Dolph Ziggler Has Lost All Momentum Heading into WWE WrestleMania 2015

Former world champion Dolph Ziggler was one of the hottest stars in the WWE at the tail end of 2014, but the company has dropped the ball with the Superstar and lost all of his momentum heading into WrestleMania 31.

Even more so than Daniel Bryan, Ziggler is the forgotten star on the road to WrestleMania.

To understand the rise and fall of Ziggler, you have to go back six months. With both Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns injured, “The Showoff” stepped up huge and was one of the biggest draws alongside Dean Ambrose. Ziggler would hold the Intercontinental Championship as well, but he dropped the belt in a stunning move before Survivor Series.

At the November pay-per-view, it was Ziggler who got the pinfall victory with a little help from Sting to put The Authority out of power. WWE took the time to make Ziggler look incredible during that match by having him defeat three men to steal the victory.

The departure of The Authority resulted in Ziggler teaming up with John Cena, Ryback and Erick Rowan to take on what remained of The Authority, but it was the show-stealing Ladder match for the IC title against Luke Harper at TLC that showed his worth to the company.

At that moment, Ziggler was the biggest star in WWE, but everything was about to change.

While Ziggler was the hottest name in the sport to close 2014, big things were happening around him. Not only was The Authority brought back to power just two months after being removed, but Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan returned to action within a few weeks of each other.

With the focus shifting to everyone else, Ziggler’s slide began immediately when he lost the Intercontinental Championship to Bad News Barrett and was subsequently fired by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, removing him from television for weeks and stunting his momentum.

Since the start of 2015, Ziggler is 6-6 in televised matches (h/t ProFightDB.com) and has lost clean far too often. Add in the fact that several of his wins came via disqualification or count-out, and his record is even less impressive for one of the top stars in the company.

While Ziggler should be entering the biggest show of the year with a marquee storyline and tons of momentum, he has been thrown into a meaningless Intercontinental Championship feud and has no discernible program with anyone.

Even Bryan wanted better for Ziggler at WrestleMania:

Ziggler is being wasted. He is one of the best in-ring workers in the company and he has improved by leaps and bounds on the mic. There is also no denying the genuine crowd reactions whenever “The Showoff” struts his way down to the ring.

Instead of capitalizing on the momentum Ziggler had created to close 2014, WWE has handed the ball to other Superstars and cast the Survivor Series hero aside once again.

At 34 years old, Ziggler’s window of opportunity to be a viable world championship contender is closing, and the WWE is doing nothing to help him reach the top of the mountain.

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