WWE: 7 Superstars Dolph Ziggler Must Defeat to Become Main Event

Dolph Ziggler is a main eventer just waiting to happen.

He has it all: the look, the charisma, the mic skills (yes, he's got them now) and, perhaps most importantly, the in-ring ability.

Yet, even after tasting the main event twice by competing for World titles at the Royal Rumble in both 2011 and 2012, Ziggler can't seem to stay there. Every time it looks like he's going to be elevated for good, something happens that brings him right back down to the mid-card.

I'm a big Ziggler fan and think that the WWE should push him to the moon. But since the company can't seem to get behind him for the long-term, I'm going to spell things out for them.

Here are seven superstars who Ziggler must feud with and defeat to become a bona fide main eventer.

7. Rey Mysterio

Whether you like Rey Mysterio or not, think he's too small or hate him, he is a top star in the WWE and one of its biggest babyfaces.

We've seen guys in the recent past, such as Cody Rhodes, Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk, go through Mysterio in order to rise up the card. And that's exactly what needs to happen with Dolph Ziggler.

Mysterio and Ziggler feuded over the Intercontinental Championship way back in 2009. But Ziggler has improved dramatically since then and could use another feud with Mysterio to become a long-term main eventer.

Given Mysterio's small stature, it might not look overly impressive for Ziggler to beat him. But Mysterio is so adored by the fans that having Ziggler feud with him would be a good way to get Ziggler over as an extremely hated heel.

The fans would loathe Ziggler if he beats the crap out of the tiny Mysterio. But the biggest reason why I'd like to see this feud again is because of how good the matches would be.

There's no doubt that these two could put on a great match or series of matches that would top what they did at Night of Champions in 2009.

6. The Big Show

Words cannot express how tired I am of The Big Show.

I'm so sick of his tired babyface routine and of seeing him squash random lower-card workers or beat up-and-coming superstars every month. It's got to stop.

It's clear that the WWE is intent on shoving Big Show down our throats, though. So if they're going to continue to give him a high-profile role in the company, then they might as well do it the right way.

That right way is to have Big Show put over younger superstars. I'm talking, of course, about guys like Dolph Ziggler.

While I don't really view Show as a main eventer, the WWE does, and they might as well capitalize on that by using him to make other superstars look good. Throw Ziggler into a feud with Big Show, let Ziggler actually get the best of Show, and it will establish Ziggler as a threat to the WWE's top dogs.

Unfortunately, I fear that anyone who feuds with Big Show is eventually going to be squashed sooner or later.

5. Triple H

I guess I'm dreaming here, huh?

At this point in his career, Triple H is a "special attraction" wrestler who is only going to compete in a handful of matches throughout the year. But when you look at any potential feuds for him, he's already gone up against a majority of the WWE's top stars.

Triple H has had some sort of recent rivalry with The Miz, CM Punk, John Cena, Randy Orton, Sheamus and others, so why not pair him with an up-and-comer like Dolph Ziggler?

I don't know about you, but I have no interest in seeing Triple H feud with any of those guys I've mentioned again.

Yet, I do see the value he brings as a wrestler and a character. It's just a matter of how the WWE wants to use him.

I'd love to see something similar to what Triple H did with Sheamus in 2010, where he feuds with the rising star. Only this time, the rising star is Ziggler, and the rising star should win.

Triple H and Ziggler are two of the most versatile performers in the company in that they can work with just about anybody. So these two could have a great feud and series of matches that helps establish Ziggler as a force to be reckoned with.

4. Sheamus

Dolph Ziggler had a recent match with Sheamus on Raw, but it was a glorified squash, with Ziggler bumping his ass off just to make Sheamus look good.

Now, we need a legitimate feud between these two, because Sheamus has established himself as the No. 4 babyface in all of the WWE.

If you want to get Ziggler over as a heel, you're not going to do so by having him feud with Brodus Clay or Santino Marella in some sort of comedy tag team rivalry.

You're going to do so by putting him up against the babyfaces that can be taken seriously as main eventers, and given that he's the World Heavyweight Champion, Sheamus obviously fits that bill.

No one is ever going to take Ziggler seriously as a main-event-caliber wrestler if he's stuck with Jack Swagger in mid-card or tag team feuds and is unable to grow on his own.

Ziggler needs to fly solo and go after someone like Sheamus, who has destroyed just about everyone in his path over the last several months.

If Ziggler was able to end Sheamus' dominant run over the SmackDown brand, then fans would really start to pay attention to him as a legitimate main eventer and World title threat.

3. Randy Orton

What do Mark Henry, Christian, Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes have in common?

They were all elevated up the card in 2011, thanks at least partially to their feuds with...Randy Orton.

It's time to add Dolph Ziggler to that list, because a feud with Orton could do wonders for "The Showoff."

Ziggler and Orton have already had a number of TV matches against each other over the past year, and all of them were very good to great.

Now, imagine what these two could do if given a feud that extends across multiple pay-per-views. I really mean it when I say that I think their series of matches could rival or top the fantastic Orton-Christian series from 2011.

Orton and Ziggler have some amazing chemistry, and given the way that Orton lost to all those guys I mentioned at some point in 2011, I see no reason why he can't lose to Ziggler, too.

It's not going to hurt Orton to put on multiple phenomenal matches and lose at least one of them. 

2. CM Punk

I know what you're thinking: Dolph Ziggler beat CM Punk multiple times at the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012.

But come on, we all know that every single one of those victories was tainted and only happened to further the feud between Punk and John Laurinaitis that was going on at the time.

So, when I say that Ziggler needs to beat Punk to move to the main event, I'm talking about a legitimate victory that doesn't include outside interference and perhaps is even possibly totally clean.

The WWE really screwed the pooch with the first Ziggler-Punk feud, because Ziggler was essentially the third wheel of Punk's rivalry with Laurinaitis.

We need a redo that actually focuses on the beef between Punk and Ziggler, and lets them be the ones who tell the story both on the mic and in the ring. That Ziggler-Punk feud had the potential to be one of the WWE's best all-around rivalries of 2012. But since it was booked so badly the first time around, let's do it again.

And while we're at it, let's have Ziggler go over Punk to win his first-ever WWE Championship.

1. John Cena

This one is a no-brainer.

Dolph Ziggler wants to be at the top of the WWE? Then, he's going to have to beat the face of the company.

I know that John Cena hardly ever loses clean, but after his WrestleMania loss to The Rock and his feud with Brock Lesnar, it will be the perfect time to have a vulnerable Cena lose to an up-and-comer like Ziggler.

The bottom line is that, at some point, Cena is going to have to start losing every once in a while, and I'd love to see Ziggler as the first non-main event guy to beat him.

We've seen Cena and Ziggler wrestle multiple times on TV in the past, and as was the case with Orton, Ziggler had a ton of chemistry with Cena.

When Cena has the right opponent, he has great matches, and it definitely looks like Ziggler could be the right opponent for him.

We need to see these two men feud for the first time because it could be great from both a rivalry and a wrestling standpoint, and a win for Ziggler would undoubtedly elevate him to new heights.

Note: As part of the new WWE blog, I'll be asking all of the B/R wrestling readers for questions for a new mailbag that I will post on Fridays. It will be a slideshow featuring 10 to 20 questions and answers on a wide range of topics. You can submit questions either through Formspring or Twitter, and the best ones will be answered in the B/R mailbag.