2. United States Championship: TLC (2011)
2011 is widely considered the peak of the “Ryder Revolution,” a movement created by Ryder himself during a period of little screen time in WWE. During this time, Ryder built a massive following stemming from his YouTube channel, where he crowned himself the “Internet Champion.”
The grassroots effort was wildly successful, as fans began to chant “We Want Ryder” during promos and matches involving other wrestlers. WWE had no choice but to incorporate Ryder into more airtime, which developed into a friendship with John Cena. Despite all the online attention he was amassing, Ryder had not yet won his first singles title in WWE, and it was his relationship with Cena that culminated in this accolade.
Cena helped Ryder earn a title shot by relinquishing his own WWE Championship opportunity to Ryder so that he could have a match to prove himself, later helping him defeat Mark Henry to earn the right to a United States Championship bout.
At the TLC PLE on December 18, 2011, Ryder faced Dolph Ziggler for the United States Championship. With the crowd firmly behind him and Ziggler’s manager, Vickie Guerrero, ejected for interference, Ryder gained the upper hand and delivered his Rough Ryder finisher to secure the pinfall. It was an incredible accomplishment for Ryder, as it showed that all the hard work that he had put into marketing himself had finally paid off in a big way.
