WWE SummerSlam: Goldberg vs. Dolph Ziggler shouldn’t be a squash

While it would be easy for WWE to book Goldberg versus Dolph Ziggler as a one-sided steamrolling, they have much more incentive to do the opposite.

Let’s be real for a minute. Dolph Ziggler has basically reached damaged goods status in WWE at this point.

Now, that’s not to say that Ziggler is permanently going to have a cloud of doubt or disinterest hanging over his WWE future. It’s merely an admission that WWE hasn’t really given fans any reason to invest in Ziggler’s recent run with the company.

He’s largely stayed with the same persona he had prior to his departure, something which would have actually been a positive had WWE actually developed or evolved that persona in any way over the course of this run.

Unfortunately, the only real change we’ve seen in Ziggler’s stagnant shtick is his new disdain for WWE legends.

In turn, that’s what led us to perhaps one of the most unlikely matches in recent SummerSlam history in Goldberg versus Dolph Ziggler.

On the surface, I think we all know the outcome here. I’m not going to try to kid myself, or anybody else, by suggesting Ziggler actually has a shot at winning here. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean this has to be a no-win scenario for “The Showoff”.

In my opinion, it would actually do wonders for Dolph to get some offense in against Goldberg, perhaps turning this into one of the more talked about matches of the night as a result.

The way I see it, that would actually be the only way everyone could really come out ahead in the long term with this match anyways.

Although we all know the old adage of “anything can happen” in wrestling, by all accounts, Goldberg isn’t going to be a consistent presence on TV anytime soon.

By having him squash Dolph Ziggler in a quick minute long match, WWE would have essentially gotten themselves a quick pop for SummerSlam, and that’s it. Besides, acting like beating Ziggler would somehow increase Goldberg’s status at this point would arguably be foolish to believe in the first place.

Basically, that means WWE isn’t doing much to build their typical weekly product with this match, unless Ziggler comes across looking relatively strong that is.

On the flip side, I would assume Goldberg would like to erase some of the memory of his last terrible showing from fans’ minds. A back-and-forth match with one of the most consistent workers in WWE could be an easy way to do that, even if it ended up still being a short affair.

Finally, fans could develop a new interest in Ziggler himself if he put forth a legitimately great match with Goldberg. At this juncture, it’s likely the best chance Dolph is going to get at making a statement that fans shouldn’t give up on him quite yet.

To Ziggler’s credit, he already seems all-in on giving fans an actual match to remember at SummerSlam as well. In a recent interview with The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling (h/t Wrestling Inc), Ziggler made his intentions for this Sunday well and clear:

"“…now I’ve got my hands on Goldberg and just know that one way or another, no matter what happens I will make that so damn special that people are not going to forget about it. They are going to be talking about it the next day.”"

If Dolph Ziggler can actually deliver on that claim, then I think it’s pretty clear that would be the best outcome for everyone involved.

In other words, while WWE certainly can do what everyone likely expects and book Dolph Ziggler versus Goldberg to be a quick squash match, they arguably have quite a bit of incentive to do the opposite.