Zack Ryder recently took part in a Q&A on Instagram. During this, he spoke about his custom-made Internet Championship. Ryder ended up sharing how WWE brass reacted when he asked them if he could wear the belt on WWE television.
Ryder says that he pitched it multiple times and was told that he was a mark for himself. Here is what he said (h/t to Fightful for the quotes below):
“So I was presenting it to someone to, you know, to get approval to wear it on television. I was denied and I was told that I’m a mark for myself, which isn’t true. But like I said, I didn’t actually think I was the Million Dollar Champion or the Internet champion. I explained. It’s just like the Million Dollar Championship, right? It’s an accessory. It’s cool because with a gimmick and you could have sold these things. You could have made a killing selling these things, the foam, the replicas. But that did not happen. I never wore that on WWE programming, but it’s in the video game. There’s a T-shirt with it and my action figure. but I never wore it on TV.”
Ryder added that he thinks WWE lost a lot of money by not allowing it:
“I think there was some money lost, a lot of money lost, especially at that time. Like I said, replicas of the foam stuff they sell at the events, like the merchandise stuff or even, you know, Mattel, you know, toy belts, but whatever. It’s definitely my most prized possession.”
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