Hey Scott!!!
Writing to you once again! I stumbled with an interview of Zack Ryder, where he said that the Kane-Cena-Eve killed his late 2011 momentum and career for good. Among some things, he also mentions he is looking in the future to tweak his character to try regaining that momentum he had once.
I think the damage to the Ryder's character is deeper. Not only did he end up looking like a joke after the whole Kane fiasco, but he's been used pretty much like a jobber ever since, draining the remaining heat he had. Hell, not even the recent "Zackdown" was as well received as some of the stuff he was involved in November-December 2011.
At the same time, since the get-go, things didn't look as bright for him I think. Remember that Raw match where Ryder faced Cena, and if he won, he could go on to face Ziggler at TLC for the US title? Cena wasn't even going to be part of TLC '11, and WWE didn't bother to put over the guy!
Incidentally, as time goes on, I question whether Cena is a backstage manipulator or not, given the alleged Cena/Riley incident, among other issues.
Here's the link to the full interview I was mentioning: http://xfinity.comcast.net/blogs/tv/2012/07/17/wwes-zack-ryder-kane-and-eve-basically-killed-my-career/Take care and keep up the great work!!!
Kane-Cena-Eve angle a career killer for Ryder?
The Ryder stuff is pretty much beating a dead horse at this point, but that was a really interesting interview with him and much more candid than WWE guys are usually allowed to be. I'm guessing this one wasn't cleared by the PR department. But yeah, he's pretty much done as a major character. They should move him to NXT in the Jinder Mahal role as the quasi-star to make the show seem like a bigger deal.