Ryan Dilbert's 10-Count: Dolph Ziggler Proving Value to WWE in Feud with The Miz

1. The Showoff's Most Engaging Tale  

Dolph Ziggler is a world-class storyteller and a fiery, passionate performer who has often been forced into a dimly lit corner of the WWE stage.

In his quest to take down The Miz, claim the Intercontinental Championship and put a halt to his career tailspin, he has been one of the most compelling figures on WWE TV. Given direction and opportunity, Ziggler is making it clear that he's not the afterthought the company has made him for so long.

Beaten down by WWE's booking of him as a floundering midcarder for years, The Showoff is showing signs of superstardom again.

Collisions with The Miz have allowed him to remind us all of his ability to pour his guts into a microphone and all over a wrestling ring. He has generated pathos as an unraveling babyface and made the IC title chase a major highlight for the SmackDown brand.

Too bad this may be his swan song.

After The Miz refused to even listen to Ziggler's demands for another title shot, The Showoff threw out an incentive that convinced the champ to change his mind. Ziggler told The Miz that if he didn't beat him in their next showdown, he would retire from WWE.

In moments, SmackDown general manager Shane McMahon made it official: Ziggler will take on The Miz at the No Mercy pay-per-view on Oct. 9, where he will either go home with the IC title or simply go home for good.

The high stakes introduced into the narrative elevated it right away. Ziggler's eruption of emotion in front of his foil, his parents and his hometown made it great theater.

He made us believe that his steady stream of losses have worn on him, have eaten away at his once-robust confidence. His eyes grew tearful as he talked of his love of the squared circle. Ziggler played the puppeteer, yanking strings to elicit emotion from the audience.

Miami Herald columnist Scott Fishman praised Ziggler's mic work in that segment:

Ziggler has been delivering like this for a long time. It was just hard to notice because it was during post-Raw YouTube clips in stories with no traction.

WWE has since given him a goal, an obstacle and a prominent spot on the SmackDown card. And the results have been tremendous.

His verbal clashes with The Miz have been some of the best stuff on SmackDown over the past few weeks.

Ziggler and The Miz produced one of Backlash's best matches. Their rematch on Sept. 20 was arguably even better.

It doesn't matter that The Miz and Ziggler have clashed seemingly more often than Yale has played Harvard in college football. It doesn't matter that Ziggler has already won the IC crown four times. These rivals have churned out must-watch TV.

Indy wrestler Gran Akuma called it WWE's best feud going:

The Miz has to get plenty of credit for that, being such a great heel. WWE Creative has done well to highlight both men's strengths.

But Ziggler is doing what he does just when the WWE fanbase starts to sleep on him—produce home run, compelling performances. 

As John Cena's rival in 2012, as a key member of Team Cena in 2014 and now as a man risking his livelihood for a rematch, Ziggler has been an intriguing piece of the WWE puzzle. He produces top-notch entertainment in and out of the ring when given something viable to work with.

Even after such a stop-and-start career, he manages to make one care whether he wins or loses. His final defeat may be coming at No Mercy, and Ziggler will force WWE to regret not appreciating his artistry more.

2. The 400-Day Club

The New Day is in exclusive company. The trio has now held the tag team titles for 401 days and counting.

Since the era of WrestleMania, only a handful of champions have held tight to their gold for that long. 

Wrestler(s)	Championship	Days as Champion
Hulk Hogan	WWF Championship	1,474
Rockin' Robin	Women's Championship	502
Demolition	World Tag Team Championship	478
Honky Tonk Man	Intercontinental Championship	454
Trish Stratus	Women's Championship	448
Sherri Martel	Women's Championship	441
CM Punk	WWE Championship	434
Randy Savage	Intercontinental Championship	414

To surpass Demolition's record reign, The New Day would have to remain champions until mid-December, surviving challenges at the Hell in a Cell and Survivor Series PPVs.

That's far from impossible at this point.

3. Throwback Video of the Week: Dude Love and Steve Austin

Raw general manager Mick Foley created an unexpected tag team on Monday's Raw when he paired rivals Sheamus and Cesaro together. The bruisers bickered for much of their first match and looked as intent on clobbering each other as they did the opposition. 

Foley knows a thing or two about reluctant tag teams. Not only was he half of The Rock 'N' Sock Connection and The Rock's constant object of hate, but he also partnered with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

Austin refused to team with Mankind, Foley's leather-clad, sadistic alter ego. That inspired the arrival of Dude Love, the beaming, peace-loving character with a love for tie-dye:  

Love and Austin ended up winning the World Tag Team Championship in 1997. It's easy to imagine Sheamus and Cesaro sharing that same level of success if they can stop swinging at each other for long enough.

4. NXT No Longer on Top

Last year, it wasn't just the cool thing to say; one could legitimately argue that NXT was the best WWE show each week.

The TakeOver specials are still excellent, but the TV product has not been as steady in 2016. SmackDown has taken over as WWE's must-watch program thanks to its superior stories and in-ring action. Wednesday nights, on the other hand, have been underwhelming far too often of late.

NXT is suffering through a difficult transition.

Its roster has been gutted in the last six months. After WrestleMania, Crews, The Vaudevillains and others made the jump to the main roster. The July draft snatched up Finn Balor and Nia Jax. Bayley moved to Raw soon afterward.

While Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe are flourishing as the brand's top stars, NXT's midcard is thin and filled with unproven commodities.

Eventually, marquee stars will emerge, be it No Way Jose or Tye Dillinger, but for now NXT is in rebuild mode. That will be tough to watch at times.

5. Mega TJP

T.J. Perkins may not have the promo part of the wrestling package down, but he sure knows how to make an entrance.

In his main-roster debut, the cruiserweight champ strode down the ramp at Clash of Champions while paying tribute to video games of the past. Pro Wrestling Sheet posted a clip of the throwback entrance:

Here's hoping his Raw tenure is more like Street Fighter and less like Shaq-Fu in terms of how it is remembered.

6. Ryback to Follow in CM Punk's Footsteps?

Ryback left WWE after a messy divorce two years after Punk did the same. The Big Guy then torched his bridges by bashing WWE on tell-all podcasts. That was Punk's post-departure approach, too.

And now, after Punk attempted to transition to MMA at UFC 203, Ryback may be doing the same. Dave Meltzer reported for MMA Fighting that Ryback "has been in talks with Bellator MMA, although they are not close to a deal."

Ryback has trained with professional boxers. He's a beefy, powerful guy.

But like Punk, he has zero MMA experience. Should he step into the cage for Bellator, chances are he'll mimic Punk's path by going 0-1 out of the gate.

7. Checking the SmackDown Stopwatch

Airtime hasn't been a steady resource for SmackDown's women, but it's been plentiful enough to earn some praise.

Since the brand split in late July, there have been 10 episodes of SmackDown. Women's champ Becky Lynch and the Superstars clamoring for a chance at her crown have often been afforded solid time in the ring.

According to the Internet Wrestling Database, three matches in that span have gone over the 10-minute mark. SmackDown featured over six minutes of women's action six times since the brand split.

On the flip side, though, SmackDown on Aug. 2 had no official women's matches, while Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss on Aug. 23 went just three minutes and 45 seconds, which felt like an epic compared to the 36-second match pitting Naomi and Nikki Bella vs. Natalya and Carmella on Sept. 20.

Things aren't perfect, but the division is headed in the right direction on the blue brand.

There are currently two women-centric stories underway: Bliss' pursuit of the SmackDown Women's Championship and Carmella's issues with Bella. The women have opened the show several times of late.

And Bliss vs. Lynch and Carmella vs. Bella are getting far more attention that whatever is going on with Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews.

8. High Stakes, High Drama

Ziggler is far from the first wrestler to risk everything for glory.

When stars like Ric Flair and Randy Savage have put their careers on the line, as Ziggler will against The Miz at No Mercy, the results have often been tremendous. When one's very existence in the WWE world is at risk, winning and losing becomes so much more important.

That has led to great bouts like these, where defeat meant a forced exit from the ring:

• Randy Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior: WrestleMania VII (Retirement Match)
• Ric Flair vs. Vader: Starrcade 1993 (Flair's career on the line)
• Triple H vs. Cactus Jack: No Way Out 2000 (Hell in a Cell, Jack's career on the line)
• Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair: WrestleMania XXIV (Career-Threatening Match)
• Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker: WrestleMania XXVI (Career vs. Streak) 

The retirements didn't always stick, though.

Michaels' walking away after his loss to Undertaker is one of the rare cases where the end truly meant the end. It's hard to believe Ziggler will follow Michaels' lead at 36 years old, but it will be mighty fun watching his career hang in the balance regardless.

9. Getting to Know the Cruiserweights

Stellar in-ring action is a given when Perkins and his fellow cruiserweights collide in the ring. WWE's focus in the early stages of Raw's introduction of the cruiserweight division should be on getting fans invested in these wrestlers.

Rich Swann, Gran Metalik, Cedric Alexander and the other new additions are unknown commodities for a number of fans. Their athleticism will win the audience over to a point, but WWE has to also present these Superstars as three-dimensional characters.

Swann needs space to show off his infectious energy. WWE must create more mystique around Gran Metalik, much the way Lucha Underground does its wrestlers.

And the more stories WWE can tell with Alexander and his peers, the better.

It's a difficult balancing act to pull off with so many new faces walking in at the same time, but the cruiserweight division will be a far more valuable commodity if the company succeeds. 

10. Mick Foley on Cesaro vs. Sheamus

The climax was not the climax in the Best of Seven Series between Cesaro and Sheamus.

Tied 3-3 going into Sunday's Clash of Champions PPV, the two warriors' battle ended in a no-contest. That left many a fan unsatisfied. The frustrating finish drew a lot of ire from WWE's fanbase online, something Foley wasn't happy about.

The Raw GM tweeted:

That's a hypocritical response from a man who smashed a TV with a baseball bat in protest of a match not going the way he wanted. 

A lot of people didn't like The Sopranos or Seinfeld finales. It doesn't invalidate their fandom. 

Cesaro and Sheamus' apex didn't deliver a definitive conclusion. And the audience has every right to react negatively to it. 

Sometimes we're hard on the things we love, even to the point of swinging a weapon.

All championship history information courtesy of WWE.com.