The End Of Dolph Ziggler?

 

Dolph Ziggler’s career in the WWE has seen many ups and downs, but just when fans thought “The Show-Off” was on his way to the top, he fell back down the ladder.

Many fans pine for Ziggler to compete with the big boys. His energy, charisma and ability are definitely recognizable. For right now though, he’s trapped as a mid-carder.

But where exactly did the man who seemed to be on the rise actually plateau? Here’s a look at the career of Dolph Ziggler—from the point at which he began the descent back to mediocrity.

Lets just ignore the fact that his career start as Nicky in the Spirit Squad and then went to Kerwin White's (Chavo Guerrero) caddy. Obviously those were horrible ideas, and I'm sure Dolph wants to forget they ever happened. And when he first debuted his new character Dolph Ziggler all the WWE wanted to do was make fun of his name. But once he got in the ring and started showing off his talents he was on the fast track to the top. 

 

This all started when Dolph joined forces with Vickie Guerrero. As soon as he did, Dolph defeated Kofi Kingston for the Intercontinental Championship. As the champion, Dolph soon proved to be one of the hottest talents on Smackdown. It wasn't long before they had him drop the Intercontinental Championship and go after Edge's World Championship in the main event.

This seemed like an obvious match since Vickie used to be with Edge and was the one that helped him become World Champion. So now her new client would be challenging her former husband. They had a great storyline going that resulted in Edge losing the title because he used his Spear in a match where it was band. As a result, Edge was stripped of the title and it was awarded to Dolph. This was great and should have lead to a long feud between the two. I thought they were building a Wrestelmania feud with this one. 

Obviously having the World Heavyweight Championship handed to him wasn’t the greatest thing to happen to Dolph Ziggler. But it wasn’t the worst. This act would have fueled the hatred for Ziggler. Defending it successfully might have shocked many, provided intrigue and brought legitimacy to his character.

 

But instead Edge won the title back the very same night... 11 minutes after Dolph was awarded the title. And after the match, Dolph was fired. And just like that his push to the top was over. Edge faced Alberto Del Rio at Wrestlemania instead of Dolph and then Edge retried and the feud was done for good.

While Edge faced Alberto Del Rio, Dolph was shipped over to Raw. He wasn't pushed into the main event for the WWE Championship, but rather back down to the United States Championship. And while Alberto Del Rio took his place winning the Royal Rumble and challenging Edge for the World Championship at Wrestlemania, Dolph entered a feud with John Morrison which ended at WrestleMania XXVII.

Now, wrestling Morrison was great. Even losing is acceptable. But Ziggler wrestled in the biggest pay-per-view of the year as a tag team. His team lost at the hands of Jersey Shore’s Snooki. There have been some embarrassing celebrities who’ve “graced” the WWE. Snooki takes the cake. This match was an embarrassing joke, Dolph's team lost the match, and the drama with Snooki, Trish Stratus, and Morrison's girlfriend Melina who was left out of the match all together caused Melina and Morrison to leave the WWE, and put Dolph back at the bottom on his own again. 

Vickie

In the wake of a bad Wrestlemania experience for Ziggler, he went on to have a great run as the United States Champion on Raw, showcasing his skills on the primer show in the WWE, most nights stealing the show from the WWE Champion. Ziggler was feuding with all the major up and coming stars, the biggest feud was building between Ziggler and Zack Ryder who was the Internet Champion. Meanwhile, backstage Jack Swagger was sneaking around trying to steal Vickie form Dolph. It looked like a feud was about to explode between the two and it would have been a great one.

Let’s get this straight: Jack Swagger pushed himself on Vickie Guerrero—Dolph Ziggler’s manager—and fought for Ziggler’s United States Championship. What did Ziggler do about it? Nothing. Ziggler could have built a quality feud with Swagger that would have built both up concurrently. Instead, Ziggler sat back and took it. In the end, Dolph formed a team with Swagger and then lost his United States Championship to Zack Ryder instead. 

 

Maria

I thought this was great for everyone involved. I thought Ryder would make a great United States Champion and this would free up Ziggler to move up to the main event and challenge CM Punk for the WWE Championship. And that is exactly what they did. It was great. Swagger was going after Ryder for the United States Championship, and Ziggler was going after Punk and the WWE Championship. Just like the year before, by the Royal Rumble Ziggler was primed and ready to take over that top spot.

But in pure WWE fashion, in one big foul swoop, they wiped out everything they had going and crushed all the momentum right before Wrestelmania leaving them with absolutely nothing. Ziggler failed to win the title again at the Rumble, and Ryder dropped the United States Championship to Swagger and was written right off of TV for a long time killing all of his own momentum. Bottom line, Ryder and Ziggler had the match of the year for the United States Championship, and what did they get for it? Within a month, neither of them had a championship or even a storyline on TV. 

 

Maria

By the time Wrestlemania rolled around WWE had nothing for any of them and did what they always do, they threw them all into a joke of a match that was meaningless. Ryder was put on Team Teddy. Ziggler and Swagger were put on Team Johnny. Ryder was the loser that cost his team the match, but Ziggler and Swagger didn't even get the win, that went to The Miz. And who was the United States Champion by Wrestlemania? Was it Ziggler? No. Was it Ryder? No. Was it even Swagger? No. It was Santino Marella lol.

Since his team won at WrestleMania XXVIII, Dolph Ziggler has hardly done anything worth bragging about. He lost a handicap match to Santino Marella. He’s taken beatings from Brodus Clay. He’s depended on Jack Swagger to rescue him in singles competitions. He even lost to Hornswoggle (and Clay). Worse yet, most of these matches ended embarrassingly quick. At this point, Ziggler is only a mid-carder based on name and resume. Otherwise, he’s been a glorified jobber the past few months.

Hopefully, his latest run at the Tag Team Championship will actually provide a serious threat to R-Truth and Kofi Kingston. If Ziggler can lend a boost to the division, it’ll benefit his personal career in the process. He needs to win the Tag-Team Championships in order to make himself a serious contender again. He needs to win a championship, and he needs to prove his partnership with Swagger wasn't a total waste, which it has been so far. After that they should turn on each other and have the feud the missed out on last year. 

Honestly, Dolph Ziggler could have been the World Champion facing Edge at Wrestlemania 27. Then he could have had a rematch with Zack Ryder at Wrestlemania 28. Both matches would have been epic. Instead, he was in a match with Snooki at 27 and on Team Johnny at 28. Both were pathetic. After amazing reigns as Intercontinental and United States Champions, Ziggler had an embarrassing moment as World Champion and a loss to WWE Champion CM Punk, both of which he has never recovered from.

The real question now is... will Dolph Ziggler recover and move tot he main event? Or will he continue to fall and be nothing more than a glorified jobber to sideshows like Brodus Clay and others like him?