WWE: Dolph Ziggler's Credibility Becomes a Casualty Yet Again

Dolph Ziggler is an unemployed former World Heavyweight Champion.

I'm still debating which part of that statement is more unbelievable to me.

While I understand that Ziggler is not actually fired from WWE, his six minute reign as a world champion was ridiculous to say the least. The belief is that because Edge used a spear during the match that involved Packers linebacker Clay Matthews, Ziggler was automatically granted the World Heavyweight Championship. Instead of taking this avenue, Edge holds the belt a week longer, only to be officially stripped of the belt with Smackdown almost over last Friday night.

Once officially given the belt, Ziggler made a victory lap in the ring, only to be squashed by Edge minutes later and be fired to boot. This would make the second straight week that someone was fired from Smackdown (this week makes three straight weeks, for those who have not seen any spoilers). But why bother damaging all of the hard work built onto Ziggler's character on Smackdown?

Ziggler had jumped through a lot of hoops in his WWE tenure. First, he was a golf caddy to Chavo Guererro's Kerwin White gimmick. Once his uncle Eddie passed, Kerwin White was finished and so was Ziggler (real name Nic Nemeth). Back to the development goes Nemeth, returning as Nicky of the Spirit Squad. It didn't make sense to many of us, but the group certainly made their strength show in their numbers.

After going back for development yet again, Nemeth returned as Dolph Ziggler. The name is on the more ridiculous side as far as wrestling gimmicks go. His attitude of wanting to shake everyone's hands was unusual as well. But it worked, and nobody was sure as to why.

It was then time for a move from RAW to Smackdown and an opportunity to see what Ziggler could actually do. The first feud that I can recall for Ziggler that had any weight to it was with Kane. Kane and Ziggler actually had something in common: both men were on their third different gimmick with the company. A long time ago, Kane had been Dr. Issac Yankem, Jerry Lawler's dentist, as well as being Fake Diesel.

Kane did good as a seasoned veteran by putting Ziggler over. Ziggler was not only officially on my radar, but I now was pulling for the guy. I watched him try hard to become the Intercontinental Champion on many occasions. Whispers from backstage suggested that Rey Mysterio, the champion at the time, was supposed to lose the belt to Ziggler, but refused to. The role then was allocated to John Morrison. At this point, however, it was just supposed to be Ziggler not being able to figure out Morrison.

Finally, Ziggler was able to capture the Intercontinental Championship from Kofi Kingston. Ziggler was finally a champion. His alignment with Vickie Guerrero was a big reason for that as Vickie needed Ziggler to cement her legacy as one of the best managers in the past decade. Ziggler could do no wrong and was one day short of tying the longest reign with the title since 2007.

2010 was the year of Dolph Ziggler on Smackdown. However, the first episode of 2011 began to be the beginning of the end for Ziggler. At the January 4 tapings, Ziggler lost the Intercontinental Championship to Kofi Kingston. He then lost his rematch that happened immediately after losing. Ziggler would then wrestle a third match that night, winning a number one contender's match and having a world title match at Royal Rumble. Ziggler would become less and less impressive every time he challenged for the belt, bringing in more and more rules to have to follow.

Once the February 11 episode, Ziggler faced Edge for the WHC with the spear being banned and Vickie Guerrero as the special guest referee. Vickie gets knocked to the outside, Edge hits the spear, and Clay Matthews comes down to the ring to do the three count. The problem: Vickie Guerrero is sitting on the outside to see all of that. Matthews can stick to football because he hasn't been a referee. That pin fall never mattered because a DQ had already occurred. Dolph Ziggler was World Heavyweight Champion.

Now, with just days before the Elimination Chamber PPV, Ziggler is finally given the big gold belt that he has seemed good enough to hold for six weeks. Just like with the IC belt, Ziggler was forced to hold on for too long just to get the championship. So, Dolph Ziggler is given the World Heavyweight Championship. Then, 11 minutes and 23 seconds pass and Ziggler is not only a former world champion, but a former Smackdown superstar.

Just like John Cena, a man that Ziggler put great matches on with, Ziggler was in a fired storyline. However, Ziggler has had his name removed from all house shows, his profile moved to the Alumni section of wwe.com and has gone on his Twitter by stating that he is available for bookings. Cena doesn't have to go off of television for more than an hour or so, yet Ziggler goes from world champion to MIA in no time flat.

Ziggler turns 31 in July and, with a few more years in the WWE, could end up being a big name in the business. His gimmick will need some tweaking, but Ziggler has what it takes.

As for his return, I expect to see Dolph come back on RAW and go after John Cena. In a perfect world, he would be off television until he returns at WrestleMania to screw John Cena in his match against The Miz.

Let's see WWE mess this one up...