10 Moments That Have Defined Dolph Ziggler's WWE Career
On October 9 at WWE's No Mercy pay-per-view, Dolph Ziggler will challenge The Miz for the WWE Intercontinental Championship in a match that may prove to be Ziggler's final with the sports-entertainment empire.
A veteran of the McMahon family-owned squared circle for a decade, The Showoff has done it all over the course of his career, winning championships and stealing shows out from underneath the most celebrated Superstars ever.
For everything he has accomplished, though, his career could wind down on a sour note. Will the most selfless Superstar in the sport, known as much for his willingness to put others over and build new stars in the process, go out on his back while staring at the lights and having another opportunity missed?
Or will he seize the moment, just as he did against John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Alberto Del Rio, Triple H and Seth Rollins, en route to another epic performance and championship victory?
Fans will have to tune into the WWE Network Sunday night at 8 p.m. ET to find out.
In the event that it is the final time Ziggler competes for the company, relive these 10 matches that have defined the career of the most giving, show-stealing and, perhaps, wildly underutilized performer in professional wrestling.
10. The Vickie Guerrero Affair (2010-12)
1 of 10When history looks at Ziggler's career, there may be no element more important to getting him over to the masses than his on-screen relationship with Vickie Guerrero.
Before he hooked up with the obnoxious authority figure, he was a good hand who could be counted on to deliver strong performances every night. After, he was a legitimate star, a guy fans loved to hate and a Superstar capable of bigger and better things than anyone could have imagined.
While Ziggler's work spoke for itself, he needed the spark that Guerrero provided to generate the reactions and push he needed to succeed at the next level.
Their chemistry was strong, and the despicable manner in which the pretty boy clearly used Guerrero for her power helped establish him as a pathetic manipulator.
It was an essential booking decision that set up Ziggler for greater success.
9. Rey Mysterio, SummerSlam and the Intercontinental Title (August 23, 2009)
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The SummerSlam pay-per-view in August 2009 brought with it Ziggler's greatest opportunity to secure championship gold in his first full year with the main roster.
It was there that he challenged Rey Mysterio for the WWE Intercontinental Championship in the opening contest of the evening.
Still not the polished wrestler he would become, Ziggler still managed to hang with Mysterio move for move. The result was a dramatic title bout that had fans in Los Angeles believing for a moment that the relative newcomer would be able to outlast the former world titleholder.
Ziggler did not, but he did come away from the bout more popular than ever before. His performance earned acclaim and put the emphasis on management to push him going forward.
8. Z! True Long Island Story (2011)
3 of 10Z! True Long Island Story may have been a star-making YouTube vehicle for Zack Ryder, but it also provided Ziggler the opportunity to showcase a personality that he was never allowed to display on Raw or SmackDown.
Cocky, arrogant, sarcastic and charismatic, he became as big a part of the show as Ryder. More importantly, as a multi-time midcard champion, he added credibility to the project. At every turn, he was putting Ryder over and at the same time laying the groundwork for a rivalry that would conclude at the December 2011 TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view.
On that night, Ziggler dropped the United States Championship to Ryder in front of The Broski's hometown fans.
Already an established star for WWE, Ziggler selflessly went out of his way to elevate Ryder. He did the job for his friend, proving more willing to get another young star over than management, which buried Ryder weeks later in decisive fashion, was willing.
7. Toppling John Cena (December 16, 2012)
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John Cena has been the top star in professional wrestling during the entirety of Ziggler's run with WWE. Like him or hate him, working with Cena means something. Late in 2012, Ziggler had that opportunity thanks to a soap opera-esque storyline involving AJ Lee and inappropriate relations on Cena's part.
The storyline culminated in a ladder match for the Money in the Bank briefcase, the stakes never higher for The Showoff.
Ziggler would, as he had done so often throughout his career, bump around the squared circle to make every move look even more painful and damaging than it already was. Late in the match, it appeared as though Cena would grab hold of the briefcase, stripping Ziggler of his guaranteed championship opportunity.
Then Lee appeared and shoved the ladder over, sending Cena crashing to the mat below. Moments later, Ziggler scaled the rungs and emerged victorious, securing arguably his biggest win to date.
His on-screen pairing with Lee would earn him more television time than ever and a push the likes with which he has only been teased since.
6. DX and the Squad (June 25, 2006)
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Before there was Ziggler, there was Nicky, a loudmouthed male cheerleader who was one-fifth of the notorious Spirit Squad. Despite universal mockery and hatred, the act climbed the ranks, making its way to the main event in which it regularly opposed D-Generation X.
Cronies of the McMahon family, they were the recipients of the invaluable experience of working with Shawn Michaels and Triple H on a nightly basis.
At Vengeance in June 2006, Nicky and his cohorts battled DX in a handicap tag-team main event.
The match was an entertaining one that relied on old-school, tag-team psychology, but it did nothing to make the cheerleaders look any more formidable.
Kenny, Johnny, Mitch, Nicky and Mikey were beaten and battered, but the fact that they battled two of the top stars in the history of the industry in a pay-per-view main event provided them with the opportunity to learn on the fly.
When all was said and done, it was Nicky who capitalized on the opportunity and used it as the foundation of his decadelong run with WWE.
