We were lucky to catch up with Ryder Wood recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ryder, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
YouTube itself has been a huge help. I’ve spent much of my free time attending online YouTube growth courses. Along with picking the minds of creators who are much larger than us. This whole project has been trail and error. A lot of OTJ (On The Job) training. We tend to just throw an idea at the wall and see if it sticks or not.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Professional wrestling has always held a significant place in our family’s history, tracing back to Ryder’s great-grandfather, Les. It’s a tradition that’s been passed down through the generations, deeply ingrained in the Wood family’s passion for wrestling. I, Ryder’s dad, Chad, can’t recall a time since 1994 when I wasn’t watching wrestling; it was a bonding experience I shared with my dad, Clark. If there was wrestling on TV, you could bet we’d be watching. Fortunately, Ryder seems to be following the same path. From a very young age, Ryder showed a keen interest in wrestling. I vividly remember standing in front of a small hospital TV, holding my newborn son just hours old, while we watched WWE Smackdown, ironically on the day he was born.
As Ryder grew, he played with the typical toys kids his age play with, but WWE figures from my childhood collection became his favorites. My wife and I initially thought his interest in wrestling figures might be a passing phase, common among kids growing up. However, over time, Ryder’s collection only continued to grow. This is where Ryder’s collection thrived. Whenever Ryder spotted a WWE superstar on TV, he’d rush to his pile of figures to find the matching wrestler, showing us that he had the corresponding figure. This, however, created a challenge. When a wrestler appeared on TV for whom Ryder didn’t have a figure, it meant embarking on a quest to local retail stores and flea markets to find the missing action figure. On these outings, Ryder and I would crank up our favorite WWE superstar’s entrance music in the car on our way to eagerly search for the missing plastic friends. Upon finding them, we’d rush home and tear open the boxes like children on Christmas morning, no matter the season.
Ryder learned how to pose his figures in signature WWE stances and even recreate their signature moves, which we call ‘set-ups’. With his WWE ring and figures, we would bring his dream matches to life. At that time, Ryan’s Toy Review was gaining popularity on YouTube, and Ryder had developed a fascination with it. I couldn’t quite grasp why he wanted to watch another child play with toys, but I obliged, as any parent would.
One night, while waiting for my wife/Ryder’s mom, Angela to return home, Ryder and I wondered if there were YouTube channels similar to Ryan’s Toy Review but focused exclusively on WWE figures. We searched “WWE action figure set-up,” and to our surprise, we stumbled upon “Brett-O Live.” Brett-O recreated iconic WWE moments using his WWE figures, precisely what Ryder had been looking for.
Just like Ryan from “Ryan’s Toy Review,” Ryder turned to me and said, “I want to do that!” We scrolled through Brett-O’s videos, and when Angela arrived home from work, Ryder excitedly showed her our discovery. For the next few weeks, our YouTube watch history was filled with Brett-O Live videos. Ryder kept saying, “I want to do a review!” He would grab our phones, turn on the camera, and conduct pretend WWE toy reviews and set-ups, as if he were filming for an actual YouTube channel. Angela and I were hesitant at first, given Ryder’s age and the potential risks of the internet. But after weeks of his persistent requests, we came up with the idea of creating a channel for him to do reviews, with both of us participating and overseeing his account.
A few days later, Ryder asked again, “Can I film a review, please?” I wasn’t feeling well that day, but Angela, who was six months pregnant, took on the challenge of making Ryder’s vision a reality. They sat at our small kitchen table in the dining room and filmed a joint review of the newly released Hot Topic Exclusive Young Bucks and the regular version of Young Bucks Funko Pops. Ryder and Angela had no experience, but their laughter and conversation during the review indicated otherwise. Witnessing the joy it brought Ryder and the fun my wife had discussing a toy with our child was truly special. Ryder watched his review repeatedly, beaming with pride. In the following weeks, instead of tearing into boxes as usual, we decided to film Ryder’s unboxing, as he had been requesting, and as they say, the rest is history.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
We have a few different goals when it comes to the channel. The #1 thing has always been to have fun. If Ryder is having an off day or not feeling up to record, we simply don’t because we never want to give the perception that we’re not having fun. We inspire for his channel to be an outlet to which anyone can come to and step away from anything that’s troubling them. Our #2 goal is always provide positivity, love and inspiration. Whether it be through our content or through the comments we leave back to the viewers. All though Ryder’s platform is still small, you can’t possibly ever be big enough to not be kind. It’s free! The #3 goal, Ryder has always wanted to hit 100k subscribers on YouTube and receive the silver play button plaque. So we’re constantly pushing to get potential subscribers over to his YouTube.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
