Dolph Ziggler, WWE Superstar

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Ziggler cashes in Money In The Bank at RAW; Wins Heavyweight Championship - 8th April 2013

Dolph Ziggler vs Alberto Del Rio

Dolph Ziggler won the World title, cashing in his Money In The Bank contract. Dolph attacked Del Rio's injured leg/ankle, and hit the Fameasser for a nearfall right away. Del Rio then ducked a Ziggler charge and hit his enziguri for a nearfall of his own, and then caught Ziggler in the armbreaker which worried this crowd big time. Dolph broke the hold, though, and hit the Zig Zag for the win. This is Dolph's second world title reign. The first hour and a half of this show has flown by. (Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

Bio

Dolph Ziggler is the kind of guy that makes other guys clutch their girlfriends a little closer. Not that it would help — the guy is slimier than his slicked-back blond hair.

An accomplished amateur wrestler, Ziggler set school records for wins at St. Edward’s High School in Ohio, and again at Kent State University before parlaying his skills into a WWE contract. In 2008, this braggart first introduced himself to the WWE Universe by glad-handing every Superstar on Raw. Successfully introduced to just about everyone on the roster, Ziggler really made a name for himself after the 2009 Draft moved him to SmackDown, where he perfected his unctuous image and proved his mettle in high-profile contests against the likes of Rey Mysterio and John Morrison. In 2010, he defeated Kofi Kingston for his first big win, the Intercontinental Championship with shrill girlfriend–turned–“business associate” Vickie Guerrero attached to his side.

In 2011, Ziggler broke into WWE’s upper echelon during a string of contests against Edge, in a rivalry that netted Ziggler a controversial, and short-lived, World Heavyweight Championship. It lasted less than 12 minutes. From there, he returned to Raw in the 2011 Draft, ultimately capturing the U.S. Championship and facing off with some of the ring's top stars, like Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston.

Summer 2012 brought with it one of Ziggler’s most impressive accomplishments. In a wild Money in the Bank Ladder Match for a World Heavyweight Championship contract, The Showoff managed to beat out seven other Superstars in the climb to the coveted briefcase, giving him a guaranteed title opportunity at any point in the next year.

With the Money in Bank contract in tow, Ziggler sent Chris Jericho packing from WWE before turning his attention to John Cena, joining Vickie Guerrero in her quest to expose the alleged inappropriate relationship between Cena and AJ Lee.

Ziggler was forced to put up or shut up at WWE TLC when his Money in the Bank contract was on the line in a Ladder Match against the Cenation leader. The night nearly ended terribly for The Showoff before AJ stunned the WWE Universe by hitting the ring and deliberately pushing Cena off the top of a ladder. The unexpected move allowed Ziggler to score the biggest victory of his career.

As 2012 drew to a close, The Showoff ditched Guerrero for his new squeeze, AJ Lee. The passionate Diva didn’t come alone, though, bringing along her monstrous friend, Big E Langston.

The Showoff was presented with the opportunity to enter the Elimination Chamber, but passed since he already had a guaranteed championship opportunity, thanks to winning Money in the Bank. He had an opportunity to cash in on Alberto Del Rio the next night on Raw, but Ricardo Rodriguez snatched the briefcase from The Showoff, giving the World Heavyweight Champion time to recover. Ziggler is determined to make sure Del Rio doesn’t get so lucky next time.

While he has one eye on the World Heavyweight Champion, Ziggler has had the other on Daniel Bryan. The WWE Tag Team Champion took some time out of his Friday night to insult AJ and Ziggler on SmackDown. The Showoff defended his lady’s honor on the March 11 edition of Raw, defeating Bryan with a little help from AJ and Langston.

After Ziggler picked up a victory over Kane on SmackDown with an assist form Langston, the WWE Tag Team Champions were extra furious at The Showoff and his crew. With a little egging on from AJ, Team Hell No agreed to take on Ziggler and Langston for their championships on The Grandest Stage of Them All, WrestleMania 29.

On the final Raw before The Show of Shows, The Showoff defeated Bryan in singles competition. Afterward, the massive Langston countered a Chokeslam from Kane by prying The Big Red Monster’s hand from around his throat. The pair then stood over the fallen champions, holding their titles for the entire WWE Universe to see. Unfortunately for Ziggler and his huge associate, they were unable to unseat the WWE Tag Team Champions at The Show of Shows, despite AJ’s attempt at altering the course of the contest.

The following night on Raw, Ziggler finally cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, capitalizing on an ailing Del Rio, who was wounded by his previous match with Jack Swagger. After hitting Del Rio with a Zig Zag, Ziggler captured his first World Heavyweight Title and celebrated with AJ Lee and Langston!

Ziggler is proving there’s no limit to his arrogance, no filter to his condescension and no ceiling to his talent. He’s good, he knows it and, unfortunately, he wants you to know it, too. (Credit: WWE)

Q&A with … Dolph Ziggler
Date
February 25, 2013
(The Sydney Morning Herald)

You've got a bit of a history with Australia. A few years ago on air you were punched in the face by Hugh Jackman.

That was supposed to be a really cool night. He was the honorary (WWE) general manager for a day and we had some heated things said back and forth to each other [so he stood in my opponent's corner]. At the end of the night, with my hands completely down and me looking the other way, he punched me right in the face. I'm fine, though, but in a really cool gesture he sent a case of beer to the office. Eventually, when I woke up [from the punch], I had one of the beers.
You've said you have to sell yourself as a bad guy. How does it feel to have a goal of being loathed by the public?

I love doing this, so it's a character but it's also me. I really enjoy entertaining and we have people who are getting cheered and doing the right thing, but I'm not a nice guy in person so I enjoy capitalising on that. I don't instantly hate everyone who's a good guy but when I back it up, it makes people that much angrier.

Are there times when you wish you were a ''face'' [wrestling slang for hero], rather than a ''heel'' [villain]?

Never. Too many people, even if they say ''I hate everyone'', get cheered and slowly start to want to be a good guy. I would love to make my entire career as the guy who did not get cheered. Of course, I'm still going to get cheered by people who think they're smart, and that's fine - they're acknowledging how good I am at my job - but I don't want cheers; I want the boos. I love it.
You have said before you work hard to make your character as entertaining as possible. Why is that so important to you?

In this day and age, the bad guy isn't a guy with a big beer belly who's out of shape. Half the superstars in this roster have college degrees or master's degrees and are really good at something, and my goal to be the best [involves entertaining]. I study entertainment and apply it to myself to one day become the greatest WWE superstar we have, and it's a lot of work. So I write jokes and material every day … you have to keep people's attention, one way or another.
Does it irk you when people use the term ''fake''?

I usually have a much snappier comeback for them: ''Oh, you're an accountant. Is that fake?'' At the end of the day, you're doing your job, and I'm really good at what I do. Whatever you do, take pride in it and be great at it. I pride myself on blending that line, in this day and age, of reality TV mixed with stunt work and techniques to keep [the audience] entertained. With 9000 channels and YouTube and Google, you've got to keep their attention.

Vince McMahon [the chief executive of the WWE] has labelled it ''sports-entertainment''. What, to you, compels viewers to return week after week?

One way or another, whether it's the storylines or the characters or the girls, there's something for everyone. There are [wrestlers] that so many kids can look up to: if they're being bullied at school, they can relate to him … they're people who never give up. There are 50 or 60 superstars on the main roster who people can somehow relate to, and that's why people keep coming back.

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