The unfortunate thing is that the way Ziggler’s being booked lately is pretty much characteristic of his entire career trajectory so far: transitional, floating around in semi-big-time relevancy. Like Edge before he truly ascended to main event status late in 2006, Ziggler has been hovering at an expectant level for at least a year now, waiting for something he can truly grab onto to propel himself upwards; and he, like Edge, is being given a select few opportunities here and there, but they don’t really turn out to be substantial. And the reason why they’re not substantial is because those in charge are, for some reason, cautious of handing him the real thing.
Naturally compounding this problem is the fact that the audience has deemed Dolph Ziggler ready to be in that next level. And he has earned that trust by proving that he has the requisite skills of an elite Superstar, but we’ll get into that a little later. Now, all of this obviously wouldn’t be a problem if Ziggler wasn’t a good talent, but he is, and this act of holding him back is why a lot of fans have gotten behind his cause. Luckily, so far Creative has not fully turned him into the latest underdog victim of their own neglect, the way they did the Miz and, to a smaller extent, the team of Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins. (That particular storyline is quickly becoming the go-to angle for lowercard Superstars, and not only is it very lazy in a manner that is self-aware, but is cheap and doesn’t even really help the involved wrestler or wrestlers.) The Show-Off gimmick is a refreshing, defying change of pace, signifying that Dolph Ziggler is not about to take any of this lying down.
And even if he wasn’t saddled with a gimmick where he whines about not being given opportunities despite his hard work, that doesn’t automatically negate the fact that there is, in fact, a problem with the way he is being handled by the Powers That Be. However, that much is a moot point and needs not be said – we can go on all day about what matches he needs to be in, who he needs to feud with, and what titles he needs to have, and that’s all agreeable and, quite frankly, pretty obvious. What is interesting to note, however, is how much this neglect goes beyond the kind of matches he’s booked in and whether or not he wins the really important ones.
For instance, have you ever considered that maybe, just maybe, Creative – or whoever’sreally in charge of overseeing the direction of this character, maybe it is Vince McMahon, or maybe not – is intentionally sabotaging Dolph Ziggler? (Other than the terrible name he was given?)
Take a physical specimen like Ziggler, who is athletically gifted enough to have a wide arsenal of damaging offensive moves at his disposal. Have you ever counted how many different moves he can perform in a single lengthy match? He dishes out a lot, right? Tell me, then, why does he finish off his foes with what is basically a glorified back bump, when he is easily able to hit a reverse powerslam that has the potential to break an opponent’s nose? Or, why does he apply a flimsy-looking sleeper hold that not only hasn’t finished off somebody in forever, but is easily powered out of by even the smallest opponents? Why give him a legdrop facebuster, that has never ever put away an opponent for the three count, as a tertiary finisher?
And this is important, because the finisher is a simple yet vital narrative measure of just how decisively a competitor can defeat his opponent, and that is completely communicated through visual impact. The problem they’ve created with Ziggler is that it either doesn’t look good or damaging (the Zig Zag), or it simply doesn’t work (the Sleeper Hold and Fameasser). How do you create a believable show-off character when he can’t even truly show off at the most crucial moment of a match?
The closest similar case off the top of my head is John Morrison. Morrison is a guy who is also athletically gifted, but he had this same problem of not being able to find a true finisher – that is to say, a move that truly looked like it had the inherent capacity to finish a match. However, seeing him use all of his trademark moves without any changes at a show that had none of the pressures of his old working environment implied that he was indeed daft enough to continue using a moonsault that never truly connected. (In contrast, MVP finished off Chris Masters with the Drive-By Kick – a move he was obviously made to stop using back in the WWE.) That means two things: either Ziggler himself is just as daft, or someone is intentionally giving him less-than-desirable finishes. And given the way he exerts a lot more physical effort not only to be noticed, but to steal the show, I’m leaning towards the latter scenario.
And one has to wonder: Why? Does somebody not like him? Does he not politick enough backstage? Is there someone still not convinced of his abilities, despite his fitting the physique-centric mold winners are made of, way more than, say, Edge (who was no longer in the best physical shape of his life when he ascended to the main event)? Are they doing this just to mock and spite him, like one would mock an overeager friend who tries too hard to impress?
The company should consider themselves fortunate that Ziggler isn’t too frustrated at the moment to try and seek another place that would better appreciate his skills. Any lesser company would score a huge steal if he were ever to land on their lap.
But, really, how much longer can he – and we – keep waiting for a real show to show off?