Dolph Ziggler and the Best WWE Mic Mastery for Week of November 30

At this point in his career, Dolph Ziggler is like a former Broadway actor doing a one-man rendition of Les Miserables in an alleyway.

His performances are tremendous. His passion is infectious. But ultimately, it doesn't really matter.

After defeating Tyler Breeze on Monday's Raw, Ziggler raved about the win backstage in an interview with Tom Phillips. It was the best single piece of mic work any WWE Superstar put on all week. The Showoff sang his own praises in a promo that had comedy, innuendo and surging bravado all in one.

But his bluster doesn't mesh with his booking.

WWE continues to treat Ziggler as an afterthought, a midcarder to round out the show. Ziggler does his best to tell another story. He looks to make every moment a major one, every bout a marquee showdown, regardless of its real-life placement on the card.

On Monday night, Ziggler did just that again.

Chugging a Mountain Dew, he gushed about his victory over Prince Pretty. His jubilation felt real. Ziggler did his best to make this come off like a win that had recharged his momentum.

He explained that he lost to Breeze at Survivor Series because he had lost his focus. In his words, he was "busy searching for the world heavyweight title."

Credit: WWE.com

"I take my eyes off the prize and he steals one," he told Phillips.

It's smart of Ziggler to frame this story as a detour from his pursuit of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Even though he was in the tournament to crown the next titleholder, not many folks see him as a contender right now. WWE certainly doesn't present him that way.

So he took it upon himself to offer a more favorable presentation, one where he is near the top of the WWE ladder.

"The kid can go in the ring, but he's no Dolph Ziggler. But who is?" he said.

Ziggler then put his foot on the gas and belted out a speech about how he ranks among the other WWE stars. It was emotive and powerful, the kind of heartfelt promo Ziggler has made a living on in recent years.

"When you've been here for seven years, beating the best, becoming the best, becoming the measuring stick for the business, walking out there and letting everyone know. I dare you. I dare somebody to outdo me," he said.

This was the heart of a speech that earned praise from Behind the Curtain: Wrestling News:

Really, it should have ended there. That was a fitting climax. But Phillips extended the moment long enough to ask about Lana denying that she had "gone all the way" with Ziggler.

That childish, trite element of the Rusev-Lana story is surely something The Showoff wants no part of. It's hard to advance one's cause as a main event player when answering questions about tepid, fake love affairs.

Ziggler made the most of it, though. He jokingly explained the birds and the bees to Phillips.

"When a man and a woman, or man and a man, or a bee and a bird, all love each other very much," he said before whispering the rest to the interviewer.

For good measure, he added a shot at The Miz. "You're not going to see Miz out there wrestling, right? Not with anybody in my league."

With a short space to work with, Ziggler was both funny and dramatic. He nailed his opportunity here.

The trouble is, though, lines like the one aimed at The Miz come off hollow thanks to how little they mesh with reality.

We won't see The Miz wrestling anyone at Ziggler's level? Not counting Battle Royals, The Miz and Ziggler have faced off a total of 18 times in the last two years, per CageMatch.net.

And all this talk about being the best is hard to buy considering how often Ziggler loses or is left out of the spotlight. Cageside Seats' Sean Rueter nailed it when he wrote, "You'd think Dolph would learn by now that giving himself nicknames that equate to 'I'm good even though I don't win' isn't a path to the top."

Then again, what else is he supposed to do? He's not booked to win consistently, not booked in high-profile feuds. He has to dredge his own narrative out of the swamp he's been given.

All he can do is keep changing his hairstyle and keep up the cocksure talk. That and his superb ring work are all he can control.