5. The Double Turn (June 16, 2013)
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Ziggler has long connected with fans, most of whom appreciate his hard work and the lengths to which he will go to entertain them. When he suffered a concussion that compromised his reign as world champion in the spring of 2013, those fans feared that he would be one-and-done as the top star on the SmackDown brand.
At Payback, those fears became reality.
In one of his greatest performances to date, Ziggler was wholly sympathetic as he sold every targeted head shot Del Rio executed.
Fans in Chicago turned on the babyface Del Rio and supported Ziggler, booing rabidly with every strike to his cranium. Ziggler, though, continued to fight back. He refused to give up until his body gave out, which was ultimately the case.
The audience erupted into a chorus of boos at the outcome, it's love for the now-former champion ruining the conquering Del Rio's triumphant moment.
For the second time in the history of the storied city and in the same building that Steve Austin began his journey to the top of the industry following a double-turn with Bret Hart, the company had successfully switched the roles of two of its premier athletes.
4. Mr. Money in the Bank (July 15, 2012)
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Ziggler's victory in the SmackDown brand's Money in the Bank ladder match in 2012 was the culmination of two years of evolving, growing and developing into one of the best wrestlers in the industry. With Ziggler always hardworking and driven to be the best he could be, his win was a reward for selflessly putting others over while constantly improving.
To achieve the accomplishment, he overcame the challenge of Tyson Kidd, Damien Sandow, Cody Rhodes, Tensai, Sin Cara, Santino Marella and Christian.
In hindsight, that is a crop of talented wrestlers not necessarily strong enough to be world champions, but at the time, Rhodes and Sandow were strong contenders to leave with the briefcase.
Ziggler's victory proved the company's faith in him and served as the first step in his quest to championship glory.
It was also further proof of his excellence in ladder matches, a gimmick bout that would be his forte in the years to come.
3. Stealing the Show (January 30, 2011)
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The 2011 Royal Rumble saw Ziggler compete in his first pay-per-view World Heavyweight Championship match.
The love interest of Guerrero, he was programmed against her former boy toy and future Hall of Famer, Edge, in SmackDown's contribution to the gigantic extravaganza.
Determined to prove to fans and employers alike that he belonged in that match—in that moment and in that position—he delivered the finest performance of his career to that point.
The drama that he and Edge built through near-falls and the clever use of spots involving Guerrero and referee bumps heightened the quality of the match.
Simply put, Ziggler was one-half of a match that stole the show, something he would become accustomed to in the months and years that followed.
2. The Lone Survivor (November 23, 2014)
9 of 10The 2014 Survivor Series featured a winner-take-all main event pitting Team Authority against Team Cena. A win for Triple H and Stephanie McMahon's crew would result in the termination of every one of Cena's partners. A win for the franchise star, though, would remove the couple from power.
Unfortunately, Cena would not be around to see the end of his fight due to his elimination before the finale of the bout.
With Ryback, Mark Henry, Big Show, Erick Rowan and Cena all eliminated from action, Ziggler was the last hope for the babyface team. Fighting for his career, not to mention the future of WWE as a whole, he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
A superkick to Kane eliminated the Big Red Corporate Monster from Hell (or something like that) and a roll-up sent Luke Harper to the showers. A beaten, battered Ziggler was left to battle Rollins at the end of the match, not an ounce of energy left in his body.
Yet there he was, hanging with the future WWE champion and proving his worth as an elite talent.
Then Triple H got involved and appeared poised to bring Ziggler's story to an unsatisfactory ending. That is, until Sting made his shocking debut, attacking Triple H and allowing The Showoff to defeat Rollins and end the tyrannical rule of The Authority.
At least for the time being.
After a year of questionable booking, Ziggler re-entered the stratosphere, the conquering hero who should have enjoyed a much more substantial push than he was allowed.
1. The Cash in (April 8, 2013)
10 of 10There are few moments in a wrestler's career that remain etched in the minds of fans for generations to come. They are those moments that force every member of the viewing audience to stop and remember where they were when that particular moment unfolded.
For Ziggler, one such moment came on April 8, 2013, just 24 hours after a WrestleMania 29 that saw him and partner Big E Langston lose a tag team title match to Daniel Bryan and Kane.
Del Rio had just been on the receiving end of a beatdown, courtesy of Jack Swagger. His ankle was in tremendous pain, and the then-world champion was hardly able to stand, let alone defend himself. Seizing the opportunity, Ziggler made his way to the ring, the Money in the Bank briefcase in his hand, to one of the loudest ovations in company history.
The audience inside the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, was at a fever pitch, understanding it was about to witness history. Ziggler, a master craftsman when it comes to building drama, would not give the fans what they wanted quite so easily, though.
He found himself trapped in the cross armbreaker of Del Rio, and the fans booed, realizing the likelihood that he would be forced to tap and, thus, become the first man since Cena to fail to cash in the coveted MITB briefcase.
He escaped, though, and delivered the Zig-Zag for the pinfall win and World Heavyweight Championship.
The moment, easily the greatest in the history of Ziggler's long career, remains the greatest cash-in in WWE history. It is the moment, of the hundreds he has provided fans with over the course of his decade with the promotion, that has defined him, his career and the connection he has with the audience.
