Examining How WWE Can Best Book Dolph Ziggler Heading into Survivor Series

Thanks to his position on John Cena's team at the Survivor Series pay-per-view, Dolph Ziggler is back in the spotlight again.

Not only that, but he can also get his career back on track—frankly, he has never truly recovered from his short and awful reign with the World Heavyweight Championship in early 2013—provided he is assisted by some competent booking in the next few weeks, of course.

The first step to reestablishing his credibility is emphasizing his prominence on Team Cena. Ziggler, the first announced member, should be presented onscreen as one of Cena's most trusted and capable allies.

Fans should hear about how the former WWE champion went out of his way to recruit Ziggler to his team and how he considered getting him on his side to be a top priority. Ziggler and Cena probably need to team with each other a lot more in tag matches against The Authority to stress this point.

WWE should also go out of its way to emphasize Ziggler's current career renaissance.

The production crew could play highlight videos of all the great moments from his WWE run, reminding fans that—no matter how badly he's been booked—he is still one of the best and most talented men on the roster.

Of course, perhaps the most crucial thing in the run-up to the Survivor Series event is allowing Ziggler to garner a few clean wins over some top-name stars. It's the only way to guarantee that fans begin taking him seriously as a top guy again.

At the show in St. Louis, Ziggler will also have to perform well.

OK, so it's probably too much to ask that he wins the match for his team or anything like that, but he should last a while and come out of it looking respectable.

A strong performance is necessary if he is to capitalize on his current resurgence. WWE has to make the most of this opportunity.

Credit: WWE.com

Another deeply compelling option would be to turn Ziggler heel at the event and have him join The Authority. WWE programming has teased this over the past couple of weeks, and Triple H seems eager to get the star to leave Cena’s crew and get on his side.

Not only would a defection rocket him back to prominence, it would also return him to his natural role—the star has always been more interesting and dynamic as a bad guy.

It would also make for quite the twist. WWE does look to shock people, after all.

Ideally, WWE will continue to push Ziggler strongly over the next weeks and give him something meaningful to do at Survivor Series on top of that.

Anything else would truly squander his potential and ensure that he gets demoted back to the midcard when this current storyline runs its course.