Why Dolph Ziggler?

Hi, I’m Justin Watry. You may remember me from such classic columns as March 2012’s “WWE WrestleMania 28: Sheamus Should Defeat Daniel Bryan in Less Than a Minute” and October 2015’s “WWE NXT: Bobby Roode, You’re Next.”

Reader Feedback

Jay: I would say Lesnar is the better of the two. Not only is he legitimate, but I’m never bored when watching him wrestle. Can’t say the same for Orton.

Eh, I DO agree with you. However, Brock Lesnar has the benefit for built up matches once every three months. Obviously, they will all be deemed as must see matches then. Randy Orton is wrestling full-time on the television shows, live events, and pay-per-views. I’m sure if the roles were reversed, your thoughts may be as well.

AG Awesome: It’s actually a pretty difficult pick all things considered. I think I’ll go with Lesnar because I like his character more as Orton became stale to me the last few years. I’m excited for the match though since I followed both of their wwe careers from day one. Hopefully it just lives up to the billing because both guys have had many “let downs” over the years as well.

Fair assessment. I admit I assumed Brock Lesnar would win the vote last week just based on his special attraction/mainstream status; I was wrong. Apparently, readers put stock into FULL careers over just recent feelings. As of this past weekend, Randy Orton was ahead 53% to 47% – very close battle but a minor upset if you ask me…RKO Outta Nowhere?!?!

Backstory

WWE Summerslam 2016 is this Sunday night live. You don’t need me to tell you that. It is the second/third biggest wrestling pay-per-view event of the year and features a pretty stacked lineup card. Everybody will be watching and/or paying very close attention to the show this weekend and with another great NXT live special in a few days, it is a fun time to be a wrestling fan.

Many bouts will wow and amaze the fans live in Brooklyn and at home all over the world. Samoa Joe defending his NXT Title against Shinsuke Nakamura should be awesome. Bayley vs. Asuka Part II is sure to top their original match back in Dallas. Randy Orton vs. Brock Lesnar is a legitimate dream match, being their first ever PPV meeting. Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins is one fans have been waiting a long time to see on the big stage. Heck, even John Cena vs. AJ Styles in their much discussed rematch is sure to get fans buzzing. An overall big slate of matches planned for Saturday and Sunday night…

Best of all, Dean Ambrose is defending the WWE Championship versus Dolph Ziggler!

…

At Summerslam? THE WWE Championship? From Smackdown? Ambrose and Ziggler?!?!

Wait, what?

Surely, that pairing sticks out like a sore thumb. Even to their biggest supporters and fanbase, it is impossible to deny the strange, confusing, out of place feeling lingering over the title picture. Almost as if this dark cloud will be hovering over them on Sunday, something that has been there ever since the match was announced a few weeks ago on Smackdown.

Thus, the question is obvious: Why?

New Era

This is the most obvious explanation. If WWE really wanted to usher in a new era and proclaim that things were going to be ‘different’ going forward, you couldn’t have had Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns on the Summerslam card. That would not represent fresh and exciting. It would be the same old stuff from WWE we have seen multiple times before. By inserting new challengers and this shocking matchup, it sent the message (true or not) that the latest shakeup from the company was real.

Stacked Card

Honestly, we should have seen this coming the moment Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton was made official before Battleground. From that instant, it was obvious that WWE could ‘experiment’ with the rest of the Summerslam card and be okay. No different than when the Royal Rumble pay-per-view used to host below average or less than attractive title bouts. What did it matter? The event was going to do big business because of the 30 man Royal Rumble spectacle anyways. Who cares if Hardcore Holly or Mark Henry were getting title shots earlier in the show? It was the FREAKIN’ Royal Rumble! Same logic applies. The other matches are more than enough to hook viewers. Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler for the WWE Title? Meh…but look at the other matches!

No Other Options

Personally, I would have gone with Bray Wyatt to make him a somewhat legitimate heel threat for the Blue Brand going forward (ha!), but he has had a million battles with the champ already. Enough was enough, and it was time for a change! Couldn’t face Randy Orton; he was tied up with Brock Lesnar. Too early to go to the face/face Ambrose vs. Cena showdown. AJ Styles may be next, but he has unfinished business until then. The Miz? Feuding with Apollo Crews. Baron Corbin? Eh, wouldn’t have been THAT bad for a one off I suppose (although we all know the complaints would be flying right now if this shocking out of nowhere main event push came from anybody else in the mid-card not named internet darling Dolph Ziggler).

That left a guy WWE knows they can trust out there and is a fairly recognizable name but STILL considered underutilized and ‘new’ at the same time. Even at age 36, so the company went with it. May as well, right? I mean, the official WWE website has it listed third from the top. I’d argue it should actually be fourth or fifth but whatever. No worries, the Summerslam event will be just fine…

Great Wrestling

All that being said, I have zero doubts that Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler can be a great match. One could argue it may be the best in-ring contest this Sunday night. Heck, I could make a case for nearly half the card. Brock vs. Randy? Sure. Cena and Styles? Sign me up. Balor taking on Rollins? Oh yeah. Rusev and Roman Reigns butting heads? Entertainment at its finest. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte in another classic? Enzo and Cass tagging against Chris Jericho and Kevin has a good shot at stealing the show…from the show stealer himself Dolph Ziggler. That is the beauty of this all. Where the WWE Championship bout lacks in star power and intrigue, it will more than be made up for inside the squared circle. As it should be.

Predictable Outcome

Of course, Dean Ambrose will retain. Of course, he will. After hard fought 15 minute battle during the second hour of Summerslam, he will hit Dirty Deeds for the three count and hold the WWE Title above his head in celebration.

Or will he?

That is the best part of the whole situation. Dolph Ziggler is clearly just ‘filler’ here and nothing more. Much the same Christian was a few years ago at Summerslam. Or any of the other Royal Rumble title matches I named earlier. Simply a surprise #1 contender built up for a few weeks to throw fans for a loop, and then that’s it. Business as usual immediately after the PPV ends. Except, Ziggler is a former World Champion. Two-time if I recall correctly. He is now 36 years old and surely faces that do or die feeling or making it to the top of the company. With the influx of new talent and NXT stars always ready to move up, this really feels like THE moment for Dolph. Either he loses and moves back to losing to Baron Corbin on the pre-show…or the unthinkable happens, and he finally wins the coveted WWE Championship at Summerslam.

I love it.

Quick CM Punk – UFC Exclusive

Been sitting on a CM Punk/UFC training exclusive for a few weeks now. Was going to write about it tonight; instead will wait… #UFC203

— Justin Watry (@JustinWatry) August 8, 2016

Yeah, I’ve been going back and forth for over a month now on how and when to write about CM Punk debuting for the UFC next month. Got some information back in July and wasn’t sure how to go about it. Being from Wisconsin, it wasn’t too hard to get people to talk about him training in Milwaukee. Instead of going will a full blown exclusive column on details, here is a short-form version: CM Punk is 100% serious about this. It is no publicity stunt. He is invested into this all the way and works hard at the gym. No BS from him at all. Even told he helps clean up the mats afterwards like everybody else. Very cool. The downside is the stories about him losing a majority of his ‘simulation’ fights are true. Still not a lot of improvement from the guy, despite what his coaches and friends will publicly say. More will surely be seen in his upcoming documentary special. Until then, WWE Summerslam is this weekend, and CM Punk FINALLY fighting in UFC is just a month away…

Self Promotion

Watch Big Brother 18 on CBS.

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