WWE: 4 Ways to Repackage Dolph Ziggler

3. Make Him a Menacing Heel in NXT

When Dolph Ziggler first went by the entirely ridiculous moniker, he was the jerk who would introduce himself to everyone, regardless of whether they knew his name already. He then became Vickie Guerrero’s boy toy, using her power to rise to the main event scene.

He’s been the cocky heel before, but now it’s time for him to fully become a menacing heel. The WWE tried to make that happen when he suddenly turned heel on Kalisto this year, smashing the former United States Champion with a chair after Kalisto tried to help him from an assault laid out by Baron Corbin. Ziggler would continue to assault Kalisto and his friend Apollo Crews with chairs, but he never came off as menacing. The crowd wanted him to destroy both bland babyfaces, as Ziggler is far more popular than either of them.

Until his feud with Shinsuke Nakamura, Ziggler didn’t seem like an actual heel. And while he finally received negative feedback from the audience against Nakamura, he was far more bitter, self-righteous, and annoying than menacing. Although those first three characteristics are all great for a heel, Ziggler is a little too accomplished to be bitter without backing it up with some actually brutal violence.

NXT is far more open to using brutal spots than the main roster is. I mean, just look at the vertical suplex into the announce table spot that Asuka and Nikki Cross pulled out this year. In NXT, Ziggler could immediately place himself into the NXT Championship scene, cause friction with William Regal, and even form a loose alliance with Hideo Itami in their quest to impose their will on the other superstars in the division.
The great thing about NXT is that competitors can look strong in defeat, such as when Kyle O’Reilly lost in his debut match to Aleister Black. Losing on a debut is usually a dreadful outcome, but O’Reilly put on such a great match that the loss helped him generate positive buzz. This means that Ziggler can actually win matches and help put young guys over, which is something that didn’t really happen on the main roster. A wrestler can only push younger talent if the crowd has reason to take them seriously (Chris Jericho is the best example of this), and Ziggler could have actual credibility in NXT.