WWE No Mercy 2016: The Reality for Dolph Ziggler
By Dean Siemon
Dolph Ziggler has not had the best run in 2016 with so many losses in pay-per-views. One more will lead to the end of his WWE career at WWE No Mercy.
The WWE Universe would like to believe the passionate words that Dolph Ziggler screamed into the microphone last night during SmackDown Live. “The Showoff” has had a string of bad luck when it comes to WWE pay-per-views and many have wondered why he puts up with it.
It’s obvious that he has passion for professional wrestling. Fans are hoping that WWE No Mercy will not be the end of the road for Ziggler. Fans hope that Dolph Ziggler can defeat The Miz for the WWE Intercontinental Championship on Oct. 9.
That’s because if he loses, again, it’s over. Dolph Ziggler will be forced to leave the WWE forever. The two-time World Heavyweight Champion will be gone. The WWE Universe would love to think he can win what is now going to be the biggest match of his career.
Unfortunately, the reality is that Ziggler is not on a roll. He has no momentum and there’s little reason to think he will win in less than two weeks. Consider this the WWE equivalent of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Despite his claims of being one of the best, there’s little to prove otherwise in recent months.
Last month’s Backlash saw Ziggler fail to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship. This came after a failed attempt to challenge Dean Ambrose for the WWE World Championship. With a few losses to Baron Corbin at Money in the Bank and Extreme Rules, you would have to go back to Payback to find the last time Ziggler won a pay-per-view match – a pinfall victory over Corbin.
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That was actually his only pay-per-view win of the year. It’s also looking like that may not change anytime soon. It didn’t help that he would lose a championship match just in the last episode of SmackDown – another losing effort to The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship.
But a loss at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif., will doom Dolph Ziggler to fade into WWE obscurity in a similar fashion to Wade Barrett, Damien Sandow, and Cody Rhodes.
Ziggler’s lack of winning the big matches is very consistent with his overall run with the WWE. According to the Internet Wrestling Database, Ziggler has won less than half of his matches in WWE. It’s hard to believe someone is among the best when he struggles to prove it with results.
The worst part about the tough year is that Ziggler does have a long list of accomplishments in the WWE. This includes being a two-time World Heavyweight Champion. But he’s mostly found his success on the mid-card. He has won the Intercontinental Championship four times and the United States Championship once.
There was that time as the World Tag Team Champion with the Spirit Squad, but that was when he was better known as the emphatic “Nicky!” His overall resume should qualify him to be in the main event picture on a consistent basis.
Those days seem to be far behind us and Ziggler seems to be more destined to fall into the role of a veteran who helps establish the new generation of WWE superstars. It doesn’t seem fair because of how talented Ziggler really is.
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It’s funny how we’re looking at the reality of the situation. A former reality television star in The Miz could be Dolph Ziggler’s final WWE opponent. While some fans might hope for a Ziggler win, The Miz might provide another brutal reality check. Ziggler is just another talented wrestler who spun his tires on the WWE roster for too long.