WWE: The Curious Booking of Dolph Ziggler vs. Randy Orton on Raw

Eight days ago, Dolph Ziggler wrestled CM Punk at the Royal Rumble for the WWE Championship.

Seven days ago, he lost cleanly to Randy Orton on Monday Night Raw.

WWE booking at its finest.

I am attempting to keep this all in perspective, so I will say that this is not necessarily the end of the world for the Zig Zag man.

Great job on that nickname, Booker.

After all, Dolph was not exactly spotlighted as the heel who could not lose, the proverbial force to be reckoned with, who had climbed his way up to main event level.  The truth is, when it came to WWE Champion CM Punk, Ziggler’s pinfall wins over him came courtesy of more than one distraction.

Dolph always seemed to slide in the back door, and take advantage of every situation, to one-up the Voice of the Voiceless.  There’s nothing wrong with that, of course.  Dolph is a heel, and he was simply doing what heels do.  It’s kind of their thing.

So, Ziggler was not really a top-tier Superstar who was pulled back down to Earth in the span of two days.  It’s important for fans to realize that.

It’s also important for fans to realize that Dolph had a great match against Punk at the Rumble.

Period.

Dolph rose to the occasion, proving that yes, he is indeed worth a second look from anyone who may have doubted that he has what it takes to be a big-time player in WWE.  He brought his A-game, and even though he lost, for me there is no doubt that he belonged in that spot with the WWE Champion.

So, when his match against Randy Orton was announced on Raw, I was left with one thought.

Let’s see how they handle this one.

Orton had just returned to WWE, following a spot where he was “thrown” down a flight of stairs by Wade Barrett.  He had some definite hype surrounding him, and he did not lose a step when it came to his ring work.  

To put it another way, he was still Randy Orton.  And, Randy Orton tends to win matches.

It’s not a knock against him, that much needs to be made clear.  Orton was the man to put over Mark Henry for the World title, not to mention giving Cody Rhodes the rub during their feud.  And, Randy has done more than anyone ever expected he would do for Barrett.

Wade is becoming the Superstar that many of us thought he could be, and that is thanks in large part, to Randy Orton.

But, all things considered, having Randy square off against Dolph was perhaps the wrong move.

Randy could not lose the match, even if it had been due to outside interference.  We’ve been down that road a few times already, with Barrett costing Orton one victory after another, against Dolph himself.

To do it again, just as Randy had returned to action, would have been overkill.

On the other hand, Dolph could not lose the match either.  He did just work CM Punk for the WWE Championship the night before, and though he came up short, he was still by all rights, the number one contender.  

Losing to Randy would have made the statement that Ziggler, the man who was good enough for a WWE title match at the Royal Rumble, simply did not have enough in him to defeat two top-caliber Superstars on back-to-back nights.

This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened in WWE, as fans are often left scratching their heads in response to a curious booking move on TV.  And, the truth is, this is likely not the last time it will happen.

Monday Night Raw deserves high-profile matches, and Randy Orton versus Dolph Ziggler is a match that the company obviously feels fits the bill.  Nothing wrong with that.  Dolph gets more air time to prove he deserves his share of the spotlight, and Randy gets to show what he can do in front of the man who believes he can best him, Wade Barrett.

It’s a win-win, right?

For me, not so much.  Again, it’s not really the end of the world, but I just find myself questioning moves of this nature.  How can fans take Dolph Ziggler seriously as a WWE title contender when he loses to a guy who is not currently in World title contention?

Yeah, that guy is Randy Orton, I get that.

So, while attempting to keep this all in perspective, I will put it behind me and move on to the next Raw.  What will happen tonight?  How will Dolph Ziggler be used, or perhaps, misused?

I suppose we’ll all find out together.