2014, Ryder announced that he had torn his rotator cuff. John Cena gave a storyline explanation that a comment on Twitter led to The Authority punishing Ryder. Ryder returned on January 25, 2015, at the Royal Rumble in the Rumble match at No. 9 and was quickly eliminated by Bray Wyatt. Ryder participated in the 2nd annual André the Giant Memorial battle royal at WrestleMania 31 which was won by Big Show. Ryder, being accompanied by the cast of Entourage, answered Cena's United States Championship open challenge on the May 25 episode of Raw in his hometown and in the final WWE event held in the Nassau Coliseum, but failed to win after a countered 450 Splash. On the June 4 episode of SmackDown, Ryder accepted Kevin Owens' open challenge for the NXT Championship, which he lost. The Hype Bros (2015–2018) In June 2015, Zack Ryder began appearing in WWE's developmental system NXT, where he formed a tag team with NXT's returning Mojo Rawley. After a month-long feud with the likes of The Mechanics (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) and Jason Jordan and Chad Gable, along with countless victories over the teams, The Hype Bros teamed up with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady to defeat The Mechanics, Jason Jordan and Chad Gable in an 8-man tag team match at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn. On the October 16 episode of NXT, The Hype Bros competed in a match for the NXT Tag Team Championship in a losing effort. On the October 22 episode of NXT, Ryder competed in a 26-man battle royal to determine the number one contender for the NXT Championship. Ryder was unsuccessful, although he was among the last few competitors in the match. Meanwhile, on the main roster, Ryder continued wrestling on Superstars and Main Event from June 2015 to March 2016. He suffered singles losses to Bo Dallas, Rusev and The Miz, but managed to trade singles wins and losses with Adam Rose, Heath Slater, Stardust and Tyler Breeze. At WrestleMania 32, Ryder substituted Neville in the ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship and won. He lost the title to The Miz the following night on Raw. Three days later on SmackDown, Ryder received a rematch, where Maryse helped Miz to retain. After that, he was put in the orbit for the United States championship, working with wrestlers like Rusev, Big Show, or Sheamus. At Battleground Ryder was