Long Island native Zack Ryder has used his charismatic personality to become one of the WWE’s most popular stars.
Now Ryder is competing to become the General Manager for the WWE’s Saturday morning kids-based show Saturday Morning Slam.
The Post’s Anthony Sulla-Heffinger had a chance to catch up with Ryder ahead of the start of the three-week contest that will determine who gets to call the shots on the weekend show.
Sulla-Heffinger: What would be the first thing you would do as General Manager of Saturday Morning Slam?
Ryder: I think there would be a lot of things I would do, I don’t know what would be first. I would definitely get a tanning bed in my office, all the food I want, definitely make some of the Divas go on dates with me, taky my Internet Championship and make it an official title for Saturday Morning Slam and only defend it on Saturday Morning Slam and only compete in matches that I’d easily win because I don’t want to lose it.
Sulla-Heffinger: You’ve really used the Internet and social media to grow your stardom. With Saturday Morning Slam being a little more socially based and driven towards kids, how does that help you?
Ryder: Back in the day only Internet nerds used the computer. Everyone uses the Internet now, especially kids, they have their iPads and iPhones, they’re on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter so that’s how I rebranded myself and relaunched my character in WWE. I think some of my biggest fans are kids and when I see them wearing Zack Ryder wigs and they love me and I love them back. Slam is great because Saturday morning is when I watched wrestling growing up and now this whole new generation of fans is going to grow up watching wrestling and I’m glad that they are going to be watching Zack Ryder, buying Zack Ryder action figures and I’ll be the guy they look up to.
Sulla-Heffinger: What’s it like seeing those kids wearing your merchandise, buying those figures?
Ryder: It’s crazy, it doesn’t even make sense to me. I still have all of the wrestling toys that I had as a little kid and to think about those kids going to Toys ‘R’ Us and buying my action figure, it makes you go ‘what?!’ Sometimes I have to take myself out of the moment and look at my life from the outside and say ‘Woah! This is getting cool.’
Sulla-Heffinger: Who is your biggest competition to become the Saturday Morning Slam GM?
Ryder: Guys like Damian Sandow, Cody Rhodes, these guys will do anything to win. They’ll cheat, they’ll break the rules and its guys like that who I really have to be careful of. I’m confident in my abilities but when someone is going to cheat and go behind the refs back like that, things can get out of hand.
Sulla-Heffinger: Saturday Morning Slam is a little different in the sense that it is less violent because it is geared toward children. How does that affect your style of wrestling?
Ryder: Luckily for me, I haven’t really had to change my style up too much. I’m sure for guys like Sheamus and guys who are giving big punches to the head, it really affects them. For me, I just do my own thing and I think that works as an advantage. Some guys have change their styles up and they are out of their element or off their game. For me, I’m the same old Zack Ryder so maybe that’s why I am going to go all the way and become the Saturday Morning Slam GM.
Sulla-Heffinger: Do you view yourself as the driving force and main guy on the Saturday Morning Slam roster?
Ryder: I don’t really view myself as the main guy, but I’ll take it haha. I want to be the top guy on Saturday Morning Slam and the main event guy on any show. To be a main player and focus on Saturday Morning Slam because the kids are going to grow up and be the next generation of fans so if their favorite wrestler is Zack Ryder, I’ll be good for a while.
Sulla-Heffinger: Being from Long Island, what are you feeling with Wrestlemania coming back to the area and it being just weeks away?
Ryder: This year there are a lot of mixed emotions. It’s going to be cool that Wrestlemania is back in New York and New Jersey, I went to Wrestlemania X and XX as a fan and last year I had my first Wrestlemania match so it is cool. At the same time I’m not on the show so it’s not cool and I wish it was somewhere else because all of my friends and family are going to be there and I’m not going to be on it so that part stinks. It’s great that such a huge event is going to be at MetLife Stadium, Rock and John Cena the rematch, it’s going to be historic. Whether Zack Ryder is on the card or not, Wrestlemania is going to be the show of the year and maybe the best one yet.
Sulla-Heffinger: What do you see in Zack Ryder’s future over the next year?
Ryder: I’m not really sure. I ended my YouTube show that I have been doing for two years this past January. I think Zack Ryder, the character, needs a little tweaking, it needs a little adjustment. I wouldn’t say a complete 180 turn but a couple of things here and there. I have to sit down and I have to really figure out what needs to be done to get back on top and make sure I don’t miss next year’s Wrestlemania.
Sulla-Heffinger: Do you think it’s a matter of time before you’re getting title shots?
Ryder: That’s the ultimate goal so I have to be positive and think that those opportunities are in my future. That’s what keeps me going.
Sulla-Heffinger: Is becoming the Saturday Morning Slam GM the first step in that process?
Ryder: Yeah, being the GM would mean I’m the boss and that I’m on the show every week which is good. The more time your face is seen, the more popular you get. That’s how it is in the WWE.
Sulla-Heffinger: You mentioned you watched wrestling as a fan in the past. What did you think of this past week’s Raw with the Brock Lesnar-HHH opening and the CM Punk/Cena finale?
Ryder: The way it ended, that match was a pay-per-view match right there for free on TV. I was watching in the back with a couple of guys and I was on the edge of my seat, was it going to be Punk or was it going to be Cena, was someone going to run in, would it be a straight finish? We were anxious to see who was going to win. It was a great match, the fans were on their feet the whole time. When Cena won, the place exploded and he deserved the win.
Sulla-Heffinger: Last one. You mentioned you love to attack catering and would get food in your office if you were GM. I spoke with Ryback a few weeks ago and joked about his eating habits. Who wins in an eating contest, Zack Ryder or Ryback?
Ryder: Oh god, Ryback for sure. He’s a beast. This is no joke, I’ve seen that guy eat a steak with his hands like he’s eating a peanut butter sandwich. No knife, no fork, just the steak. He’s backstage eating it and I’m like ‘What is wrong with you bro? Get some plastic utencils.’ He’s crazy.
WWE’s Saturday Morning Slam airs every Saturday morning on Vortexx on The CW.
asulla-heffinger@nypost.com