WWE Vengeance: Does Dolph Ziggler's Double Booking Translate to a Bright Future?

As announced on tonight's episode of Smackdown, the United States Championship will be up for grabs on Sunday at Vengeance. Dolph Ziggler, the champion, has held the championship since June 19.

Exactly 18 weeks after winning the championship, Ziggler could potentially lose the title to Internet darling Zack Ryder. This is a big deal for Ryder, who hasn't had a match on a pay-per-view since he won the WWE Tag Team Championships with Curt Hawkins at the 2008 Great American Bash.

The pressure seems to be on Ziggler to hold off the upset, but that pressure mounts even more considering his previously scheduled match, teaming with Jack Swagger to challenge Air Boom for the WWE Tag Team Championship. Ziggler does the rare achievement of having two matches in the same night.

More importantly, both of Ziggler's matches have been announced ahead of time and are both title matches. Some superstars have had impromptu matches added to their already busy night, but few have had two scheduled matches on the same card. Not counting Royal Rumble matches, tournaments or Money in the Bank cash-ins, double booking is a rarity.

The only time in recent memory that I can recall a superstar competing in two title matches in the same night is the late Chris Benoit. At Bad Blood in 2004, Benoit was World Heavyweight Champion, defending the title against Kane.

Earlier in the night, however, Benoit teamed with Edge to try and become World Tag Team Champions, facing La Resistance. Kane would interfere and cost Benoit the tag titles, but The Rabid Wolverine would end up defending his world title later that night.

This is relatively uncharted territory for most superstars, so this has to speak for something for Ziggler. Ziggler began the year chasing the World Heavyweight Championship and actually obtained it, but lost it in the time that it will take me to complete the rest of this sentence.

Ziggler has held the World Heavyweight, Intercontinental and United States Championships. He can add tag team gold to that on Sunday night, his first tag title reign in WWE since he was a male cheerleader with the Spirit Squad.

There are a few ways that this night can go for Ziggler. He can retain against Ryder and win the tag team championships, making him the first person since The Miz to have such a combination. Ziggler could also lose his United States Championship, but win the tag team belts anyway, strengthening his bond with Swagger. The worst-case scenario for Ziggler would be losing both matches and leaving Vengeance without any gold at all.

Even that last option doesn't sound exactly terrible. There's a reason Ziggler is being double booked, so who is to say that getting the gold off of Ziggler is a way to free him up for the world title race later on?

It might also be because Ziggler is all but slated in a Survivor Series match and the belts would be available for others to grab onto. Ryder would also be a champion as he heads into New York City, right outside of his hometown of Long Island. Ryder's lone tag title reign began at a pay-per-view in Long Island, so it wouldn't be too shocking.

Ziggler and Swagger don't really need the tag team titles as much as Air Boom, who are trying to revive the division, need the titles. So even if the man who claims he is perfection walks away empty-handed, the future may be even brighter for the youngster.

Not everyone gets to be booked in this way, so WWE is clearly taking notice of his mic skills and in-ring ability. His double booking also saves the company some money, something any business would love.