"I grew up wanting to be a WWE superstar my entire life. To finally be at a WrestleMania, WrestleMania 28, was literally a dream come true. I had special gear made up that said 'RyderMania' instead of 'WrestleMania', my parents were there. I was pumped, I was excited, I was living the dream. To walk down that aisle, to see all those people; I can still remember the moment, I'm getting goosebumps talking about it right now. To be one of the guys at the end of the match, it was Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy, and I lost, whatever, but Eve came in, she picked me up, she kicked me right in the Bro Nuts. That was my WrestleMania moment. Not the best one but it was one. Zack Ryder, WrestleMania... I made it.
"I was definitely a little nervous. It was a big match for me. Being in that WrestleMania match, I knew I had made it. There were so many people my whole life saying 'you'll never make it in WWE, you're too small, you'll never be in wrestling.' And I made it to WrestleMania. I remember that night I took a picture in like a still photo of me and all my gear and posted it on my Facebook and Twitter and said 'see, guys? I made it'."