WWE SummerSlam 2016: Why Ambrose vs. Ziggler Will Be Match of the Night

The WWE Championship match looks to be the one to steal the show on a stacked card at SummerSlam.

Although the WWE Championship is many times considered to be the crown jewel of the WWE, the family crest of the McMahon family, and the singular most important thing in the company, there have been situations when the title took a backseat to other storylines or feuds.

At the first Wrestlemania, the championship was not defended by Hulk Hogan. The bigger angle was that Hogan was teaming up with Hollywood megastar at the time Mr. T. At Wrestlemania X8, the dream match between Hogan and The Rock, while occurring earlier in the card, superseded the Chris Jericho vs. Triple H Undisputed Championship title match. At Wrestlemania XXVI, the Undertaker-Shawn Michaels rematch closed out the show due to the significance and importance of the retirement stipulation placed on Michaels’ career.

Recently, SummerSlam has been no different. As the second biggest show of the WWE calendar year, the event has grown to become on par with Wrestlemania. In fact, outside of Wrestlemania, SummerSlam is perhaps the show in which storylines and feuds transcend the WWE Championship. British Bulldog and Bret Hart battling over the Intercontinental Title. Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth’s wedding. Randy Orton challenging Hogan to a Legend vs. Legend-Killer match. The dream encounter between Hogan and Michaels. Jericho punching Michaels’ wife occurred at SummerSlam. Team Nexus vs. Team WWE. The Undertaker’s rematch with Brock Lesnar. In all of these instances, the title and the incumbent champion took a backseat.

However, with all the hype surrounding the new and improved SmackDown Live, and the fact that it houses the WWE Championship, the Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler match may be the most important bout on the card. Especially when you consider SmackDown doesn’t have many matches at SummerSlam to begin with.

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The verbal battle between Ambrose and Ziggler has provided WWE with some of its most compelling television, even more so than the Lesnar vs. Orton match 15 years in the making, and the introduction of a brand new title, the Universal Championship. As the most interesting thing going on in the company right now, it also gives SmackDown something for fans to tune into. The feud marks a much-needed resurgence in Ziggler’s career, who had been poorly booked or underutilized for a majority of his tenure with WWE. Although Ziggler had won and previously held the World Heavyweight Title, he was never truly given a shot at THE title, the WWE Championship.

On the other side of the coin, the wildly popular Ambrose, who has generally been regarded as a babyface, has shown more of a leaning towards being a tweener, with his rather condescending and demeaning attitude towards his SummerSlam opponent. One has to imagine after the frustration he felt with his ho-hum singles debut at Wrestlemania 32 against Brock Lesnar that the reigning champion is chomping at the bit to prove his worth and deliver big time on another big stage, possibly the biggest next to Wrestlemania.

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Ambrose vs. Ziggler match could blow past the two other main events as the standout match of the night

With both competitors having enormous chips on their shoulders; Ambrose essentially being put on blast in front of the world by Stone Cold Steve Austin during his appearance on the podcast, and Ziggler being denied at every turn in his WWE career, the match alone becomes perhaps the most heated and intensely contested one on the entire card. A slip up in debuting the Demon alter-ego of Finn Balor prior to SummerSlam, coupled with the silly naming of the Universal Championship has already taken away some of the luster of a first-time dream match between Balor and Seth Rollins. Brock Lesnar’s apparent ‘laziness’ and Randy Orton’s ‘play it safe’ mentality has some believing that the marquee match between the two will be underwhelming. With the other two main events having potentially something holding it back, the Ambrose vs. Ziggler match could blow past the both of them and break away from the pack as the standout match of the night.

And finally, on top of all that, the WWE Championship match is on the line. The thing that every WWE superstar seeks to attain and become, the WWE Champion, is the focal point of this match, as it should be.

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A majority of the greatest matches in WWE history revolve around a title, and an even select few have been for the WWE Championship, the most prestigious title in the entire wrestling industry. Many a time at SummerSlam, the WWE Championship has been relegated to just another match on the card taglined the biggest party of the summer. But this Sunday, the WWE Championship will once again be where it belongs: in the most important match of the night and as the endgame in the company’s hottest feud at the moment.