So as I have been watching wrestling lately I have (as usual) noticed something. I have been paying attention to someone. You would think he would be someone who was a champion of some kind. But I have to admit, the champs on all of the shows have not been performing up to par as of late. You all know how I feel about the WWE champ CM Punk. The World champ Daniel Bryan has not been a good champion at all. Santino Marella just won the US title, and let’s get real; he is somewhat of a side show. And though I think Cody Rhodes has a big future in the business, I have hated his persona since he was put in that mask (which I never really understood, anyway) almost a year ago. So I am not talking about any of them. But there is one guy who stands out as maybe the best pound for pound wrestler in the WWE. He has been stealing the show on Raw and SmackDown for a while, and it’s time for someone to give him credit. This person is Dolph Ziggler.
Ziggler was a very successful amateur wrestler. In his high school in Ohio, he set the record for the most pins with 82. In college he continued to wrestle. At Kent State University he also set the record for pins, which would later be broken. In college he was also a 3 time amateur wrestling champion.
He broke into WWE in 2006 as a member of the Spirit Squad. The Spirit Squad was a group of cheerleaders. Yes, I know it sounds dumb, but Ziggler stood out. After that gimmick had run its course (which wasn’t that long, Ziggler ventured out on his own.
He was sent down to the WWE developmental territory in 2007 to improve. Ziggler resurfaced with a new haircut, and a new attitude. In 2008 Ziggler came back to Raw, where he was not very successful. But it should be noted, that at that time, Raw was very top heavy (but I guess that’s how it has always been since the brand extension). So Ziggler did not have many wins back on Raw. During the 2009 Draft, he was moved over to SmackDown. On SmackDown, he challenged MVP for the US title. Though he did not win, he was showing signs of being ready to move up the ranks.
For the next 6 months he would try to acquire some gold. He tried and tried to take the belt off of MVP, and did not win it. Then when the Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio came to SmackDown, Ziggler set his sights on that belt. But still he could not break through. Not until he decided to date Vickie Guerrero that he would see some success.
In July of 2010, they started dating, and he once again had his sights set on the IC belt. This time he would defeat Kofi Kingston, to win his 1st singles title in WWE. After that, he would go on to have great matches with Kingston over that belt that entire summer (one of my 1st blogs was about how great of a set of matches they were having for that IC belt). Ziggler held that belt for 5 months, before losing it back to Kingston. Funny thing though, that same night, he became the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Title.
Now here is where things get a little silly. Ziggler had a set of matches with the champion, Edge. At this time, Vickie was the GM of SmackDown. Vickie and Edge have bad history with each other, and because of that, Vickie wanted to get the belt off of Edge, and on to her new man. In one of their title matches, Edge could not use his finishing move, the spear. If he did, Ziggler would be rewarded the World title. At the end of the match, the ref was knocked out (of course), and Edge used his spear. He pinned Ziggler, and was awarded the title. Then a week later, Vickie awarded the title to Edge. Then the regular SmackDown GM, Teddy Long came back, stripped the title, and ordered them to have a match for the belt, where Edge could use the spear. He did, and won the title. The reason why this is so silly is because Ziggler is regarded as a 1 time world champ, because of this. I think that is just silly, but that is just me.
After Ziggler could not wrestle the title off of Edge, he was moved back to Raw, and set his sights on the US title. At the Capital Punishment Pay per View 2011, Ziggler defeated (you guessed it) Kingston to win the US title. Ziggler was very successful as the US champ, holding the belt for 6 months, until he lost it to the internet sensation, Zack Ryder.
Though he is not a champ of any kind, anymore, that has not stopped Ziggler from having some of the best matches lately. He pushed the #1 contender for the World title, Sheamus, to the limit, a few weeks ago on Raw. He has been outperforming most everyone in wrestling. I am telling you now; you are really looking at, not only a show out, but a future Champion.
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