So WWE want fans to take Dolph Zigger seriously as a babyface in his quest to win the World Title he was ‘robbed’ out of. The only problem being that in the last three years Ziggler was over just as much as anyone in the company and was mostly ignored by management when it really mattered. The time to push the ‘Show Off’ was when he was a heel, where fans, noticing his talent and selflessness were desperate to see him break the glass ceiling.
Indeed such was the extent that fans were letting the powers that be know about their disapproval of his booking it seemed that as soon as WrestleMania season was out of the way Ziggler was going to become one of the companies top players.
Indeed he won the World title the night after WrestleMania in front of one of the best crowds in WWE history. Their reaction made the moment memorable and it’s an arguable point that it was never going to get better then that night for the real life Nick Nemeth
Then, with the help of a real life concussion Ziggler was stripped of his main selling point which made him stand out, being a cocky heel.
In terms of telling a story what WWE orchestrated at Payback was genius. Ziggler walked in as a heel, Del Rio as the baby face; by the end of the match the roles had been reversed. While not quite the Bret Hart/ Stone Cold story of WrestleMania 13 it was very well done. But did it only benefit Alberto Del Rio? Not just did he become World Champion again but after bombing as a babyface he became relevant again as a heel.
The idea of course is that everyone loves a chase and therefore fans would want Ziggler more than ever to win the World title. But Ziggler has the same flaws as a baby face as the Miz and ironically Alberto Del Rio in that he has too many natural heel tendencies. At least the two mentioned names had the benefit of serious reigns as champions when heels to be taken serious when it came to the babyface turn.
Fans are suddenly meant to treat Ziggler as a hard man, almost serious, when for two years they have seen him have great matches in main events but mostly fail. Yet suddenly Ziggler is expected to be believed in.
It is becoming more and more clear that WWE had no long term plans for Ziggler when they awarded him the Money in the Bank brief case and only booked him to cash it in as they realised they were running out of time before the contract expired . Shockingly Ziggler is chasing his third World title reign and is yet to of won over the McMahons. His first World Title win was more a prop in a storyline with Edge while his second ended in his first defence.
It’s also not helped by WWE showing as little interest in the World title and Smackdown than ever before.
Watch how it will be all Ziggler’s fault when WWE are forced to do a Del Rio and turn him back…
