Dolph Ziggler’s WWE SummerSlam Push Necessary for WWE SmackDown Live’s Growth
Dolph Ziggler’s shocking win in the Six-Pack Challenge match is much-needed for SmackDown’s development.
WWE SmackDown Live kicked off with the announcement that a Six-Pack Challenge would headline the show. The winner would face Dean Ambrose for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam.
So AJ Styles, Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Bray Wyatt, John Cena and Dolph Ziggler would be featured in this match. Much to the surprise of most fans, Ziggler would win this match by superkicking Styles, sending him to a top SummerSlam match in the process.
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The Showoff hadn’t sniffed the world title scene since 2013. His last time in the main event of a pay-per-view was the Survivor Series 2014 Elimination match, which seemingly positioned him for a push. This never happened, much like previous instances where movement up the card for Ziggler looked possible, but never happened.
Since then, one could argue that Ziggler had been “coasting” through his matches. There isn’t a way of confirming this, but he didn’t look the usual performer we were used to seeing since 2008. This was seen in the endless Corbin feud, and the love angle with Rusev, Lana, and Summer Rae in 2015.
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Things have quickly changed, though. Ziggler is now a main event player for SmackDown, and it only took one match. Given how the roster was selected at the WWE Draft, this was sorely needed.
SmackDown’s roster is lopsided. It starts with Ambrose, Cena, Styles and Randy Orton, then falls off to wrestlers like Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews. The first four are already established, and the last two need time before taking that next step. Ziggler was a middle man in this. He seemed solidified in a mid-card spot, feuding with the same caliber of Superstars. We were led to believe this for a few years, even more so heading into the new version of SmackDown. So why would we expect anything to change?
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Well, with this being a “New Era”, things are seemingly going in a different direction. This started with Finn Balor’s push to main event status in one night. Then followed with Ziggler getting the same, but to a lesser degree. With the former Kent State star in this spot, he has the opportunity to cement himself in this status.
Ziggler probably isn’t walking into SummerSlam as the favorite whether he turns heel or not. He is getting a top spot on WWE’s second-biggest show of the year, though. It gives him instant credibility and win or lose, he will be respected more by fans as a main guy on SmackDown due to WWE showing him off as such. A spot could then be his in the main event of a SmackDown-exclusive PPV. The same Superstars can’t be used continuously, so WWE is setting themselves up with a potentially new option for future headlining matches.
For the other side of things, let’s say Dolph walks out of this feud as a loser, but in a heel role. This could renew his rivalry with John Cena, or go down a road with Randy Orton. He could even be used as a more credible star to work with and potentially put over Apollo Crews.
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So there’s plenty of opportunity here for WWE to make themselves a new main eventer for SmackDown. Dolph Ziggler hasn’t been viewed that way in about three years, but change can be good, and this is fresh.