Examining Ways to Improve Dolph Ziggler vs. Cesaro Feud

Considering how good their matches together have been, we should care more about the Dolph Ziggler vs. Cesaro feud.

The trouble is there hasn't been enough animosity between them. WWE is not focusing enough on Cesaro's chase for the Intercontinental Championship and is seemingly throwing the story of this rivalry together at the last minute.

Making Cesaro more of a threat and having him collide with The Showoff both physically and verbally will turn this pedestrian feud into what it's capable of becoming.

Before Hell in a Cell arrives, Cesaro needs more victories.

Signature Wins for the King of Swing

There's little reason to believe that Cesaro is going to win when he faces Ziggler again. At the last pay-per-view, he lost to Sheamus. In fact, as one can see from the results at TheHistoryofWWE.com, Cesaro hasn't won a pay-per-view match since Extreme Rules in May.

In his last two efforts against Ziggler with the title on the line, he came up short.

Per CageMatch.net, (note: link contains Superstars spoilers) the last time he won a singles match on Raw was Aug. 25, when he earned the right to challenge Sheamus at Night of Champions by knocking off Rob Van Dam.

Since that pay-per-view, the Swiss strongman has compiled a record of just 3-5. 

That has left him looking like less of a challenger than he could be. If he were on a hot streak, putting on displays of dominance, the audience would be forced to take him more seriously. Fans would begin to wonder if Ziggler's time as champ was running out.

That drama doesn't exist right now.

Cesaro's biggest one-on-one win in the last few months came against Jack Swagger. Their battle on the Sept. 30 edition of Main Event is the kind of match we need to see more.

Credit: WWE.com

Cesaro should notch victories over Big E and one of The Usos. He should look at the camera after leaving his foe out cold and tell Ziggler that he's coming for him next.

That's how to get folks excited to see him pursue a title.

Acts of Violence

The story of Cesaro and Ziggler's conflict is sorely lacking in aggression.

There are no lasting images of The King of Swing clobbering the IC champ. There's no added motivation for either man going into the next fight. The company has Cesaro sit in commentary and do little else.

To amp up the intensity between these men, Cesaro simply has to act less civilized and more like his heel brethren.

In 1984, Roddy Piper broke a coconut over Jimmy Snuka's head, leading to a great rivalry. Terry Funk kick-started his feud with Ric Flair with a piledriver onto a table at WrestleWar 1989. Randy Orton provided a more recent example when he ambushed Roman Reigns before his bout with Kane.

In each instance, there was a reason to hate the villain and feel empathy for the hero. Bad blood increased. Their next meetings then meant so much more.

That element is missing from Cesaro and Ziggler's narrative. They have yet to be brutal with each other.

The next time Ziggler competes in a match, Cesaro should enter the ring, offering his hand in congratulations. He could then yank The Showoff out of the ring and throw him through a table or lock him in a choke hold until the medical staff needs to attend to him.

The ante would then be upped. Ziggler would have a need to get revenge, and there will be plenty more reason to be invested when they collide again.

More Face-to-Face

Cesaro and Ziggler's feud needs a trash-talking session or two as well. The challenger has expressed his desire to be IC champ while working commentary, but that's too busy a stage for him to be making those statements.

WWE should insert Cesaro in a backstage interview with Renee Young and let him lay out how much he wants that title and how much he dislikes Ziggler. 

There's a natural juxtaposition to exploit here. Ziggler is the more showy of the two. Cesaro is the no-frills, throwback grappler. Perhaps he can be annoyed with the champion's antics and the direction of the WWE. He can rant about wanting to return to the golden age, where wrestling mattered more than anything else.

That would be much better than the slight annoyance Cesaro has shown for his opponent on screen and on Twitter:

Then Ziggler should have a chance to retort, saying that Cesaro is too old-fashioned and that he can't hang with the faster-paced WWE of today.

These suggestions aren't exactly Pulitzer Prize-winning stories, but they're all this feud needs. The clearer each man's motivations are and the more tension that builds between them, the better.

That will be especially easy to accomplish if Cesaro and Ziggler's feud has become personal by the time they argue backstage, should Cesaro present a daunting challenge.

WWE doesn't need to give these warriors an hour of every Raw, but more airtime and more attention will elevate a feud pitting two great talents against each other.