWO! Ziggler quickly gets back in control and locks in a one legged Boston crab on Ryder. Ryder tries to reach for Orton but Ziggler pulls him back to his team’s corner and tags in Barrett. Barrett delivers a stomp to the gut of Ryder and locks in a headlock. Barrett’s headlocks are actually fun to watch because he really wrenches them in. Ryder fights out and tries jumping over Barrett to tag in Otton. Barrett catches him and attempts to hit the Wasteland but Ryder delivers a tornado DDT. In comes Orton and Ziggler. Ziggler takes a series of clotheslines and a nice gutwrench neckbreaker. Ryder and Barrett end up brawling on the outside and Barrett sends Ryder into the barricade. Roll up by Ziggler! TWO! Ziggler misses the Fameasser and gets hit with an RKO! It’s over! This was a really fun tag team match that never slowed down for the ten minute duration. My only complaint is that again, Ryder was nothing but an afterthought when the dust settled, which seems odd for his compilation DVD. I assume it’s not easy to find a handful of Ryder matches in which he was the focus however. He did get a decent amount of offense in this tag match compared to the Awesome Truth match from earlier. ***

United States Championship: Zack Ryder vs. Dolph Ziggler (w/ Vickie Guerrero)EXCUSE ME!!!!!!! Vickie Guerrero introduces our resident show off, Dolph Ziggler. I’M HERE TO SHOW THE WORLD! I’M HERE TO SHOW THE WORLD! Here we go! I’ve seen a few people call this Ryder’s best match. Ziggler with a quick take down on Ryder before a stand off. He takes him down with a sweep to the legs as Michael Cole says Ziggler is putting on a clinic. Cole ruins everything. Ryder hits two armdrags before Ryder gets back in control. Ziggler jumps over Ryder twice before taking a clothesline over the top! Ryder hits a nice senton to the outside and the crowd is going nuts for him. Ziggler isn’t down for long and they battle on the apron. Ryder takes a DDT on the apron and Ziggler rolls in. Ryder makes it in before the ten count. ZIggler maintains control with a neckbreaker before dropping nine elbows and teasing a tenth before taunting the crowd. Ryder gets to his knees and Ziggler delivers the tenth elbow to the back of his head. Ziggler gets a two count. Ryder blocks a punch and delivers one of his own but Ziggler whips him into the ropes and hits an elbow to the face to maintain control. He locks in a headlock and the crowd is chanting “woo woo woo, let’s go Ryder”. Ziggler DDT’s Ryder and sticks his feet beneath Ryder’s back before knocking out a couple of sit ups. He covers Ryder for two. He locks Ryder in a side headlock and grapevines his legs around him. Ryder fights out and delivers a series of rights that corner Ziggler. He charges at Ziggler but gets caught with an elbow followed by an Angle Slam for TWOOOO! He puts Ryder on the top rope but Ryder fights him off and hits a dropkick. PINFALL. TWO. Both men make it to their feet. Ziggler charges Ryder but gets hit with a bevy of clotheslines followed by a facebuster. Ziggler ends up in the corner and takes a running elbow before getting hit with the Broski Boot! Vickie puts Ziggler’s foot on the rope and the ref sends her packing! The crowd pops huge for that. Ryder goes for a roll up! Ziggler reverses into his own roll up but gets two! He rolls to the apron and stunners Ryder on the top rope! He misses one Fameasser but hits it on a second try! KICK OUT AT 2.777775! Ryder charges at Ziggler but takes an elevated dropkick from Ziggler. TWO COUNT. Ziggler heads upstairs but Ryder crotches him! Ryder goes upstairs and hits a crisp rana for 2.88888! The crowd is really digging this, as am I. Ryder is setting up for the Rough Ryder! Ziggler lifts him up and gives up a snake eyes on the turnbuckle followed by a roll up for TWO! Both men are down! They get to their feet by 5 and Ziggler charges Ryder in the corner! Ryder gets his knees up and Ziggler gets hit with two knees to the face! Ryder hits the Rough Ryder and covers Ziggler for three! This was a really fun match. It was basically nonstop action and a great way to start TLC 2011. This is easily the highlight of Ryder’s career I’d imagine. It was also a great way to close out the DVD. ***1/4

VOTING TIME! I’ve sent my daughter to the good old wrestling collection and she’s going to pick three DVD’s for you guys to choose from. I’d appreciate if you vote! Either in the comments section, to me on Twitter ( @MikeBenjamin411), or via email ([email protected]). She’s heading back to me with the picks! Here we go!

CHOICE ONE: Daniel Bryan: Superstar Collection (Seriously? Another one!?)
CHOICE TWO: ECW: Cyberslam 1999
CHOICE THREE: WWE: Backlash 2006

PLEASE VOTE! And as always, thank you for reading!