WWE Has Painted Itself Into A Corner With Dolph Ziggler
By Josh Raibick
Dolph Ziggler has had some of the most memorable moments in the past five years, but unfortunately little has been done to follow up those same moments. With the addition of Ziggler to the WWE Fastlane 2018 pay-per-view and his slim chance of winning, the question must be asked, is WWE once again dropping the ball with Ziggler?
Following a failed return to WWE Royal Rumble 2018, Ziggler returned to WWE SmackDown Live for the first time in seven weeks. Fans in Bakersfield, CA did not know how to react when Ziggler first entered, but as the night went on it became clear that this rendition of The Show Off is being booked as a babyface.
Following an attack to Baron Corbin and Ziggler by Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, it would be Shane McMahon who would grant Corbin and Ziggler each a separate opportunity to enter the WWE Championship match at Fastlane. Following Corbin’s win against Owens, the stage was set for the main event and for Ziggler to do what he does best, steal the show.
Ziggler’s opponent would be none other than Zayn, and it was a match that saw both competitor’s give their best shot, but in the end a superkick would propel Ziggler to the win and the main event of Fastlane. WWE SmackDown ended with an ecstatic Ziggler celebrating on the announce table being embraced by the WWE Universe.
Another big moment for Ziggler in what has been a frustrating past few months for fans of The Show Off. While in the short term adding Ziggler to a WWE Championship match sounds like a step in the right direction an even bigger question looms, what are the long term plans for Ziggler?
The plans currently seem set to have AJ Styles go one on one with Shinsuke Nakamura at WWE WrestleMania 34. So right there should tell fans that once again even if there is another attempted push for Ziggler it will come with a glass ceiling.
If you look throughout Ziggler’s career you can cite many examples of how he grabbed the “brass ring” only to have it snatched from him, leaving the WWE Universe dumbfounded. In fact, the five year anniversary of Ziggler’s first “brass ring” is fast-approaching, the night after WrestleMania 29 when Ziggler cashed his Money in the Bank contract in to beat Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Despite the wild reaction from the WWE Universe, Ziggler’s run with the World Heavyweight Championship never really took off with a combination of a concussion and WWE’s decision to eventually put the championship back on Del Rio. This was not the only time that Ziggler fell victim to a “half-push”.
Over a year later WWE Survivor Series 2014, a night which might have been the greatest performance of Ziggler’s career. In a storyline revolving around John Cena vs. The Authority, it would be Ziggler that would rise to the occasion for his team.
As the last member left of Team Cena, Ziggler was left in a three on one situation. The Show Off would scratch and claw until the numbers evened to one on one between himself and Seth Rollins.
With an assist from Sting, Ziggler was the lone survivor in the main event of WWE’s last major four pay-per-view of the year. So just two months later, Ziggler was regarded as one of the favorites to win WWE Royal Rumble 2015.
Unfortunately, January 2015 was not the time to be the second most “over” (full-time) superstar in the company. Ziggler and many other superstars were disposed of effortlessly in what will go down as the most anti-climactic Royal Rumble in WWE history.
There are many other moments to point to, like WWE SummerSlam 2016 where Ziggler’s motivation was to “win the big one” and then he lost, or the most recent blunder in the Royal Rumble match. The moral of the story is that Ziggler needs to keep winning.
With Ziggler’s new contract it appears he will be staying put in WWE, but how can WWE fully get behind Ziggler if he is expected to be one of four losers at Fastlane and not in one of the top five matches at WrestleMania?
Next: WrestleMania: It's Braun Strowman's Time
In professional wrestling wins and losses do not matter…until they do. In this case Ziggler might be falling victim again to bad timing, if this was in May the current storyline might have a better shot at working.
If you were booking Ziggler, how would you handle this current dilemma?