There are so many rewarding parts of being a creator but whenever you’re able to have an everlasting effect on someone with content that YOU created, that’s something indescribable. I’ve been wanting to share this story since it happened. Story time. Back in September, Ryder, my dad, and I attended a live episode of WWE Raw in Charlotte, NC. In the months leading up to this show, it was being advertised that Ryder’s favorite wrestler, “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes would be wrestling on this show. Now, about Cody Rhodes, he is the ULTIMATE good guy at WWE. He is the one that all the kids want to be like. He’s the face you see on all of the WWE posters. The guy doing all of the WWE media and charity events. Practically this generations John Cena. Cody has a signature weight belt that he wears to the ring and during his entrance, he gifts that weight belt to one lucky kid in the crowd. Ryder has always said, “I wish I could get Cody’s belt one day.” He and I would always talk about how cool that would be but the chances of that happening to him were slim to none…BUT we were about to give it our best go at this upcoming show. Before purchasing our tickets, Angela, Ryder and I literally studied video of Cody’s entrance and where he normally gives out his belt. Giving it our best guess we bought our tickets. I laid awake many nights thinking to myself, “How can we make sure that Ryder gets that belt?” “Should I sell our tickets and upgrade our seats?” “How can Ryder possibly standout in an arena full of screaming fans?” “We gotta find a way to get Ryder Cody’s belt!” After sharing my thoughts on the situation with a few of my friends, one of them had the idea of us making a sign for Ryder to hold that reads “Cody, can I have your belt?” “Great idea” I tell my friend. So the night before Raw in Charlotte, Ryder and Angela make a huge, colorful sign that reads Ryder’s wishes. The next day, Ryder wakes up right out of bed, instantly excited about the show! “Dad, I hope I get Cody’s belt today! What if I actually get Cody’s belt Dad?” Repeated all throughout the day from Ryder. I finally muster up and tell him, “Yeah, dude. That’d absolutely be wild but let’s not bank on it. Let’s just make sure that enjoy our time at the show.” I’m trying my best to encouraging while letting him down gently as I’m sure that Ryder will be overlooked in the sea of fans stacked in the arena. Fast forward to the main event of the night, it’s time for “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes to hit the ring! The arena comes unglued at the sound of Rhodes music. Ryder with his sign in hand, jumps out of his seat. I toss him on top of my shoulders so that he can get a better view of his favorite. Cody does his usual entrance but this time, he didn’t give away his weight belt. This was odd as we’ve watched him give away this thing a million times. Cody now in the ring awaiting his opponent, Rhodes starts peering into the arena of 8,299 screaming fans. Ryder still on top of my shoulders proudly displaying his sign, hoping Cody sees it. As Cody is looking into the crowd, something catches his eye…in our direction! Rhodes, gives a point and a nod right at our section. Ryder and I look at each other in disbelief and say “Did he see the sign?!” Cody then points in our direction again and says something to the WWE official in the ring. We get one more additional point toward us and Rhodes makes his way outside of the ring. He starts walking right to us. Both me and Ryder are on the verge of freaking out. “NO WAY!” I scream as he’s walking closer and closer to Ryder. Rhodes is then standing in front of us and says to the fan beside us, “Give my belt to that kid” and points at Ryder. The fan hands it over to Ryder and BOOM! It actually worked…It actually happened! I had almost next to zero faith that this would actually happen but Ryder, never once never stopped believing that he was going to be the 1/8,299 leaving the Spectrum Center that night without Cody Rhodes ring-worn weight belt. So of course, I share this video with my friends and family on social media with a lengthy post about Ryder never losing his faith in this moment happening even when I was having my doubts. I received many texts, comments, and messages congratulating Ryder on his prize and saying how amazing this moment was. Grateful for everyone who reached out, one certain text message I received stood out. A text from a friend whom I haven’t connected with in almost a year. The text started out with “Dude, I have watched that video of Ryder at least a million times already! That is too freaking cool!!! Just want you to know that seeing this was truly an inspiration. And I can’t wait to experience this feeling!” My friend, that will go unnamed then goes on to say that this video made him cry…along with “I have strong hope as it is, but your child just showed me anything in the world is possible.” My friend then tells me about a heartbreaking situation that’s currently happening in his life that he hasn’t spoken about to many people. I won’t go into detail about his situation. All I will tell you, it’s something that you would never want to see anyone going through. He then tells me “But we have not given up. And I never will because of that video!” What makes his message stand out is that he’s not even a wrestling fan. I’m not sure if he’s ever even watched wrestling before. He took a video that Ryder and I made, doing something we love, capturing a once in a lifetime moment and it gave him hope. It gave him hope in a dark time in his life. Ryder and I weren’t even trying to do that. We were just trying to get Ryder that weight belt. Getting to sit down with my wife and tell Ryder about the inspiration he was able to give to someone he had never met was incredibly rewarding. As I said earlier, one goal we have is to inspire people. To do that for someone, much less a friend, you can’t put a price on those kinds of moments.
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